When it was announced in the fall of 2024 that Kendrick Lamar would headline the Super Bowl 59’s halftime show, most people had to expect there would be some discord surrounding the performance come February considering the person headlining it was last year’s king of controversy.
Lamar’s very public feud with fellow rapper Drake took not only the hip-hop community, but essentially the entire world, by storm. From diss tracks to Grammy’s to lawsuits against said diss tracks, it was evident we were in for an attention-grabbing halftime show when the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs headed to the locker rooms.
The halftime show didn’t start out with Lamar, instead America was greeted by the legendary Samuel L. Jackson in an “Uncle Sam” costume. He proposed a “game” to Lamar; it was going to be up to us to determine if Lamar knew how to play.
The Compton-born artist kicked things off with the very Los Angeles-influenced “Squabble Up,” which triggered Uncle Sam to reassert himself into the show to explain to Lamar that he was already playing the game wrong.
“No, no, no! Too loud, too reckless, too… ghetto,” Uncle Sam explained before Lamar rifted off classics like “DNA” and “Humble.”
It was at this point in the performance that I understood the message Lamar was trying to send to the country. There is a clear perception of rap and the genre’s artists, so Lamar knew the mixed reviews would come flooding in as he performed his “ghetto” hits. It was the same reception some of the greatest hip-hop artists to come out of LA got when they performed their “boring” show at Super Bowl 56, which consisted of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and more artists rapping for the entirety of the show.
It’s after a few more head-bopping hits from his most recent project “GNX,” that Uncle Sam reenters the frame to tell Lamar he’s lost a life in this “game.” The pace of the show hasn’t slowed down one bit, and Lamar’s at risk of losing his audience according to Uncle Sam.
Lamar finally gives in (for the sake of the message he’s conveying) when he brings SZA out to perform “Luther” and “All The Stars.” The R&B hit from “GNX” tied in with one of the greatest songs to come out of the Marvel Universe finds Lamar back on Uncle Sam’s good side.
“That’s what America wants! Nice and calm. You’re almost there; don’t mess this up,” Sam says with a big grin as “All The Stars” fades out. Lamar further pushes his agenda with Uncle Sam’s final cameo, and this interjection calls out all the people who he knows can’t stand to hear him rap.
But then the moment all of America had been waiting for comes. The coveted beat to “Not Like Us,” the diss track on Drake that earned Lamar five Grammys, cuts in and Caesars Superdome erupts.
Lamar puts his heart and soul into what some believe is the final nail in Drake’s coffin and this year-long beef we’ve all been witness to. The 13-minute performance is capped off with “Not Like Us” and then the most popular track from “GNX,” “TV Off.”
It’s a really fun, rowdy way to end a halftime show that got off to a slower start than most anticipated. Serena Williams was seen crip walking to “Not Like Us” and the highly celebrated hip-hop producer, Mustard, galloped around the stage with Lamar.
I have so much appreciation for the message Lamar spread with the 13 minutes he was allotted, and the texts my friends and I received from our parents reaffirmed Lamar’s point and the entire purpose of Samuel L. Jackson’s character. The “that was boring,” “I couldn’t understand him,” and “I miss Bruno Mars” texts were flooding in as “TV Off” faded out; I had to tip my cap to Lamar.
However, I have to empathize with the older generation to some extent. I was sitting on the edge of my seat for the entire show, but that’s because I am a Lamar fan. For someone with no prior knowledge of Lamar’s discography, he’s tucking you into bed by the third song. Up until the trumpets of “Not Like Us” sounded, Lamar’s performance was more of an art exhibit, and I think it’s fair to say that during the halftime show of the greatest game of the year, you should prioritize entertaining over proving your point.
And with all due respect to Lamar, it’s not like the message he sent was anything new. He’s always served as an activist for his community both through his music and his outside actions, but maybe the Super Bowl wasn’t the time to take it a step further.
It says a lot when it takes close to nine minutes for the crowd to actually sing along (the Superdome rang out with Lamar when he got to the “A minorrrrr” part of his diss on Drake), and this could have been avoided if Lamar replaced some of the “GNX” tracks with more of his better known work.
If you can’t tell already, I’m incredibly torn on how I view this halftime performance. In one essence, I have to respect what Lamar presented to the entire country. But in another breath, he could have at least renamed the halftime performance to the halftime art exhibit or something. The choreography looked like it took a day to learn, the build up to anything exciting took forever and there were more hidden messages and easter eggs than there were cheers from the crowd.
It’s clear the days of Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars and Prince are over, but I’ve seen what a Kendrick Lamar concert can be like and this wasn’t anything close to it. He chose the greatest day in sports to send a message — and that’s his prerogative — but don’t be surprised when we’re talking more about the women’s pair of Celine flair jeans he wore than the actual songs he performed.
Tony Le Calvez 
Tessa Balc