Over the past year, hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar has become more popular than ever. Despite making music since Overly Dedicated, his first mixtape in 2010, and becoming one of the most popular and widely respected rappers of his generation, Lamar has become more mainstream in 2025 than ever before. This is largely in thanks to a rap beef Lamar had with Drake, one of the most famous names in music. In particular, one song Lamar released against Drake called Not Like Us, exploded in popularity, breaking spotify records and later going on to win five grammys. Due to his new mainstream appeal, it’s no shock why Lamar was asked to perform the halftime show at Super Bowl LIX.

Despite the large amount of build up to the show, many were left disappointed by Lamar’s performance. Outside of many people from older generations simply not enjoying hip hop, many fans of rap and Kendrick Lamar himself were disappointed. As a fan of Lamar myself, I was very disappointed with the show when I first watched. I was really hoping that he would play some of the classic songs that made him famous, but instead Lamar chose to perform songs mostly off his newest album GNX. He also didn’t perform a single song off of his two most beloved albums: good kid, m.A.A.d city and To Pimp a Butterfly. However, just like his songs, Lamar had a deeper meaning and a story behind his halftime show. While I may have been initially disappointed, after looking through the deep meanings of the performance, I have a new found appreciation for it.So let’s go through the halftime show, explain the story, as well as some smaller things you may have missed.

Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show has a lot to take in, so let’s start by explaining the story and then going into some other deep meanings Lamar put into his performance.

The show begins with Samuel L Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam, welcoming the audience to what he calls “The Great American Game.” Kendrick Lamar then comes out and performs parts of an unreleased song before going into Squabble Up. Uncle Sam Jackson criticizes Kendrick for this, saying that Kendrick is being too loud and ghetto. He then asks him “do you really know how to play the game?”. Lamar responds by playing HUMBLE, his most streamed song to date, giving the people what they want with his hit songs. After also playing DNA and Euphoria, Lamar walks over to a lamp post with some of his friends, or “homeboys.” Uncle Sam Jackson feels Lamar is taking the easy way, saying bringing his friends is the  “culture cheat code.” After playing Peekaboo, Kendrick teases playing Not Like Us, before claiming he’s going to slow it down. He then plays Luther and All the Stars, two calmer songs with pop artist SZA. Uncle Sam Jackson says that Kendrick is finally doing what America wants and tells him to “not mess this up.” However, Kendrick doesn’t care about what America may think of him, and finally plays Not Like Us, and after a bonus song with tv off, the show ends with “game over” being lit up in the stands.

The story here shows Kendrick learning to overcome criticism and what America wants from him, which as a rapper, is very relevant to many watching the Super Bowl. Outside of the story itself though, Lamar hid some other deep meanings into the show.

Let’s start with the set itself which was the different buttons of a playstation, very fitting for the “Great American Game.” At the start of the show, Kendrick is performing on top of a GNX car, which is the same car he was driven home in after being born. By starting here, Kendrick shows us that this is the start of something great. Another subtle message can be seen when Kendrick Lamar performs Peekaboo. When this song was initially released, there were rumors that it was discussing how Drake allegedly paid for fellow rapper XXXTentacion to be murdered, but these were just rumors. However when Kendrick performed the song, he did it in the X button of the set. This could obviously just be coincidence, but Kendrick is known for doing almost everything intentionally, so there’s room to speculate. Lamar sneaks multiple other jabs at Drake when performing Not Like Us, looking directly at the camera when calling Drake out by name, and having Drake alleged ex-girlfriend Serena Williams dance to the song on stage.

From the set, to the background dancers, to Kendrick’s outfit, there are many other deep meanings that he put into his performance that deserve to be looked at. I know that the halftime show is supposed to be something to just enjoy, and I still do wish that Kendrick performed some of his older songs, but hopefully this can help you find a newfound appreciation for the halftime show, and Kendrick himself for being a master of his craft, that I now have.