Former NFL player Cam Newton is joining the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show controversy conversation and bluntly disagreeing with the NFL’s decision to name Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar as headliner — over New Orleans natives and legends like Cash Money’s Birdman, Mannie Fresh, Lil Wayne, Juvenile, etc. or No Limit’s Master P, Silkk the Shocker, etc.
As we previously shared, on September 8, JAY-Z‘s Roc Nation, Apple Music, and the NFL announced Kendrick Lamar as the headliner of Super Bowl LIX, which is currently scheduled to be played on February 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome and set to air on Fox.
Despite the praises from HOV, handfuls of social users criticized the decision, including Lil Wayne’s longtime engineer and co-manager, Fabian Marasciullo, Wayne’s Cash Money mentor Birdman and Cash Money labelmate Juvenile, his Young Money family Nicki Minaj, and even his daughter Reginae Carter spoke out.
Another person to speak on it was Punch, the founder of Kendrick Lamar’s former label TDE, who tweeted at Lil Wayne’s manager Mack Maine. Plus, rapper Pusha T, another NOLA native and rap legend Master P, New York rappers Cam’Ron and MA$E, Baton Rouge, Louisiana native and rap legend, Boosie Badazz, plus many more.
Joining that long list of celebrities to speak on the Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl headliner controversy is former NFL baller Cam Newton. During a recent airing of ESPN’s First Take, Cam Newton was asked by a student at Tennessee Site University if the NFL made the right decision by choosing Kendrick Lamar as the headliner of their 2025 game in New Orleans next year. Newton, who hosts his own podcast called ‘Funky Friday,’ said, “Aye, it’s Friday, right? I gotta keep it funky, right?”
Newton went on, “I think for the culture, the answer to that is, ‘No.’ Because at the end of the day.” Immediately a single man in the crowd starts loudly yelling, ‘Boo!” Newton quipped, “You’re by yourself, bro.” Explaining his stance, Newton said, “This is the reason. I have all faith that Kendrick Lamar is going to do his due diligence and give us an impeccable show. I’m excited about that. Of course, we all want to hear [“Not Like Us”]. That’s cool.”
Newton continued to explain, “But, one thing that they did in Los Angeles, that I thought was so brilliant, they put people on to the West Coast culture. And I think with a big platform like the Super Bowl, going into New Orleans, why not Lil Wayne? Why not Master P? Why not Cash Money? It’s just one of those whole situations that’s like… it’s so many other performers that… you take a big platform like the Super Bowl, why not bring people who are not familiar with this area or how they entertain each other, or whatever, and just put them on game?”
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