The political symbolism of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show

On February 9, the 2025 National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl took place in New Orleans, LA. For the famous NFL halftime show, Los Angeles native Kendrick Lamar performed with musical guest, SZA, alongside unexpected appearances by Samuel L. Jackson and Serena Williams. 

Lamar's poetic lyrics, which address his life, and his promotion of political awareness of real-life social events like racial inequality, the Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality and more, have brought him notable recognition in the music industry. . 

Compared to previous years of the NFL, President Donald Trump was set to be in attendance for the game, making him the first U.S. President to attend the Super Bowl. This revelation came after the announcement of Kendrick Lamar being selected as the musical host for the evening, making for the upcoming symbolism and commentary much more apparent to audiences.

The performance began with the stage setup as a video game controller, which online users have theorized is the notion of how the United States is controlling its people through numerous attempts of media censorship in order to continue the narrative of the famous American Dream. 

In this introduction, Lamar says: “The revolution is about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.”

This line remains the most impactful line for viewers, as it may have multiple meanings and interpretations. The most common interpretation of this line is that the revolution of American free speech is going to be televised for the whole world to see during the right time, being the biggest night of American sports history, but picking the wrong guy being President Donald Trump. 

One of the key continuing themes of the performance is the character of Uncle Sam, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, who has previously played roles such as Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012). Jackson’s character in the film is a slave who must remain loyal to his racist owner and is a part of the orchestrated societal hierarchy of white supremacy. 

Uncle Sam introduces Lamar’s performance saying “This is the great American game.” which is in reference to football being the American national sport of the NFL, but also symbolizing the American game of controlling its people. 

As Lamar begins the performance with his song “quabble up,” with dancers flooding the stage wearing red, white, and blue signifying the colors of the American flag, but also blue and red being the notable colors symbolising Blood and Crip gangs, which are native to Los Angeles.

Jackson’s character says to Lamar as he finishes performing the first song, that he and his dancers are “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” The words “loud, reckless, and ghetto” have all been used to diminish and insult marginalized communities of color, specifically Black Americans, for decades, both in real life settings and in media. 

Uncle Sam then says to Kendrick: “Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up!”

When stating if he knows how to play the game, he is not referring to football. He’s referencing being able to play the game of being agreeable and familiar for audiences, referring to not showcasing any lyrical or physical embodiments of POC culture that are otherwise uncomfortable or indigestible for white Americans. 

As Lamar begins his next song “HUMBLE,” he stands in the middle of his performers as they stand in formation to form the American flag and then split in half, symbolizing to many online viewers the notion of how America is notoriously divided.

The song famously repeats the words “Be humble, sit down” as the dancers begin marching down in formation in line, which online users have stated is a symbol of American oppression towards marginalized communities in the U.S. who have always been taught to quiet themselves and not take up too much space in their communities, as the community is essentially not built for people like us. 

The camera pans to a wide view of lights with words in the audience saying “Warning Wrong Way” as an intermission to the rest of his performance. 

Following Lamar’s song “DNA”, the stage then transitions over to Lamar’s dancers standing on a lamp post wearing traditional streetwear and performing behind Lamar. This cuts to Uncle Sam chasing them away as they are speaking against the “culture cheat code.” 

Uncle Sam turns to the camera and says “Scorekeeper: deduct one life.”

This line was notable to online users because it continues the theme of the performance being a video game with the usage of points and lives to play the game. Deducting one life instead of one point could symbolize the power of the government over the American people and how they are able to control their fear through punishment. 

After Lamar brings out musical guest, SZA, for the performance of songs “luther” and “All The Stars,” Uncle Sam’s character makes his last remark of the performance by praising them.

“That’s what I’m talking about! That’s what America wants: nice and calm.” he says. 

The aspect of being nice and calm and that those traits are what America wants can symbolize the notion of highly appointed political figures in American media wanting their audiences to digest media that is agreeable and comfortable for all audiences, even if that means censoring the voices of those who are being ridiculed and silenced for political and societal injustice. 

But as Lamar teases on performing his most current and popular track “Not Like Us,” we see Uncle Sam scoff in disappointment and leave the stage. 

The significance of Uncle Sam alongside the other Easter eggs of clues sprinkled into Lamar’s highly televised performance is grand and timely for audiences. 

This is a timely reference to current American politics scaring marginalized communities such as the ongoing ICE deportation raids targeting primarily Latino undocumented immigrants across America as well as President Donald Trump’s ongoing plans for his proposed Project 2025, which is Trump’s right-wing conservative wish list of what he plans on and has already implemented since his first day of office.

This includes targeting minority groups and the existence of different pillars of American society such as immigration, abortion rights, education, climate change, diversity and equity.

Lamar’s performance was meticulously planned to portray our nation’s current situation.