Kendrick Lamaraims to infuse New Orleans with his Los Angeles hip-hop flavor while staying true to his storytelling roots during SundaysSuper Bowl halftime performance.Being in the now and being just locked-in to how I feel and the energy I have now, thats the L.A. energy for me, he said Thursday at a press conference hosted by Apple Music. Thats something I wanted to carry over to New Orleans and for the world to see. This is me. This is Kendrick Lamar, 37 years old, and I still feel like Im elevating, Im still on a journey.The rap megastar will take the Super Bowl stage fresh off aGrammy triumph,where he claimed two of the nights biggest awards song and record of the year for his diss track Not Like Us.When asked what viewers can expect, Lamar answered: Storytelling. I think Ive always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music. And Ive always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage Im on.Lamar will bebringing hip-hopback to the NFLs championship game, where he performed as a guest artist with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem in 2022. On Sunday, he becomes the first solo hip-hop artist to headline the halftime show.It reminds me of the essence and the core response of rap and hip-hop and how far it can go, he said. It puts the culture at the forefront, where it needs to be and not minimized to just a catchy song or verse. This is a true art form, so to represent it on this type of stage is like everything that Ive worked for and everything that I believe in as far as the culture.SZAwill join him but few other details about the performance were revealed, bowing to a tradition in which headliners keep their plans secret. Rihanna waited until her Super Bowl performance in 2023 toreveal she was pregnantwith her second child.The Super Bowl will be held Sunday atthe Caesars Superdome,with the two-defending champions Kansas City Chiefs facing off against the Philadelphia Eagles in a championship rematch.Who else is performing at the Super Bowl?The Super Bowl pregame will have some Louisiana flavor:Jon Batistewill hit the stage to sing the national anthem, whileTrombone ShortyandLauren Daigleare slated to perform America the Beautiful.Ledisiwill perform Lift Every Voice and Sing as part of the pregame performances.The national anthem and America the Beautiful will be performed in American Sign Language (ASL) by actor Stephanie Nogueras. Otis Jones IV will sign Lift Every Voice and Sing, and the halftime show will be signed by Matt Maxey.The pregame performers are all Louisiana natives.Jonathan Landrum Jr., AP entertainment writer