Rapper Kendrick Lamar hit the stage for the halftime show during the Superbowl that premiered on February 9, 2025. Kendrick brought out many stars such as SZA, Serena Williams, and Samuel L. Jackson who represented “Uncle Sam”. However, there was a significance of the show, Kendrick was voicing about Black history and sending a message about America which many had mixed opinions about which they expressed on social media.
The opening of the show, the actor, Samuel L. Jackson as “Uncle Sam” delivered a statement, “the Great American game” could be referencing the football game but the stage is decorated like a PlayStation controller which could represent the message of America playing “games” with its citizens such as capitalism, politics, prison. At one point during his performance, “Uncle Sam” claimed Kendrick to be “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto” meaning how the U.S government views Black culture and hip-hop music. The dancers were wearing red, white, and blue as the colors of the America to where they assemble into the flag of America for the song “Humble” and Kenrick stands in the middle representing that the country is divided due to ongoing racial and political tension. As a camera zooms out, it shows the lights in the crowd that reads, “Warning wrong way” in which it also shows Kendrick performing in a prison yard. This could mean many things, one being that the country is moving in the wrong way, the other being a message to the black community that those who have a life in crime, are moving in the wrong direction.
Before he sang “Not like Us” Kendrick says “4o Acres and mule this bigger than music”, this was a reference to the reparations promised to black Americans at the end of slavery. On January 16, 1865, William T. Sherman’s Special Field Order No. 15 stated that each enslaved family would receive 40 acres of land. But the promise was never fulfilled; the order is often raised in conversations around reparations for Black Americans. One line that also stood out was “The revolution is about to be televised; You picked the right time but the wrong guy.” Many thought this was an attack on Donald Trump who was in attendance in the SuperBowl.
There were many headlines surrounding Lamar’s performance and Kendrick was receiving mixed reactions from the public stating his performance being “boring” or “inappropriate” for the Super-Bowl even being called as the “worst Super-Bowl performance” which gained attention on social media, with people tweeting about it. However, many were quick to defend, claiming it was important that an artist pointed out messages about America and the Black community in his performance and songs.
Overall, Kendrick stood out from the most with his performance, it was very well put together and he was able to put his mind into it. Any thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s performance? Were people unprepared for what Kendrick delivered in his performance for them going on social media with their opinions? Did Kendrick deserve the backlash?