By Kendall Krause
“The revolution about to be televised,” was the line Kendrick Lamar opened his Superbowl halftime performance with and it clearly set the stage for what was to come. Kendrick Lamar is a 22 grammy awards winning rap artist with a Compton, California background. Compton, California is known for gang violence and is economically challenged. Lamar grew up living on welfare and was introduced to the economic and social issues of the area as young as five years old during the Los Angeles Riots, which were followed by years of similar exposure. Believe it or not, this was Lamar’s second time performing at the Superbowl, his first time was in 2022 with Snoop Dog and other rap and hip-hop artists. In a pre-show interview, Kendrick explained how fans should expect storytelling from his show, as he’s always been very open about it throughout his career. It’s speculated that Kendrick Lamar wanted to perform primarily solo at Superbowl LIX to get back at Drake with his song Not Like Us. It’s clear to see that there is much more symbolism to Lamar’s performance; from Uncle Sam to Kendrick’s outfit. Kendrick Lamar’s performance was one of the most important performances ever seen at the Superbowl. The show’s symbolism highlighted the political divide in America, the disputes and legal allegations between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, and had notable reactions from critics.
In order to understand how Kendrick Lamar’s performance gives insight into the political divide in America, it’s important to look at each instance of symbolism in his show and the history behind that symbol. The first, and arguably most prominent, symbol during Lamar’s performance was Samuel L. Jackson playing the part of Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam was adopted as the national symbol of the United States in 1950 and represented the mainstream, “white friendly America” (Bell). Throughout his performance, Lamar was playing, “The Great American Game,” which in this case, symbolized being black in America. This divide over skin color was predominant throughout Lamar’s performance, as Uncle Sam – Samuel L. Jackson – narrated it with lines such as “Too Ghetto,” “Too Loud,” “That’s not what they want,” and many more racially discriminating comments. Another prominent symbol in his performance that represented the political divide in America is having his dancers, all of whom are black, wear the colors of the American flag and stand in such a way that resembles the flag. In this part of the performance Kendrick is also seen walking through the middle of the “flag,” splitting it apart while the dancers are hunched over with their arms above their heads. This specific instance of symbolism can be understood as Lamar referencing slavery, implying the opinion that America was built on the backs of black Americans. More of a pop culture drama point in the performance, rather than a symbol, Serena Williams is seen for a few seconds crip walking on the stage, which she was criticized for after winning a tennis match in London, England. An important note about Williams is that she was in a relationship with rapper, Drake, between 2011 and 2015. While this is more of a pop culture observation, it can be seen as a symbol from Lamar getting back at Drake for attempting to sue Universal Music Group, which Drake and Lamar share a label with, for defamation and harassment over allowing the release of Not Like Us (Glynn). Other instances of symbolism include the stage being set up to look like a game controller which ties into the references of “The Great American Game.” It’s possible that even Kendrick’s outfit could have been symbolism, with the colors representing different gangs. With the red on his jacket meaning bloods, blue meaning crips, and white meaning the KKK. He was also wearing a lowercase “a” chain which could have been a reference the line “A minor” in Not Like Us. Each symbol gives insight into the political divide in America as well as a broader look into the background of Kendrick’s performance.
Aside from the visual symbolism, Lamar used many verbal references to American history throughout his show. Before he performed Not Like Us, he said, “Forty acres and a Mule, this is bigger than the music”. This is a direct reference to the emancipation process from the late 1800’s and the unkept promises to African Americans. Slaves were told that they would be able to build on the land they were enslaved on once they were free but ended up being lied to. “The revolution’s about to be televised,” is a reference to rapper Gil Scott-Herron’s 1971 Poem, “The Revolution will not be Televised.” Herron’s poem is about how each individual is responsible for the change they want to see. It’s likely that Lamar used this to show that the revolution is happening now, and it’s being televised. Another verbal reference included “I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue”. This is a reference to the allegations made against Lamar and Universal Music Group. The verbal references Kendrick used allowed viewers to understand the symbolism as well as the history, that was behind every aspect of his performance.
