On Sept. 7, Kendrick Lamar announced that he would be performing for the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime show, which took place on Feb. 9 in New Orleans, La., bringing out SZA alongside him for a few of their collaborated songs on the set list.
This Pulitzer Prize winner has made a very well established name for himself. Albums such as “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” (2011) spent more weeks on the Billboard 200 chart than any other hip hop album in history. Meanwhile “To Pimp a Butterfly” (2015) was his first number one album on Billboard 200, charting all over the world in places such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
There were mixed opinions once the announcement came out, as one side expected and hoped for a performance from Lil Wayne since New Orleans is the rapper’s hometown. However, it was not all that surprising that Lamar would headline, as the intense back and forth conflict between Lamar and rap artist Drake had sparked once again in late March of 2024.
The argumentative diss tracks against one another was something the rap industry hadn’t seen as intensely since the split of N.W.A in 1991, which sparked a large interest in fans everywhere. As sides split with some of the biggest artists in the industry, so did the fan bases. People began keeping up with the latest songs and the sometimes not so subliminal insults placed strategically into each verse, making for an interesting discourse all over the internet.
“Not Like Us” is, if not the biggest song to come out of this war, which we see several references to during Kendrick’s performance. But it is important to note the bigger picture and storytelling Lamar conjured during the show. It does not all just revolve around simple rap beef, it is much bigger than that.
The viewers are first met with a cameo of Samuel L. Jackson, dressed head to toe in a patriotic suit and top hat. At first glance, the character is assumed to be the figure of Uncle Sam, but is actually a reference to Uncle Tom.
The idea of Uncle Tom refers to the novel from 1852, “Uncle Toms’ Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The novel refers to African Americans embracing submission towards white Americans and turning away from the Black community. As the show goes on, you can hear Jackson become accusatory of Lamar.
“Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto,” he said. Bringing to light the typical harmful stereotypes associated within hip hop music and the culture behind it.
Another notable quote from the performance was made at the beginning of “Squabble Up” by Lamar himself. “The revolution is about to be televised; you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” This reference to Gil Scott-Heron’s poem from 1971, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” argues that change cannot and does not come from corporations, but from individuals, and that the media will not showcase the immensely real violence of racism.
Speculation has arised around the phrase “wrong guy.” Fans theorized it to be a reference to our country’s current president, Donald Trump. Not only was he in attendance at the Super Bowl, but it would not be the first time Lamar would acknowledge him within his music.
There are several other references that are more than what meets the eye, artistically positioned to send a thorough message. This includes the stage and set being designed to highlight the issue of mass incarceration, and the racial disparities that go on behind bars, even for the same crimes. Even how Kendrick’s backup dancers, like Jackson, are dressed in red, white and blue is a statement.
During Lamar’s song “Humble,” the dancers come together in a line-up, bending forward with their backs in the air, which is theorized to be a physical representation of how America was built on the backs of African Americans during the times of slavery. The dancers separate, standing on two different sides of Lamar, speaking to political divisions around the nation.
As we begin to get to the digs made before and during the performance of “Not Like Us,” Lamar makes two viral quotes. The first being right before the performance of the song “All the Stars.”
“I wanna perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” he said. This is a clear diss at Drake since he sued Lamar and his label for defamation because of that one infamous line, which Lamar actually references with the chain he is wearing.
Right as we get into “Not Like Us,” Lamar brings up the term “40 acres and a mule.” In 1865, Union General William T. Sherman called for each formerly enslaved family to receive 40 acres of land, which never was fulfilled. This quote then kicks off the performance of the most anticipated song of the night.
As the camera pans around, we see Serena Williams, a tennis legend, take the stage in an all royal blue outfit, crip walking. Not only is Williams an ex-girlfriend of the rapper Drake, but she, like Lamar, is also from Compton, Calif., a place with deep roots in hip-hop.
Although it is understood that Sza performing alongside Lamar is because of their musical collaborations, it is a bit ironic, as it is known that Sza and Drake had a pretty on and off relationship for quite some time as well. This could also be looked at as a bit of a slap in the face towards the rapper.
There has not been much of a response from the Canadian rapper himself, besides a viral video of him during the opening night of his “Anna Max Win Tour.” He walked into the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, wearing a hoodie that looked to have smoking bullet holes all over it. Fans have theorized that the message Drake is sending is that even if he did lose this battle, he is still alive as that is what he stated directly to his audience.
Drake has released a new album, but so far, it doesn’t seem to hold any sneak disses towards Lamar. Rather, it’s a light hearted collaboration with well-known R&B artist Partynextdoor.
Although there is not much to comment on besides a few silly lines that are viral on TikTok, just know that Lamar’s latest album release “GNX”, which dropped in Nov., has surpassed the collab album “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” by 500 units.