Screenshot of embedded Getty Images photo. Credit Getty Images Sport | Patrick Smith
On Feb. 9, football fans and non-fans alike gathered around the television to watch Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance before the Philadelphia Eagles’ 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Rumors were circling the performance online before it began, largely questioning if Lamar would play his song, “Not Like Us,” which is currently at the forefront of music artist Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Lamar.
However, Lamar’s performance ultimately was much more than a move in the ongoing Drake-Kendrick feud. As Lamar said, “this is bigger than the music.”
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In this performance, Lamar chose to break the mold of a typical NFL halftime show. Not only is Kendrick Lamar the first solo rapper to headline, but he chose to do his performance in a way never seen before. He made this clear in his opening song, an unreleased track, telling his audience that this performance wouldn’t be a typical “greatest hits” showcase.
However, the most groundbreaking and unique aspect of his show was his adamance to not play “The Great American Game” to anyone’s rules but his own.
Lamar’s performance was the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show of all time with over 100 million viewers. Along with celebrities Adam Sandler, Pete Davidson, and Taylor Swift, newly-elected President Donald Trump was also in attendance at the Super Bowl.
The performance begins on a video-game control-themed stage, with lights in the stand counting down to the start of the halftime. The broadcast camera then pans to Samuel L. Jackson in an Uncle Sam costume (acting as a narrator, game director, and personification of America itself) welcoming the audience to “The Great American Game!”
The camera then cuts to Kendrick Lamar sitting on a Buick GNX with his backup dancers piling out of it, clown-car style. The dancers clad in red, white and blue swarm the stage as Lamar tells the world, “the revolution ‘bout to be televised — you picked the right time, but the wrong guy.” Not only is this statement introducing the audience to Lamar’s intentions in his performance, but it is also a reference to a satirical song from 1974 by Gil Scott-Heron entitled “The Revolution Will Not be Televised.” In this jazz-funk song, Scott-Heron claims that individuals must take an active part in protesting, as politicians and corporations do not care about the individual.
After rapping a snippet of an unreleased song, Uncle Sam is quick to correct Lamar’s actions. As the personification of America itself, Uncle Sam cites the performances as “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” He then asks, “Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game?”
The camera pans to Lamar. Surrounded by his dancers in the shape of the American flag, his answer is clear: he is not planning to play anyone’s game.
As Lamar launches himself into the song “Humble,” his backup dancers tell the story Lamar is wanting to get across. This all-Black cast makes up the American flag, showing how America is quite literally made up of its Black citizens. The dancers then split the American flag in half, giving a clear signal of the current divide in America.
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Lamar’s stance against the game that America asks its Black citizens to play is solidified when the lights in the stand flash “Warning – Wrong Way,” signifying that Lamar is crossing a dangerous boundary. This theme is seen throughout the show, and he emphasizes it in his rendition of his song “Man at the Garden,” in which he changed many of his lyrics to directly address his own refusal to play America’s game. His lyric changes were often subtle, though he doesn’t hold back when he pointedly cuts his lyric “it angers me to know the lames can speak,” bringing attention to the political censorship happening in today’s world.
Original “Man at the Garden” Lyrics:
“You deserve it all
don’t you play with me or stay with me
Crashin’ out right now, no one’s safe with me
Dangerously, nothin’ changed with me, still got pain in me
Flip a coin, want the shameless me or the famous me?
How annoying, does it angers me to know the lames can speak
On the origins of the game I breathe? That’s insane to me”
Super Bowl “Man at the Garden” Lyrics:
“I deserve it all
don’t you play with me, now stay with me
Crashin’ out right now, it ain’t safe for me
Dangerously, ain’t no changing me, ain’t no shaming me
Flip a coin, you want the dangerous me or the famous me?
How annoying….
From the poise, in the game I speak, ashamed of me”
Abruptly, the “Uncle Sam” character jumps to the camera, acting again as a form of narration when saying, “Scorekeeper, deduct one life!” Lamar, however, is not fazed by America’s dislike of him. Lamar doubles down on his artistic vision, returning to the stage for a performance of the song “Peekaboo.”
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After this song, Lamar turns to a group of women and tells them, “I wanna perform they favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” referencing Drake’s lawsuit against him. After teasing the intro riff of “Not Like Us,” Lamar changes his mind and chooses to instead “slow it down,” he says, as SZA takes the stage for a melodic rendition of “All the Stars.”
This melodic song pleases Uncle Sam, praising Lamar’s ability to do “what America wants.” However, Lamar yet again shows his adamance against appeasing anyone’s will but his own. Lamar takes the stage for the previously teased “Not Like Us.”
Before dishing out one final blow to Drake, Lamar makes it clear that the song is not just about Drake anymore. Lamar, taking the world’s biggest musical floor, tells the audience, “it’s a cultural divide, ima get it on the floor.”
“40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music,” Lamar continues, directly referencing America’s failed promise toward its Black population, and telling the world that this isn’t about a petty rap feud anymore. This is much bigger than that — bigger than Drake, and bigger than Lamar himself —this is about America’s game itself.
“They tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence,” is Lamar’s last verbal reference to the mistreatment of Black Americans before jumping into “Not Like Us.” During this infamous diss, he doesn’t hold much back. Lamar makes sure to have his fun, taking a literal victory lap, and walking in a circle while deviously smirking when name-dropping Drake. For this song, Lamar leaves his political message up to his background dancers.
For the first time in this performance, we see the background dancers wearing red, white and blue all dancing together, no longer divided by the color they’re wearing, signifying the country’s unity in their hatred toward Drake. Lamar’s prior words, “it’s a cultural divide, ima get it on the floor,” echo as the dancers death-drop to the ground, with only a small number of dancers dressed in white remaining, still dancing in a circle. This “inner circle,” interpreted by some viewers as representative of the top 1% (made up mainly by White members of America), are quite literally the only people left standing, still dancing unaffected by the people dropped on the ground around them.
Not only do the backup dancers get their moment to shine making their political message, but surprise guest Serena Williams soon takes the spotlight as well. The camera focuses on her performing a crip-walk dance. While the simple act of inviting Williams, Drake’s ex, is enough to turn heads, her dance tells us more about Lamar’s motives.
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Williams, in 2012, faced severe backlash after crip-walking after a victory at Wimbledon. This dance was criticized for “glorifying gang culture,” despite Williams’ assurances that it was “just a dance.” The dance, an embodiment of the Black Los Angeles culture (where both Lamar and Williams have roots), was front and center at her Super Bowl appearance. After the Super Bowl, Williams said in a backstage video on X, “Man, I did not crip-walk like that at Wimbledon. Ooh, I would’ve been fined.”
Lamar, seemingly unable to resist having his last bit of fun before signing off for the night, brings rapper and producer, Mustard, on stage for an energy-filled rendition of “TV Off.” Lamar then grabs his imaginary remote to press the “off” button, turning off the lights on the stage to reveal the words “Game Over” lit up in the stands.
While Lamar couldn’t resist a victory lap on the world’s largest music stage to seal his beef with Drake, the performance was ultimately much more than that. From the second Samuel L. Jackson popped in frame with his Star-Spangled costume, you knew Lamar wouldn’t be playing it safe.
The protest and politically-fueled performance didn’t stop with what Lamar planned. One of the backup dancers in the halftime show hid a pro-Sudan and Gaza protest flag that was revealed during the performance. While this individual was acting alone with no support from any other members of the cast, it goes to show that political messages were deeply ingrained in this performance from start to finish.
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