A reference that popularly deserves the outmost recognition is Lamar’s song Not Like Us. Why did he make this song? And what’s the story behind it? An important thing to recognize about Not Like Us is that it is part of a diss track directed at Drake. As mentioned before, Kendrick Lamar and Drake share the same music label, which ultimately led to the legal allegations against Kendrick Lamar and Universal Music Group. Starting almost a year ago, in March of 2024, former collaborators with Drake, Metro Boomin’ and Future, released a song with an uncredited line by Kendrick Lamar. This line was “Forget the big three, it’s just the big me.” The “Big Three” was supposedly Drake, Lamar, and J. Cole. This is what sparked the almost yearlong beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. In response to Lamar’s line, J. Cole released a track titled 7 Minute Drill, but quickly realized that it wasn’t a smart move regarding his career and apologized, praising Lamar. Next, Drake released a song directed at Lamar’s height – 5ft 4in – titled, Push Ups (Drop and Give me 50). In this song, Drake attacked Lamar essentially saying that he’s just a “fill-in” that is forced to collaborate with pop artists, meaning a pop artist or band asks him to rap a part of their song to make it more appealing and modern. Kendrick then came out with two different songs within three days aimed at Drake about his executive position on the show Euphoria and that someone affiliated with Drake was giving away previously unknown information about him. Finally, Drake released a diss track aimed at Lamar’s family, and Lamar did likewise only 20 minutes after the release. After Lamar’s third release regarding these disputes, he released his song Not Like Us which called Drake a pedophile and accused him of having relations with underaged women.
Leading up to January of this year, Drake sued Universal Music Group for defamation and harassment over Not Like Us. Drake’s lawyers claimed that Universal created a viral hit out of a song that made untrue and unfactual allegations towards Drake in that he is a criminal pedophile. Universal responded saying that Drake’s claims were untrue and illogical, essentially meaning, “Why would we do that.” Universal also accused Drake of trying to silence and defame Lamar by bringing a rap battle to the court. According to Universal, it’s not uncommon for Drake to use the label to engage in back-and-forth rap battles, expressing how he feels about other artists. Within the first three days of the release of Not Like Us, the song had 21 million streams and ended up having one billion streams on Spotify by the beginning of February, which led to the song winning five grammy awards on February 2nd, one of which included best song of the year for 2024. Soon, given the lawsuits, the media was wondering if Lamar would perform Not Like Us at the Superbowl.
Teasing Not Like Us halfway through his performance with the line, “I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” was the first hint that Kendrick would in fact perform his most popular song, regardless of who would get mad about it. Right before performing Not Like Us, Kendrick made a direct hit at Drake and their beef by saying, “Say Drake, I hear you like ‘em young,” while looking directly at the camera. People on social media praised this part of the performance, replaying it for weeks after the Superbowl. Despite the positive feedback on Kendricks’s performance, there were a handful of critics that had something negative to say. According to Billboard Hot 100, there were people who despised his performance, calling Lamar a menace, petty, and saying he should’ve expected the criticism coming from this performance. Amala Ekpunobi pointed out in her video about Kendrick’s performance that critics of the show could’ve chosen to criticize the political message behind it. They could’ve argued that America wasn’t built on the backs of black Americans, but instead they criticized the performance itself saying how terrible it was. The question the media has been asking; “What did Drake think of Lamar’s performance of Not Like Us?” While Drake has yet to directly say anything publicly about the show, people he knows privately have claimed that he is angry with being unable to stop Lamar from performing Not Like Us. All accounts of criticism, both positive and negative, show how influential of a pop culture icon Kendrick Lamar is. The negative criticism, in particular, further proves Kendrick’s point that there is a political divide in America and that black Americans have been “Playing the game,” most of their lives.
As of now, Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show is the most viewed halftime show in Superbowl history with over 133 million viewers, which is more viewers than Superbowl LIX itself. From Compton, California to the biggest stage in America, Kendrick Lamar has made clear his influence as a person and as a performer. Despite a yearlong dispute with rapper, Drake, and constant backlash from the media, Lamar still managed to give a showstopping performance that was not only entertaining, but also symbolic. The message about the political divide in America was made clear through visual symbolism and verbal references from Uncle Sam all the way down to Kendrick’s outfit. Many people praised Lamar for his performance, while others negatively critiqued it. As of now, nothing has been confirmed about the allegations between Drake and Lamar; however, it is safe to say that Lamar has won the favor of many Americans through his audacity and pettiness over the diss from Drake.
ECC Cornerstone 