Written By: Reagan Metzger, Staff Writer
SUPER BOWL: Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance possesses many encrypted messages and themes in regards to current political, racial, and social division within America in this heated time.
This year’s 59th NFL Championship, classically known as the Superbowl, premiered on Sunday, February 8th, with a matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. The Eagles ultimately prevailed over the Chiefs to prevent the first ever Super Bowl ‘three peat,’ but surprisingly, the biggest take away from the annual event was Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance. Only a week later and the performance has racked over 130 million views; a new record for the most watched halftime show of all time. Considering that Lamar drew a larger crowd than the Super Bowl itself, many beg the question: why was his performance so special?
In the months leading up to the Super Bowl, there was widespread and well known drama between another successful rapper, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar. Their relationship spans all the way back to 2012 when they collaborated on many projects and were friendly with one another. However years of conflict lead up to April of 2024 when both rappers released multiple ‘diss tracks’ targeting one another. Iconically, the feud came to an end when Lamar released his five time grammy awarded song, “Not Like Us.” In this song, he calls out Drake for being a ‘pedophile’ and ultimately obliterates his reputation. While targeting Drake’s questionable actions, Lamar’s opposing position was more or less fueled by Drake’s inability to understand black American culture which is apparent in his music. Many were curious if Lamar planned to perform the song at the Superbowl after it spent twenty one weeks at number one on Billboard’s rap chart. It was affirmed in the days leading up to the game that “Not Like Us” would definitely be performed.
Despite the very entertaining ‘beef’ between Lamar and Drake, the most important parts of the performance had nothing to do with their history. The halftime show opened with Lamar on top of a car surrounded by dancers wearing red, white, and blue. This vehicle was a 1987 GNX Buick and was an important reference to Lamar’s embedded roots within Compton where he was born and raised. “When I was born, I came home from the hospital in an ’87 Buick Regal while my pops was bumping Big Daddy Kane,” Lamar explains. The Buick has both personal significance to the rapper as well as affinity for classic American muscle cars. He was also accompanied by Samuel Jackson dressed as the iconic American figurehead, Uncle Sam. Samuel Jackson announces the Super Bowl as “the great American game,” and most viewers were able to pick up that a patriotic symbol was being referenced. The stage was set up as a video game controller hinting towards the ideas of marginalized individuals within a capitalist society; as if the Americans are “apart” of the game.
After kicking off the performance with a snippet of unreleased music, Lamar made arguably his most jarring statement of the night: “The revolution’s about to be televised. You picked the right time, but the wrong guy.” The rapper was aware of President Donald Trump’s attendance at the game and stated this in revolution towards current political turmoil. Except this time, the revolution could be witnessed and supported for Lamar attributes its destiny to occur. His dancers formed an American flag with their clothing colors, but it was notably united and later broken. The symbolism could not be missed: Lamar was referencing the division within America.
After the performance of unheard songs, Uncle Sam challenges Lamar for his songs were “too loud, too ghetto.” By doing this, the rapper gets ahead of any slander that he will receive upon the end of the show. He does this through underlying symbolism as well as with blatantly spelled out messages. In the beginning, the crowd’s lights spell out “warning, wrong way.” This hints towards Lamar’s tendency to call out public injustice and address taboo topics. Samuel Jackson also symbolizes the fear of black resistance, for Lamar’s art is famously known to go against all that is ‘comfortable.’
SZA then made an appearance to perform two hit songs with Lamar which Uncle Sam acknowledges and praises with enjoyment. Lamar’s retaliation did not disappoint when he followed up his feature with SZA, by singing the notorious “Not Like Us” track. The unofficial anthem of Los Angeles was sung out boldly by Lamar as he soaked in his last few minutes on stage. The rapper avoided all eye contact with the camera until a lyric came where he called out Drake by name where he turned to smile at the camera. This moment solidified his position as the greatest current rapper as he put down his opponent. He then ended the set with his new song “TV Off” hinting towards the fact that his performance was a wake up call. The stadium went dark with letters spelled out in the crowd that said “Game over.”
Kendrick Lamar’s genius lyricism and passion for art was evident throughout the halftime show to convey a very important message. He utilized an enormous platform to manifest many realities of America and its division. The political activism that Lamar strides towards through his music and talent inherently produced a halftime show that many will never forget. Avid supporters can only hope that Lamar’s message was received to reconnect America amidst constant societal turmoil. The message was clear: now is not the time to turn the TV off.