“Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto!” – Samuel L. Jackson, representing Uncle Sam during the halftime performance.
American rapper Kendrick Lamar, 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music winner and recent 2025 Grammy Award winner for Song of the Year, was the Super Bowl LIX headline halftime performer this past Sunday, February 9th, 2025. Not only will this memorable performance be referenced for its setlist, such as past hits like 2017’s “DNA.” 2017’s “HUMBLE.” 2018’s “All The Stars (ft. SZA)” but also his 2024 hit song that people have been anticipating for him to include, “Not Like Us,” which has gone viral and referenced for it being a diss track against Canadian rapper and singer Drake. R&B singer SZA was also featured in the halftime performance.
Notably, the performance provided commentary on the current political state of America and the systematic oppression of African Americans. This commentary ranged from symbolism and iconography. The background dancers wore red, white, and blue and formed an American flag at certain points within the performance. Samuel L. Jackson as America’s Uncle Sam interjected between Lamar’s tracks that nodded to representations of how America systematically views, judges, and polices Black people and their culture. All of these factors regarding the American climate today made this show enjoyable to both Kendrick and Super Bowl fans with its bigger and more powerful message.
The performance started with a layout of the stage being a tic-tac-toe grid with PlayStation symbols on it, with Samuel L. Jackson dressed up as Uncle Sam announcing to the audience, “Salutations, It’s your Uncle– Sam. And this is the great American game.” Lamar shortly followed with the statement, “The revolution about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy,” a strong beginning to this theme of commentating on these flaws of American society. Lamar performed “Squabble Up,” and Jackson interjected commentary with the aforementioned quote, “No, no, no– Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto! Mr Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then, tighten up!” referencing this ‘game’ that Lamar has to play in regards to the American culture.
Lamar then performs “DNA.” his 2024 single “euphoria” and songs from GNX “Man at the Garden,” “peekaboo,” and “luther,” which specifically features SZA, followed with “All the Stars.” Leading up to the performance of “peekaboo,” Jackson interjected after seeing Kendrick with a group of Black individuals, “Ah, so you brought the homeboys with you? The old cultural cheat code. Scorekeeper, deduct one life,” further referring to playing a ‘game’ in regards to living in America as a Black person. Concluding the performance of “All the Stars,” notably a pop song, Jackson interjected again in an elated tone, “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about– that’s what America wants, nice and calm. You’re almost there, don’t mess this–” about to say the word ‘up’ but was interrupted by the music to “Not Like Us” playing.
Before Lamar began the song, he commentated as part of the performance, “It’s a cultural divide… this is bigger than the music…” then continued to perform the diss track, which has a lot of memorable and “memeable” moments, such as Lamar smiling straight into the camera at the “Say Drake, I hear you like ‘em young,” lyric, the crowd yelling another notable lyric, “Tryna strike a coord, but it’s probably A-minor!” echoing throughout the stadium, and a cameo of tennis player Serena Williams, also Drake’s ex, of her dancing. The performance concluded with another song on his GNX album, “tv off,” as the lights in the stadium cut out and revealed a lit-up message in the crowd that spelled out “GAME OVER,” possibly a double entendre referencing his feud with Drake but also back to the playing the game metaphor in regards to the institution and culture.
Lamar was interviewed by Apple Music before the Super Bowl in regard to what he would include in his show. He went on to say that a big and important aspect of his show is storytelling, “I think I’ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music,” Lamar says. “And I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on– that sense of, you know, make people listen but also see and think a little.” This further proves that these found icons, symbolism, and overall message is not a made-up factor in anybody’s head; all of these callouts to the discriminatory parts of American culture regarding the Black experience is purposeful, and Lamar brought it to life within his performance.
This goes to show that with the Halftime Show, the revolution has been televised.
If you want to learn more about the symbolism, check out this Instagram post from the account “impact” about the performance: impact Instagram Post. And, if you want to watch the performance for yourself, check out the full halftime show posted on the NFL Youtube channel:Kendrick Lamar’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show
Junior Gab Neal is the Managing Editor. Her email is gneal@fandm.edu.