The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles went head to head on Sunday, February 9, 2025 to compete for the title of the Super Bowl LIX champions. While this is the biggest football game of the year, many eyes were on the halftime show. This year’s headliner was Kendrick Lamar joined by special guest, SZA. Everyone was anticipating Lamar’s hit song “Not Like Us” in the midst of his feud with the rapper, Drake. While this was an interesting aspect to the performance, there were also many subtle forms of symbolism throughout the show that gave the performance deeper meanings. It was a show filled with political references and homages to black history. Lamar proved that his Super Bowl halftime show was about more than just the music.
At the start of the show, while performing one of his most popular songs “HUMBLE” Lamar’s dancers were formationed to portray the American flag. However, the dancers were divided in half with Lamar standing in the middle. This symbolism was so simple that some might not have noticed the meaning behind it. Some thought that the formation was just meant to highlight Lamar during his performance, but it was really meant to symbolize the divide in America right now. Lamar alluded to the concept of political division with the line, “it’s a cultural divide.”
Lamar’s halftime performance featured many cameos including actor Samuel L. Jackson who portrayed the famous Uncle Sam. This character is often seen as a personification of the United States and used as a symbol of American government. Jackson’s portrayal took a more realist approach, seemingly portraying America’s harsh views of rap music. His character constantly chastises Lamar throughout the performance expressing that his music is, “Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” Following Kendrick’s song “man at the garden” Jackson raised goosebumps delivering the line “Scorekeeper, deduct one life” directed towards Lamar for using a “culture cheat code.” This one sentence held power decrying the results of racial profiling and calling out America for its brutality. Following Lamar’s performance of the songs “luther” and “All The Stars” with SZA, Jackson returned one last time expressing, “That’s what America wants, nice and calm. You’re almost there, don’t mess this up” to which Lamar started the music for his diss track “Not Like Us.” This is a testament to the concept of the “American Dream” and how the country does not like when people are outspoken or expressive perferring people to remain nice and calm. Samuel L. Jackson’s performance was showstopping and hopefully opened some discussion between viewers regarding the issues in America.
Lamar’s performance was interactive with the crowd, as they wore light up bracelets that would spell out messages throughout the show. One of the most notable moments was when they spelled out “Warning Wrong Way.” It seemed that Lamar was trying to relay the message that the United States is moving in the wrong direction as a country.
Prior to his final number “Not Like Us,” Lamar rapped to his backup singers, “40 acres and mule, this is bigger than the music.” This refers to a key part in the Special Field Order No. 15, ordered by Union General William T. Sherman in 1865. According to USA Today, this order covered reparations promised to black Americans following the end of slavery. It called for each formerly enslaved family to receive 40 acres of land. This promise was never fulfilled and Lamar reopened this discussion as a key part of his performance.
Some Lowellville students watched the halftime show and shared their opinions on Kendrick Lamar’s performance. Junior Josh Pazel was a fan prior to the Superbowl saying he really enjoyed the show and the messages it stood for. He praised Lamar,, “Kendrick is a very complex mind for an artist, and he got the opportunity to perform on one of the biggest stages of all time. He really showed what he stood for on the stage.” One of Josh’s favorite parts of the performance was Samuel L. Jackson’s cameos as Uncle Sam, saying he felt like it was one of the most important and impactful aspects of the performance
Freshman Luka Mastronikolas thought the performance was very significant, due to the timing of the Super Bowl taking place during Black History Month and President Trump being in the audience. Luka felt that Lamar’s performance held a powerful message calling out U.S. propaganda. “It was more than just a halftime show,” he said.
Lamar announced during the performance, “The revolution is about to be televised; You picked the right time but the wrong guy.” This line signifies how important this performance was to both America and him. This is not the first time that Kendrick Lamar has spread awareness through his music. He has been known to drop songs that bring awareness to various social movements throughout his career. Kendrick Lamar is a testament that it is not always just about the music and he is using his platform to create change.
