Dissecting Kendrick Lamar’s LIX Halftime Show

By: Adriana Chavez & Bryana Sorto

The LIX Super Bowl this past weekend had the most-watched halftime show of all time. Kendrick Lamar fronted the show, which had a viewership of 133.5 million, surpassing the previous record of 133.4 million by Michael Jackson in 1993. This game was particularly special as it marked the first time a sitting president was in attendance. Despite the mass viewership, the Compton-born rapper’s performance garnered some mixed reviews from the public. 

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While some Super Bowl fans were not pleased with this performance, many were outraged and found it to be “too political” or a “DEI ploy.”

These critics simply didn’t get it.

Kendrick Lamar, the Pulitzer prize recipient and 22-time Grammy winner, has never shied away from openly making political remarks and sharing his views through his art. An ensemble of turf dancers from Oakland accompanied his highly anticipated performance. This was exceptionally done by including actor Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam, the personification of the United States of America and the federal government. The iconic “I Want You” poster was first published in 1916 amidst World War I to encourage young men to join the army. Jackson has been a rudimentary figure and activist, even being an usher at Martin Luther King Jr’s funeral. Lamar’s decision to have a famous Black actor who has seen it all since the Civil Rights movement portrays this notably white figure from early American propaganda. It sends a powerful message against racism in America. Throughout the halftime show ‘Uncle Sam’ is commentating on the performance, starting us out with:

“Salutations, it's your Uncle Sam, and this is the great American game." Photo by Emilee Chinn

Following Uncle Sam’s prologue, we are met with a wide shot of a makeshift set of a game console. There is a double meaning here as the Super Bowl is the most televised sports event in the nation, and the game console is a reminder that the federal government has the controller.

“The revolution about to be televised. You picked the right time but the wrong guy.” 

While atop the hood of a Buick GNX (about his recent album ‘GNX’), he says this quote after rapping a snippet of an unreleased song. He directly references the 1970 satirical poem by Gil Scott-Heron called “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” Scott-Heron uses this poem to instill the notion that change will not come from the big corporations we rely on but from within ourselves. It is our own opinions and ideals that will push progress further and make a stance against racism. Lamar implies that the revolution is now post-election. He used the 13 minutes as his revolt, telling the audience they chose “the wrong guy” for the halftime show. Lamar knows that the halftime show ties into a certain expectation of grandeur, but he uses this time to make a statement throughout the performance. The Compton-raised rapper follows this with his song ‘Squabble Up,’ which prompts this comment from Uncle Sam. 

“No, no, no, no. Too Loud. Too Reckless. Too Ghetto. Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up!”

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Uncle Sam is referencing “the game” once again, the game of codeswitching and how many people of color feel the need to assimilate to the American standard. Here, Uncle Sam says ‘Squabble Up’ is “too ghetto,” which is a stereotype typically made about Black culture; he is basically telling Lamar that the audience doesn’t want to hear this part of his music, that they want to hear the more “palatable” songs he has. So Lamar responds with his Grammy-winning song, ‘HUMBLE,’ and radio-hit ‘DNA.’ In this part of the performance, dancers surround him, assembled as the American flag. Kendrick stands in the middle of the flag formation, and they eventually split in half directly where the rapper is standing, a visualization of how increasingly divided the U.S. has become. 

Before performing a snippet of ‘euphoria,’ lights in the crowd spell out “Warning Wrong Way,” continuing the theme of the performance. Many speculate that this could mean the country is headed in the wrong direction and that the progress we have made as a nation has become regressive. We’re going backward. Interestingly, Uncle Sam interrupts the performance once again with this:

“I see you brought your homeboys with you. The old culture cheat code. Scorekeeper! Deduct one life.” 

Togetherness and unity are often seen as a stand against oppression; it is necessary to promote change. Uncle Sam calls it the “old culture cheat code” because togetherness within communities has brought rights and privileges to marginalized communities, people who felt undermined by

institutions in power. But it was the same unity that made the government and those who were already privileged, to feel threatened, hence the “deduct one life.” This should be taken literally.

Kendrick follows this with his song ‘peekaboo’ off ‘GNX’ which is performed within the ‘X’ of the game console. He meets a group of four ladies, teasing the audience with his recent 5-grammy-award-winning song ‘Not Like Us,’ a diss towards Drake. Instead, he says he’ll “slow it down” and goes in with ‘Luther’ which introduces SZA on stage, who features in the song. The pair, with a decade-long friendship, also perform one of their mainstream hit songs, ‘All the Stars, ’ written for the 2018 Black Panther film. Our figurative commentator continues:

“That’s what I’m talking about. That’s what America wants. Nice. Calm. You’re almost there. Don’t mess this-” 

Ironically, Uncle Sam is interrupted here when the music starts playing before he can finish his sentence. 

“Forty acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music.”

Lamar interludes with a direct reference to the post-civil War promise made to redistribute Confederate land and resources to formerly enslaved as an attempt at reparations. This promise was short-lived, as it was revoked following the assassination of President Lincoln. 

The rapper garnered a lot of attention last year for his viral feud with Drake, during which they exchanged multiple diss tracks. Here, Lamar reminds us to consider the bigger picture: our society’s systemic issues.

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The performance is joined on stage by a Serena Williams cameo. The athlete’s appearance is significant not only as she is an ex of the Canadian rapper but she sparked controversy with her 2012 London Olympics celebratory dance. She joins Lamar’s “Not Like Us” performance crip-walking, paying homage to the cultural history of the city that began her tennis career.