Review: Let’s hope Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show was a preview of his Minneapolis gig

“The revolution’s about to be televised,” Kendrick Lamar bellowed near the start of Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show.

“You picked the right time but the wrong guy,” he added.

Au contraire. Lamar’s appearance as the first rapper ever picked as a solo halftime headliner in the NFL’s big game was big-time overdue. Having him be the guy to finally do it, though, proved to be a perfect choice.

Gearing up for a spring and summer tour that kicks off with an April 19 date at U.S. Bank Stadium — yes, his next gig after the Super Bowl will be in Minneapolis’ super-echoey football field — the rapper not surprisingly brought out his co-headliner for those upcoming shows, digi-soul singer SZA, on Sunday in New Orleans. Otherwise, though, he mostly kept it a one-man show.

Following a booming introduction by actor Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Uncle Sam, the Los Angeles superstar appeared midfield at the Superdome standing atop a 1987 Buick Grand National GNX, the car that gave him the named for his latest album, “GNX.” He then launched into snippets of the new LP’s title track and another cut from it, “Squabble Up.”

Just as he’s done in his two prior arena concerts in the Twin Cities at Xcel Energy Center, Lamar showed a keen eye for choreography in the halftime show — not the pole-dancer-variety choreography you see in too many rapper’s acts, but way more artful dance movement that demands attention from the eyes as much as Lamar’s lyrics and beats grab you by the ears.

The show’s dramatic visuals peaked during a montage with his older hits “DNA” and “Humble,” when his massive dance troupe lined up perfectly in red, white and blue attire to stand in for the American flag. And throughout the performance, Lamar himself seemed to continually be coming toward the camera.

Two big questions going into the halftime performance: Would Kendrick himself edit out the many censurable words in his Pulitzer Prize-winning lyrics (he did); and would he deliver his sharpest diss lines to rival Drake (he mostly avoided them, though he did cut in pieces of “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us”).

SZA came out to the tune of “Luther,” a mellow and mournful tribute to Luther Vandross also featured on “GNX.” Thankfully, she stuck around to also sing the more uplifting “All the Stars,” the collaborative track from 2018’s “Black Panther” soundtrack that helped make both hip-hop performers into pop stars.

Hopefully, we can expect a similar sprawling display of choreography and the same duets when Lamar and SZA perform together again at U.S. Bank Stadium. And bonus: The concert won’t involve Tom Brady at all, as did seemingly every other facet of Sunday’s game.

The rest of the music in Sunday’s telecast was super, too, including a pretaped performance by Lady Gaga of her power ballad “Hold My Hand” on Bourbon Street dedicated to rescue workers and survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires recent New Orleans tragedies. Hats off to producers for also prominently featuring the hometown artists that make New Orleans the greatest music city in America.

R&B great Ledsi showed off the rich NOLA gospel tradition before the game with a soaring “Lift Every Voice and Sing” accompanied a youth choir. Terence Blanchard and Harry Connick Jr. then led a jazz medley, followed by brass-band party line featuring the Soul Rebels and Original Pinettes — the latter famously an all-female ensemble.

Jon Batiste topped it all off with a Dr. John/Professor Longhair-styled piano-plunked version of “The Star Spangled Banner.” A little zydeco and Cajun music would’ve been appropriate, too, but that probably would’ve cut too much into Brady’s allotted airtime.