@npr
Even after an unparalleled year marked by three number-one songs atop the Billboard Hot 100, the most popular and critically acclaimed diss record in hip-hop history and a best-selling album from last year, Kendrick Lamar continues to break commercial and culture boundaries. He reached perhaps his greatest heights yet with his Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Feb. 9.
While Lamar has a myriad of hits that many expected would be included in his performance, his halftime show this past weekend broke the mold of a traditional Super Bowl performance, with the rapper opting to primarily perform songs from his 2024 album release, “GNX.” While many performers in the past have approached the halftime show as an opportunity to showcase their greatest hits, Lamar chose to instead present a direct message that criticizes the United States’ cultural landscape while also highlighting the sense of community that underscores “GNX” through his performance.
From the jump, Lamar creates a critical undertone of U.S. culture through the surprise appearance of actor Samuel L. Jackson, ironically portraying Uncle Sam. Jackson introduces the show as “The Great American Game.” To carry on the theme of games, each performance space on the field appeared in the shape of a button from a Sony PlayStation controller. The show’s art director, Shelley Rodgers, called the setup a symbolic way to reach young people.
After Jackson’s opening, the camera pans to Lamar standing on the hood of a car that resembles a Buick GNX — the vehicle that inspired his most recent album. Lamar begins with the unexpected performance of an unreleased song where he raps, “we goin’ body for body,” as dozens of dancers veiled in red, white and blue jumpsuits leap out of the front seat and trunk of the car. The chemistry Lamar and his dancers showcased was enthralling and engaging as the performance swiftly switched to Lamar’s recent hit “squabble up.” Although certain portions of this track had to be censored for the Super Bowl programming, Lamar adds an extra element to the end of the song by having the dancers march in multiple single-file lines in a series of carefully choreographed steps.
The return of Jackson as Uncle Sam disrupts the halftime show once more, when his character steps in to call Lamar’s performance “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” Yet, Lamar’s next song choice, “HUMBLE.,” sees him standing beside his dancers in the formation of an American flag in a scene that seems patriotic but further serves as an ironic backlash to the diminishing power of Jackson’s words.
The following melody of “DNA.,” quickly accompanied by “euphoria,” sees Lamar on a plain street road with striking overhead lights. While the rapper throws some early shots at Drake through his rendition of “euphoria,” he focuses more on responding to the traditional stigmatization of hip-hop in U.S. culture.
As Jackson’s taunts begin again, Lamar finishes “man at the garden” before moving on to “peekaboo,” another song from “GNX.” Lamar then teases the instrumental for “Not Like Us” but avoids playing it fully, instead remarking, “I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” in reference to the ongoing lawsuit filed by Drake’s legal team against Universal Music Group over the song.
From here, Lamar diverges to a performance with special guest SZA on hits “luther” and “All The Stars” that lead the show toward a pop-focused route. With SZA hitting all of the notes on the chorus of “All The Stars,” Jackson’s Uncle Sam backhandedly praises the duo, saying, “That’s what America wants: nice and calm.”
However, the following two songs appear anything but “nice and calm” as Lamar finally plays “Not Like Us,” directly antagonizing Drake while grinning into the camera, rapping the now iconic line “Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young.” With Lamar’s incorporation of former tennis superstar Serena Williams, whom Drake previously condescended in 2022’s “Middle of the Ocean,” he continues to further his victory lap. He closed out his halftime performance by rapping “tv off” alongside producer Mustard.
Lamar’s show proved to be unique, combining both direct and subtle commentary regarding the marginalization of hip-hop and Black communities. While this show might not reach the heights of Prince’s classic 2007 halftime show or put up the back-to-back hits of Lady Gaga in 2017 or Rihanna in 2023, Lamar’s unique route to the performance seems to have paid off, with the show being the most viewed ever in Super Bowl history at 133.5 million viewers.
Overall, Lamar’s performance cements his unprecedented status in hip-hop as a pioneer of the genre and the musical landscape.