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Kai Cenat accuses NFL of pumping crowd noise into Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl LIX halftime show video

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz02/13/25NickSchultz_7
Kendrick Lamar during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show
© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show at Super Bowl LIX generated conversation in multiple ways. It became the most-watched halftime performance in Super Bowl history and has more than 46 million views YouTube since the NFL posted the video.

However, there’s apparently some controversy coming out of it. According to streamer Kai Cenat, the video had crowd noise pumped into it.

Cenat said he was at the game, but the crowd was fairly quiet for most of the show – outside of Lamar’s performance of “Not Like Us” and the appearances of SZA and Samuel L. Jackson. In the video, there’s more crowd noise Cenat said wasn’t there.

“They add sound effects to the NFL shit,” Cenat said on a Twitch stream. “Oh my f***ing God. Right here, there was no sound. I just heard crowd sounds. On my life right here, there was no sounds. F***, they add sound effects? I did not know that.”

Lamar’s performance started with him standing on the hood of his black 1987 Buick Grand National GNX, which is also featured on the cover of his latest album, GNX. His first song was an unreleased track, and he went into “Squabble Up” right after.

As he listened to the opening song, Cenat said he heard crowd noise that wasn’t there when he was at the game. Instead, he said the loudest pops were at other points.

“Kendrick Lamar came out, word to my mother, if anybody was there, y’all knew it. Y’all felt it. Crowd was making no noise,” Cenat said. “This is me being honest. I was there. The loudest times of the crowds, it was I think him being shown for the first time, SZA, Samuel L. Jackson being shown for the first time and then ‘Not Like Us.'”

Lamar’s symbolism-filled performance was a record-setter for the NFL as part of a historic night during Super Bowl LIX. Viewership was at 133.5 million at the time of the show, which made it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime in history. Of course, the song everyone talked about was “Not Like Us,” the diss track that netted five GRAMMYs – including both Song and Record of the Year.

The song was part of Lamar’s famous back-and-forth with rapper Drake, and there were questions about whether he’d perform it on the biggest stage. He did, and he looked right into the camera when the verse started with “Say, Drake” in a moment that quickly went viral.