The first rapper to headline the N.F.L.’s biggest stage solo made his Drake diss “Not Like Us” the centerpiece of his set at the expense of a larger statement.

The Compton rapper's performance, which featured Samuel L. Jackson, SZA, Mustard and Serena Williams, vacillated between deference to and defiance of expectations.

Kendrick Lamar brought his Compton hometown to New Orleans as the halftime performer at Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX — the crowning achievement of a yearlong stretch in which hip-hop’s most proudly cerebral star ascended to new heights of pop renown.