Kendrick Lamar gave a captivating performance at the 2025 Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans on February 9 that will forever have an impact on political history. The rapper made history as the first solo hip-hop artist to headline the Super Bowl. However, his performance was not just for entertainment purposes. Instead, it was a direct message to America and a critique of American politics.
But first, who really is Kendrick Lamar? Born June 17, 1987, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, also known as Kendrick Lamar or K-Dot, is an American rapper born in Compton, California, whose diligent lyrics enable him to tell a story. It was during high school when he adopted the stage name K-Dot and began freestyle and battling rapping. K-Dot quickly formed a friendship with a fellow peer named Dave Free and they were able to bond over their love for the hip-hop industry by recording music together. Some of K-Dot’s earliest performances were held at a comedy club behind a tattoo parlor. It was 2003 when 16-year-old K-Dot released his first mixtape, Y.H.N.I.C. This mixtape drew a lot of interest around and beyond Southern California. In 2005, K-Dot signed with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). Gradually, K-Dot dedicated himself to being where he is today. K-Dot decided to revert back to his birth name in 2010 for the sake of artistic intimacy. According to Hard Knock TV, Lamar says, “The name change was just me basically developing myself.”
In 2011, Lamar released his first album entitled Section.80. However, Lamar began gaining worldwide popularity and recognition from the music industry when he released his second album in 2012, entitled Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. Fans all around the world quickly realized Lamar’s unique ability to convey a lasting message through his meticulous lyrics. Today, Lamar is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time.
Currently, Lamar is receiving even more attention due to his cultivating and impactful Super Bowl halftime performance that will forever go down in American history. Keira Gallagher is a senior at WMC who has been a fan of Lamar since her freshman year. She says, “I truly believe people will still be talking about his performance ten years from now. No one has ever seen a halftime performance like Kendrick’s, which is why I believe it will have a lasting impact on millions of people for a really long time.” And the thing with Lamar’s halftime performance is that the more people listen, the more people hear and see.
To start with Lamar’s symbolism, Lamar specifically chose Samuel L. Jackson to represent and exemplify Uncle Sam, who is the embodiment of America. Uncle Sam was used in the early 19th century as a depiction of America personified. Uncle Sam is often depicted as a white man and is a symbol of patriotism, the government, and the American people, but is also propaganda when it comes to recruitment and war. Historically, Uncle Sam has never been represented by people of color. Lamar could have easily chosen a white man to play Uncle Sam and narrate the performance. Instead, Lamar intentionally chose Samuel L. Jackson, a black cultural icon.
It’s important to note that Samuel L. Jackson has played a plethora of characters, including in the famous movie “Django Unchained.” In this film, Jackson plays a house slave who despises being a person of color and sympathizes with his slave master because he craves to be accepted by white people. There are some speculations that Lamar chose Jackson to play the role of Uncle Sam in his performance due to his role in “Django Unchained.”
The performance started with Jackson exclaiming, “Salutations! It’s your Uncle Sam, and this is the Great American Games!” “The Great American Games” is a double entendre because the audience is obviously watching the Super Bowl, but Lamar is also talking about the game that is being a person of color in America. This is also referring to the “game” we all must play according to those in power. Lamar tries to beat the “game” in his performance. This idea of a game is symbolized in the use of shapes in the stage design, which resembles a PlayStation controller.
Throughout the course of the show, Jackson consistently either praises Lamar on how he “behaves” or scolds him for not “behaving properly”. Lamar was trying to get it across that if you don’t “behave properly,” then you’re going to be chastised in the United States, especially as a person of color. One of Jackson’s most powerful statements was “No no no no no, too loud, too reckless, too ghetto. Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up!” This can be seen as a representation of the elite disapproving and criticizing the rest of society, a form of censorship. Lamar also incorporated this statement into the performance to bring awareness to what people of color have to constantly walk the fine line of: being able to embrace their culture and also people not deeming that as palatable to society.
Lamar proceeded to open his performance with the “GNX” trailer where he raps, “Everybody must be judged, but this time God only favoring us” and “You would not get the picture if I had to sit you for hours in front of the Louvre.” The Louvre is the most famous museum in Paris, France. Lamar is trying to get it across that no matter how many times citizens of America talk about the disparities in the country, the people who actually have the power to make a change will never understand.
During Lamar’s song “Be Humble,” the dancers, who were dressed in either red, white, or blue sweatsuits, formed a configuration of the American flag with Lamar in the middle of those dancers as he performed to show that America is divided and going back in time due to the political changes in the country. This visual was a direct reflection of a racially and politically torn country.
While Lamar was performing his song, “euphoria,” the lights in the audience said “WARNING WRONG WAY.” This came right before Samuel L. Jackson popped up and “deducted a life.” This can have multiple meanings, one being that America is moving in the wrong way, essentially going back in time to a divided country full of racism and discrimination. Another interpretation is that Lamar is saying it is not a good thing that Donald J. Trump is America’s president, once again.
One of the most important lines stated by Lamar in the show is “The Revolution is about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” This statement refers to the 1970s jazz song by Gil Scott-Heron entitled “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” a poem that called for revolution. Lamar and Scott-Heron refer to the fact that the first change that takes place is in the mind. People have to change their minds before they change the way we are currently living in America. The thing that’s going to change people is something that will never be captured on film. Everyone has to be in sync in order for there to be a change in this country. Scott-Heron was essentially saying that no one can watch the revolution on TV, but rather out in the streets to actually see and live it. In direct comparison, Lamar televised the revolution on stage with millions of people watching, including the president of the United States.
Another remarkable sight of symbolism seen in Lamar’s performance is when he said, “40 Acres and a Mule, this is bigger than the music.” “40 Acres and a Mule” is a direct historical reference to the emancipation process in the 19th century and to the unfilled promise made to formerly enslaved African Americans after the Civil War in 1865, which was intended to grant them 40 acres of land and resources for economic self-sufficiency to build up their lives to eventually embrace themselves into the American system. Therefore, when Lamar said “This is bigger than the music,” it was about the broken promises to Black and formerly enslaved people.
Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance was more than just a display of musical talent to entertain others. Instead, it was a bold, direct, and necessary statement about the state America is in. Through Lamar’s use of historical references, powerful lyricism, and symbolism, Lamar was able to transform the biggest stage in entertainment into a platform for activism. Lamar’s halftime performance will forever be remembered as a defining moment in both music and political history, proving that the revolution was in fact televised.
