Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance is the most viewed Halftime Show in history! The Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show has everyone talking about Kendrick Lamar and his vision. People are obsessed and I’m going to tell you why.
https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/super-bowl-2025-ratings-viewers-1236302721
Race most definitely played a part in why people are so obsessed with the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Every person on that stage was Black, including Kendrick, every background dancer, and every guest. The halftime show heavily referenced America: the dancers in red, white, and blue as well as their flag formation as a part of the dance performance, and Samuel Jackson as Uncle Sam were particularly significant.
Kendrick Lamar is an incredible writer and musician, and his organization of the performance was unbelievable. The performance has such a deep and profound significance. His talent alone is astonishing and is enough reason to be obsessed, but the use of this performance as an opportunity to speak out completely and utterly shocked America. He used one of the biggest symbols of the U.S. –the biggest football game in the world– to critique the nation.
Some people loved this aspect, some people did not. Regardless of what Kendrick was saying about America, some people didn’t want to see a vision of a Black America and didn’t care for his criticism. Even if one disagrees, Kendrick most definitely made a cunning and clever statement.
This performance was incredibly well thought out. Kendrick had a lot to say and did it beautifully. Part of the obsession is also people dissecting his work and trying to decode what he is saying. He put so much into that performance and the more you watch, the more you notice new things and better understand his vision.
The statements he makes throughout the performance are striking and historically significant. Kendrick put a great deal of symbolism into his statements, choreography, lights, the stage itself, all with a a skit-like structure.
Kendrick starts out the show with flashing lights spelling out “start here,” and soon after, Kendrick goes on to say, “The revolution’s about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” Incredibly significant, referencing the poem “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron, demonstrating the silencing and social death of Black Americans trying to fight for their rights. Kendrick is making a statement that his art, his way of revolution, is televised and he won’t be silenced. The idea of the “wrong guy” being picked could be referring to President Trump and/or Kendrick referencing himself as the wrong guy to be put in this position if society thinks that he’s going to conform and play by their rules.
The idea of Uncle Sam is one that is very interesting too. It’s the use of an American symbol once again. Many believe that Uncle Sam is meant to illustrate an “Uncle Tom” figure from the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” an anti-slavery book published before the 13th Amendment. The book is known to be very powerful and even played a factor in the start of the Civil War. This could have a double meaning, on the one hand illustrating America’s policing of people of color through Uncle Sam and on the other, illustrating the need for assimilation to keep the peace to the point of betraying one’s own culture. The illustration of Samuel Jackson’s character can be seen especially through the line “Do you really know how to play the game?” He is asking if Kendrick knows how to fit into the system and play by the rules of American culture.
https://www.americanyawp.com/text/wp-content/uploads/School-Begins1.jpg
During the show, Kendrick states “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music” referring to the lack of reparations for Black people post-slavery, as the 40 acres and a mule were the promised reparations that were never provided. Kendrick also established a deeper connection to his work than just entertainment, the fact that his music has meaning and his art is an expression of himself. What Kendrick has to say is beyond just music; Kendrick’s art has cultural and historical significance.
https://www.history.com/news/40-acres-mule-promise
The line “it’s a cultural divide” was especially striking in truth and in depiction through choreography. We see the dancers creating stripes that are divided through separating in the dance. We also see the flag being made of entirely Black people and that especially signals America’s success being built off of Black people’s accomplishment. America is built off of the backs of Black people; the exploitation of Black people. Black people, however, are rarely credited for that work, even when America exists the way that it does because of their ancestors’ contribution to the country.
Kendrick’s recent feud with Drake was also definitely relevant to why people have an obsession with this performance. The music that Kendrick made during the feud has been culturally relevant within itself. The songs Kendrick made became so popular that most Americans would recognize “Not Like Us” from a singular snippet of the song: that’s how culturally impactful it was.
A significant part of the obsession was people’s envy for the way that Kendrick succeeded in his revenge against Drake in this performance. The performance didn’t only call him by name and make remarks about an ongoing lawsuit, but it also implicated Drake in this idea of being on the “wrong side” of this cultural divide. The performance featured Serena Williams, a rumored wronged “ex” of Drake. Serena Williams danced during the performance of “Not Like Us,” giving a voice to a black woman who was wronged by “the game.”
SZA performed on Stage with Kendrick. Like Serena, SZA is an ex of Drake, but her feature seems more so about artistic excellence than about getting back at Drake. Still, Kendrick completely obliterated Drake by having two of his exes on stage, having a superbowl crowd chanting “A MINOR,” accusing Drake of pedophilia, and by painting Drake (and others like him) to be someone who tries to embody a culture they’re not a part of. Kendrick saying “you tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence” proves that point to be true. People continuously obsess over the way that Kendrick looks at the camera, smiling, as he says “hey Drake,” as a moment of pure satisfaction. The real nail in the coffin is that a fight against racism is also a fight against Drake.
The stage itself is set up as a game console. It’s Kendrick’s template of the “American Game.” The concept within itself and the way that it’s used throughout the performance is genius. Kendrick has created the concept of a game within a game about the “Game of American society” within a big symbol of the U.S. People are obsessed with his performance because his performance is brilliant.
Kendrick Lamar ties the whole show together ending with the song “tv off” and the lights shining “GAME OVER.” He put together a really powerful, nuanced, and cohesive piece of art for the whole world to see. He’s playing the game by his own rules and criticizing the injustice that exists within U.S. society and politics. Having this performance in the biggest American game on national television is really significant. It’s really beautiful because it gives a voice to Black history and it’s created to empower the Black community and encourages an understanding of the complexity of racism. Kendrick Lamar’s art in this performance, and in all his work, is now forever written into American history.
What’s not to be obsessed with?