Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was perfect
OPINION: The Compton MC delivered a Super Bowl halftime show that was exactly what it needed to be to keep us talking about what it was or wasn’t.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
It’s been said but I’ll say it one more time for the cheap seats: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, better known as Kendrick Lamar, has had (and technically I suppose it’s ongoing?) one of the best calendar years on record for any hip-hop artist. Since March 2024, he’s been on the winning end of a long-running feud that saw him topple his (perhaps self-imposed) Canadian nemesis in song, at an awards ceremony, and on multiple stages, the latest being the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans. The halftime show was about the most entertaining part of the game unless you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan (I am not).
When it was announced that Kendrick would be the halftime show performer, the questions about whether he had enough songs to justify a halftime show started. Or whether New Orleans owed it to Lil Wayne or another artist from New Orleans to do the show. Or if he was even a big enough artist to justify that slot. All bad questions, by the way; you could argue what type of artist is best suited for that kind of stage, but to imply that Kendrick might not be worthy of it in the first place is asinine. But it matters not; he got the nod and on Sunday, February 9, put on a perfect show.
Yes, I said it; a perfect show.
Kendrick seems to have built that show around a few tentpoles, the most obvious being his long-running feud with Drake, one that I suppose should be over(?) now unless or until Drake decides to release music that speaks directly about it or to Kendrick about it. But the show also had a million easter eggs, smaller references, or things that needed to be looked up. For all of those people who suggest that the show wasn’t good, how often do you have to revisit a Super Bowl halftime show to discern just how many references you missed the first time or look up information to see what was happening in real time?
I’d say not often. But that’s part of the charm of Kendrick; his level of intention is very specific. I’m not trying to make a parallel here, but the way we dissect Jordan Peele films is how we engage with Kendrick’s art now, trying to see what the hidden messages are and sometimes making them up for ourselves as we go. I don’t think that’s the normal Super Bowl Halftime show modus operandi.
For instance, when the show opened up with what looked to be all the symbols from a Playstation controller, does that imply this is just all a game and we’re all just players in it? Possible. “Uncle Sam” alluded to that before Kendrick went into “Humble.” Kendrick did say in an interview a few days before the Super Bowl that he believes in the sport and competition of hip hop. Even at the end, he had the crowd illuminate the words “Game Over.” I mean, was that for Drake or for all of us who watched a gang of people dressed in either red, white or blue making up various configurations on an American flag. Is America over now that Trump — who was in attendance (I wonder if he watched this show) — is in office? Kendrick seems like the type to make a statement more subversively than to just outright say it; unless he’s talking about Drake.
But even using the American flag representation at the Super Bowl as a means of messaging is fantastic. By creating a version of the flag made up of Black folks nodding their heads in unison after being told not to be too reckless or too ghetto was impactful; we are the soul and the funk. I loved seeing that because not only was it a way to make a statement using one of the most overt symbols of the republic, but also its politics can be in the interpretation.
You can’t assume it was just window dressing; Kendrick made reference to the mythological 40 acres and a mule all the enslaved were promised at the end of the Civil War, during part of “Not Like Us.” My point is, Kendrick was speaking to the system that oppresses us, and uses the flag — the belief of a united country that often doesn’t include Black America — as cover.
While it’s not a direct shot at President Trump, who was in attendance, I think you could at least suggest that it was a jab. Ballsy, considering that this is the same NFL that removed the “End Racism” from the NFL end zones, coincidentally when the president who has made it his administration’s mission to be as racist as possible decides to attend. I’m half surprised that Kendrick’s half-time show was approved.
Samuel L. Jackson as “Uncle Sam” was perfect as well; trying to keep Kendrick on the straight and narrow and from going too far out of bounds by playing “that” song or being too “ghetto” doing it. Shots fired.
Which leads to another point of perfection: there was a lot of talk leading up to the show about whether or not Kendrick would even be able to perform “Not Like Us” at the show. I’m sure that most of us watched waiting to see if that was going to happen; we expected it but understood that maybe Kendrick would have to pull back for legal reasons.
Yeah, we were so wrong. Not only did Kendrick perform the song, he teased it several times, pointed out the fake influence of certain people and lampooned some folks’ willingness to sue over it. And then he did what only a pure maniac, what a diabolical little genius would do, he let off the most incendiary bars from the song and let the audience do the heavy lifting. Having that entire stadium say the words “pedophile” and yell “A-minor” is nasty work and I laughed so hard.
The way he looked at the camera when he said “SAY DRAKE!” was so crazy that he became a meme before the performance was even over. The fact that he had Serena Williams crip walking to “Not Like Us,” was the icing on the cake. Serena Williams, as you might remember, dated Drake years ago and after their split caught some stray bars here and there. Even her husband, Alex Ohanian, caught some bars from Drake. Well, guess who not only showed up at the Super Bowl but also became part of The Big Drake Take Down? Serena. And like, folks really just don’t like that dude.
An artist rarely has most people tuned in just to see what he might do. Especially when that “might do” is in relation to another rapper who is easily one of the biggest artists on the planet. That’s what happened, though, and then to use your show to take those shots while also being political, culturally sound, and with a hyper-specific vision? That’s perfection. He nailed it. He did what he was trying to do.
The argument about what that show could have been is over; Kendrick came in and delivered. People might argue about it as people are wont to do, but none of that even matters. The people he needed to reach got the message and, well, Drake did, too.
Game over.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
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