Sure, you learn that proper.
Kendrick Lamar’s Tremendous Bowl LIX halftime present was palms down one of many Blackest moments of 2025. In simply 13 minutes, he flipped Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, seemingly took goal at Trump, and delivered a strong American story—all whereas throwing lyrical haymakers at Drake.
The Black Delight and Political Messaging
Let’s begin with the deeper themes. Your entire efficiency felt like a message to Drake, however it additionally paid homage to Spike Lee’s Bamboozled. Samuel L. Jackson, taking part in the position of Uncle Sam, wasn’t only a jab at Drake and the trade—it was additionally a shot on the executives and critics who needed Kendrick to dial down his relentless lyrical assault on Drizzy. It even took goal at those that dismissed Lamar as doing Civil Rights Rap—as if calling out injustice is a foul factor.
Jackson’s narration made that clear when he launched Lamar saying, “It’s your Uncle…Sam, and that is the nice American sport.” The road uncovered how America polices Black creative expression, punctuated by Jackson’s follow-up: “Too ghetto”—proper earlier than his mic was reduce.
The symbolism didn’t cease there. The American flag served as a double entendre: a reminder that the nation was constructed on the backs of enslaved Black individuals, but in addition a critique of how racism continues to divide. Lamar’s dancers even wore outfits harking back to The Mau Maus, the militant tradition purists within the movie Bamboozled, underscoring his message about defending Black tradition from exploitation.
Then got here the “Not Like Us” second. Wanting his dancers lifeless within the eye, Lamar declared: “That is larger than the music.” Highlighting the phrase—40 acres and a mule—refers back to the unfulfilled reparations promise from 1865, a theme Lamar has touched on earlier than in To Pimp a Butterfly. Within the tune “Wesley’s Principle,” he rapped concerning the phantasm of prosperity for Black People: “What, you need you a home or a automotive? / Forty acres and a mule, a piano, a guitar?” By bringing it to the Tremendous Bowl stage, he made it clear: the struggle for fairness isn’t over—particularly in his residence state of California, the place reparations debates are ongoing—therefore the signal within the crowd saying “unsuitable manner” as a result of he was talking up in a sanitized discussion board.
WARNING WRONG WAY! Nothing however respect for Kendrick 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hnxCXlIr8C
— ECP408 (@ecp408) February 10, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The Direct Photographs at Drake
Now Let’s focus on the direct jabs at Drake.
Through the efficiency, Lamar teased the gang with the potential of performing his Drake diss and L.A. anthem, “Not Like Us.”
“I wish to play their favourite tune, however you understand they like to sue,” he quipped, referencing Drake’s defamation lawsuit. Because the beat dropped, Lamar flashed a sly smile and rapped, “Say, Drake, I hear you want ‘em younger,” earlier than letting the viewers full the lawsuit-inspiring line—”licensed pedophile.” The litigious comment comes after Drake took his points with “Not Like Us” to courtroom, in January submitting a federal lawsuit towards Common Music Group over the diss monitor that accuses him of being a pedophile, allegedly.
Halfway via, Lamar locked eyes with the digital camera and dropped one other bombshell: “They tried to rig the sport, however you’ll be able to’t pretend affect.” The road was broadly seen as a response to Drake’s lawsuit towards Common Music Group, which accuses the label of serving to unfold the allegations fueling “Not Like Us.” With that one line, Lamar dismissed each the lawsuit and any trade makes an attempt to undermine his affect.
The Delicate (and Not-So-Delicate) Jabs
Regardless of its deep cultural messaging, Lamar’s efficiency was filled with layered pictures, together with the set designed as a big PlayStation controller—pointing to Sony, the guardian firm of Drake’s label, OVO as he was actually controlling the narrative whereas fueling conspiracy theories about hidden messages.
After which there was Serena Williams. The tennis legend hit the C-walk on the X button to “Not Like Us”—a callback to the backlash she confronted for utilizing the dance to have a good time her Olympic gold medal win in 2012. This wasn’t simply shade at Drake, but in addition a broader message about respectability politics and Black pleasure being policed.
Lamar closed with an electrifying efficiency of “television off” with DJ Mustard, bringing the present full circle. The monitor’s message? Cease getting distracted—get up to actuality. And, after all, it doubled as a parting shot at Drake and J. Cole’s “First Particular person Shooter,” proving as soon as once more that Lamar performs the largest sport of all.
The Larger Image
Earlier than the massive night time, Lamar informed Apple Music that his efficiency could be culturally vital and an evolution of every part he’s finished earlier than. He wasn’t mendacity. The web continues to be dissecting each line, each image, each transfer. However as Jay-Z stated again in 2001, “You fools don’t take heed to music, you simply skim via it.”
Kendrick wasn’t simply placing on a present. He was making historical past.
—
*Respectfully.
