A Message Of Rebellion: Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance

"The revolution will be televised. You picked the right time, but the wrong guy"

On Sunday Feb. 10, 2025, the nation witnessed Kendrick Lamar’s long-awaited Super Bowl Halftime Performance. The performance took place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA, during the intermission of the 59th annual Super Bowl.

Off the cusp of his remarkable year, in which he engaged in a rap battle with Aubrey 'Drake' Graham and released his highly acclaimed sixth-studio album; "GNX", Lamar’s success just keeps coming. Lamar received the distinct honor of headlining the 2025 Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, becoming the first rapper to do so on his own.

The decision to have Lamar headline was somewhat controversial for two reasons. For one, many hip-hop fans were up in arms about the rap icon Lil Wayne not being selected, as the event was being held in his home-state of Louisiana. The other, was that many believed Lamar was riding the coattails of his beef with Drake.

With the success of Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us", many left Drake for dead and declared the West Coast rapper victorious. Though Drake got the last word with the release of "The Heart Pt. 6", it lacked much substance and seemed like more of a defensive move in response to "meet the grahams". The song ended with Drake practically waving the white flag by stating, "You can drop a hundred more records, I'll see you later"

Many today will still argue over who’s diss tracks had the most replay value, or the better punchlines. However, the fact that Lamar came out on top is undeniable.

Fast forward to months after the beef, with Lamar set to perform at the Super Bowl, everyone fully expected yet another victory lap, this time in front of the 65,000+ fans who would be in attendance. In many ways it was, as Lamar performed the 5x Grammy award winning song, Not Like Us, just as everyone expected. However, Lamar also used the platform to give a much-needed statement on the current state of hip-hop.

In a move that has been highly discussed, Lamar strayed away from a greatest hits performance, as we have become accustomed to from those who have previously headlined. Instead, Lamar performed more recent songs from GNX, as well as songs that fit the narrative he wanted to portray. The setlist included,

• “GNX TRAILER” (snippet)

• “squabble up”

• “HUMBLE.”

• “DNA.”

• “euphoria”

• “man at the garden”

• “peekaboo” “

• luther” (feat. SZA)

• “All The Stars” (feat. SZA)

• “Not Like Us”

• “tv off”

The response to this setlist has been mixed. Many were not satisfied with the songs Lamar performed, as many stated they would have liked to see him perform some of his best hits from albums such as "Good Kid, m.A.A.d City" and "To Pimp a Butterfly".

However, that was never Lamar's intent. In an Apple Music exclusive interview with hip-hop journalists, Ebro and Nadeska, Lamar stated that the goal of his performance would be to look towards the future of his music, not the past. Lamar was then asked what we could expect from his performance, to which he replied, "Storytelling,"

Dave Free, who co-founded PgLang alongside Lamar and co-produced the performance, supported this answer in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Free stated that, "We wanted this performance to have a cinematic and theatrical element to it. We can confidently say that there's no Super Bowl performance that's quite like this one [...] it wasn't about playing the hits," Instead, Lamar used the platform to deliver a message of rebellion.

This made Samuel L. Jackson's portrayal of "Uncle Sam" a very crucial part of the performance, as his character intended to mimic the force of mainstream media by constantly trying to make Lamar play by the rules.

After Lamar's performance of Squabble Up, Sam tells him he is being "too loud, too reckless, too ghetto,". He later asks, "Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game?", which suggests that Lamar should be performing his socially acceptable, or "family friendly" songs, to fit within the standards of the usual Super Bowl performance.

At first it seems like Lamar might comply, performing some of his radio hits including HUMBLE., along with luther and All The Stars with his special guest, SZA. However, he then deceives Sam and goes "reckless" when he finally gives the audience the heavily teased performance of Not Like Us.

As Free explained, the message behind the performance was a representation of Black America. He stated, “What does Black America look like, and how to control that narrative of what it means to be Black in America versus what the world’s perspective of that is.”

This is a perfect representation of what hip-hop, a genre made by the people, for the people, was always meant to be. Many hip-hop historians will agree that the genre is not meant to be for mainstream consumption, but instead an avenue for artistic, social, and/or political expression.

Reactions from fans, artists, and label executives to criticisms towards Super Bowl performance.

For decades, it has been highly debated whether hip-hop's rise to mainstream attention has bastardized its original purpose. At its best, hip-hop gives a voice to the voiceless, not a battle to become the most marketable.

Lamar's Super Bowl performance brings us back to hip-hop's roots by putting the emphasis on delivering a message rather than simply cashing in on an easy check for a performance of his greatest hits.