Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance Merged Reality, Conscious Rap, and Politics with His Skills That Won His Pulitzer Prize

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Kendrick Lamar's halftime show for the Super Bowl LIX (Philadelphia Eagles vs Kansas City Chiefs) was undoubtedly a political performance filled with multiple themes and plenty of symbolism. The "Poetic Justice" rapper headlined the halftime show one week after winning five additional Grammys—Lamar now holds 20 Grammy Awards.

Sunday's halftime show has sparked a wave of skepticism and criticism, igniting a debate on why Kendrick Lamar chose to include certain artistic components and perform some of his less commercially successful songs (except "Not Like Us") for America's family-oriented "Super Bowl" game. However, the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper is known for his enigmatic performances that challenge the status quo and provoke thought.

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Kendrick has always been vocal about the plight of African Americans during his musical career. At the 2016 Grammy Awards, Lamar's dancers performed in chains to address the mass incarceration of Black Americans, which has a semblance of slavery. The Compton native's 2024 concert, The Pop Out: Ken & Friends brought rival Los Angeles gang members (bloods and crips) on stage in unison—gang violence has been a drawback for Black Los Angeles residents for decades.   

On Sunday, Kendrick's special guests were a surprising mix, including tennis star and fellow Compton native Serena Williams, music producer DJ Mustard, his upcoming tour mate SZA, and actor Samuel Jackson. Their presence added an unexpected layer of depth to the performance.

Lamar's Super Bowl showcase came at a pivotal time, roughly a month after President Trump was sworn in for a second term in what was considered one of the most controversial Presidential elections in the history of the United States. The timing of the performance added a layer of significance and relevance to the show. The former Top Dawg Entertainment star's nearly 15-minute show touched on the current climate in America, especially for blacks, and his artistic beef with fellow rapper Drake.

At the SB LIX, Lamar opened the show with multiple themes. Samuel Jackson, who is Black, represented America's caricature of Uncle Sam, who is always depicted as a white male. Samuel opened the show by saying, "Salutations, it's your Uncle Sam! And this is the great American game!" Kendrick followed, delivering the lyrics, "No more handshakes and hugs; the energy only circulates through us; everybody must be judged." "But this time, God's only favoring us. I'm carrying heavier hearts right now." The phrase (But this time God's only favoring us) seems to imply that God will finally protect black Americans from racism and all of its horrible by-products.

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Lamar warned, "The revolution is about to be televised; you picked the wrong guy, but the right time." That statement piggybacked on the late poet and revolutionary Gil Scott Heron, who made the song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" in projection to the eventual uprising and revolution that America would eventually have due to racism and its horrors. The lyricist’s dancers wore America's colors- red, white, and blue, and positioned themselves on opposite sides of Lamar to illustrate America's division during his song "Humble." The Prince of Compton had a well lit sign on stage that read, "Warning-Wrong Way." The sign represented the message for Black Americans to redirect our lives in terms of education, careers, poverty, and social statuses.

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Uncle Sam chimes in during the performance, telling Kendrick, "No! Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto!" He then questions him, "Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game?"—This refers to how Black Americans are expected to play 'political' and 'societal' games in the nation. Uncle Sam then asked the scorekeeper to deduct one life! The deduction of one life represents how frequently Black lives are lost and undervalued in America.

Yet, once Lamar performed the melodic songs with SZA, "Luther" and "All the Stars," Uncle Sam gave his approval, chiming back in saying, "That's what I'm talking about—that's what America wants, nice and calm, you're almost there."

Kendrick Lamar & SZA. Photo @SZA/Instagram

Lamar ended his set with the battle song "Not Like Us," which went global after he released the track in response to musical slights that Drake made against him during their feud. "Not Like Us" has surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify alone. Lamar's five Grammys from 2025 were for "Not Like Us."

The song likely created an irreparable rift between Lamar and Drake, who once shared a positive working relationship in the music industry. On the track, he insinuates that Drake is a pedophile, among other insults.

“Not Like Us” went viral worldwide. Several agencies and businesses, such as the NBA, used "Not Like Us." A video game was also created from it—the song quickly became one of the most popular songs across all genres of music.

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Drake reportedly sued his record label, Universal Music Group, which is also Kendrick's parent label, for defamation and harassment, alleging that the company helped to spread a "false and malicious" narrative about him when they promoted and released Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us," according to Yahoo. Front Office Sports reports that the song's performance could have opened up Lamar's label, FOX, and the NFL to a lawsuit for allowing the performance to be aired for millions of viewers.

During the performance, Lamar toyed with the thought of performing “NLU,”

before actually rapping the song, he stated, “I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue.” 

Some have rated Lamar's performance as one of the worst in the history of Super Bowl halftime shows, while others consider it a genius way to entertain and employ important ideologies, in the midst of America's current social unrest!

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