Noel Gallagher used to be known as one of the biggest haters in the world, and currently he’s mad because Kendrick Lamar has taken the Hater Crown. In recent years, Noel Gallagher has repeatedly slammed Adele, he’s called Prince Harry a “typical f–king woke snowflake,” and he’s mocked “slack-jawed f–kwit” Matt Healy. This week, Gallagher appeared on the talkSPORT show to talk about football (American football and British football). He was asked about the Super Bowl and Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show. He had some thoughts.

Kendrick Lamar’s set at the Superdome on Sunday was the most-watched Super Bowl Halftime Show ever, with 133.5 million viewers according to Roc Nation, and Kendrick’s company pgLang is calling it the “Most watched anything in the history of american television.” Among those watching was Noel Gallagher, the notorious hip-hop hater who claimed in 2008 that having rappers at Glastonbury was “wrong,” sparking a funny “Wonderwall” cover during Jay’s set. You won’t be surprised to learn that Gallagher also thought Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance was rubbish.

One thing the Oasis guitarist does love is Manchester City football. He went on Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent’s talkSPORT broadcast to discuss Man City and pivoted to some Super Bowl chatter at the end of his call. He revealed that he’s been a fan of American football since the ’80s and was pretty invested in this season’s playoffs despite not having a favorite team. (“I thought the Commanders were going to do it” — it did seem that way for a while, Noel!) Goldstein then asked Gallagher about Bent’s “hero,” Kendrick Lamar, and the Halftime Show.

“I had to switch it off,” Gallagher said. “It was absolute nonsense.” When pressed about why it was bad, Gallagher said, “It was like 300 people getting out of a car in the first three minutes.” He continued, “But no, I don’t like the halftime nonsense at all. It’s usually artists that I don’t like.” When pressed about his favorite Halftime Show, he said he never watches it. And when asked if he’d like to see that sort of grand production taking place during the UEFA Champions League final, Gallagher replied, “No, and it’s coming. Trust me, it’s coming. Americans are taking over our sport. They’re taking over the Premier League. They’ll take over the Champions League. And it’ll be — 20 years from now it’ll be nonsense.”

[From Sterogum]

I forgot about the “rappers at Glastonbury” thing and Jay-Z mocking Oasis. Kendrick played at Glastonbury too – he played the festival in 2022 to a rapturous crowd and widespread acclaim. I mean, honestly, it sounds like Noel Gallagher is just racist and he fancies himself a music gatekeeper. He doesn’t think rap is “real music,” just my guess. Anyway, Kendrick officially has the most-watched Halftime show in history, and the YouTube video is doing crazy numbers as well. Kendrick’s streaming numbers are going bonkers too. While there are obviously has-been haters like Noel, the overwhelming majority of casual Super Bowl viewers loved Kendrick’s show and they became even more interested in his music and his lore.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, screencap from the Super Bowl.