Kendrick Lamar made history last week as the first solo rapper to play the Super Bowl halftime show. While the songs he played — including hits “Not Like Us,” “HUMBLE.” and “All The Stars” featuring SZA — were beautifully executed, the most impressive part of the set was Lamar’s use of symbolism, showcasing the importance of using art for protest on live television.
Just one week before playing the halftime show, Lamar swept the 2025 Grammy Awards, taking home five awards. Simply put, he was under pressure to put on the show of a lifetime, and he certainly pulled out all the stops to do so. Celebrities, including SZA, Mustard, Serena Williams and Samuel L. Jackson, packed Lamar’s set, but his message still shone through.
Beginning the performance with a bird’s-eye view of Caesars Superdome, it was clear that the stage was meant to resemble a giant video game console, flashing brightly before panning to Samuel L. Jackson. Portraying Uncle Sam, a key symbol of American patriotism and propaganda during World War I, Jackson welcomed the audience: “Salutations… this is the great American game!” While alluding to the Super Bowl being America’s most-watched sporting event and nodding to the game console, this was just the beginning of profound symbolism used in Lamar’s performance, evident even before Lamar himself came on stage.
With Jackson playing this personification of America, traditionally portrayed as a white character, Lamar’s performance was subversive on a surface level, but the symbolism runs much deeper. Throughout the performance, Jackson interrupted Lamar with quips like, “Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto!” and, “That’s what America wants! Nice and calm.” Through these interjections, Lamar conveyed the judgment towards Black culture by white circles. Lamar and others on stage also stood in contrast to Uncle Sam, celebrating Black contributions to America through an all-black dance crew forming the American flag during “HUMBLE.” and Serena Williams’s crip walking during “Not Like Us.”
Lamar’s performance was clearly filled with intricate symbolism, but as the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper is already well-known for his artistry, why was this specific show special?
Lamar’s halftime show not only marked one week since the Grammy Awards, but also almost three weeks since President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and Black History Month. One of the Trump administration’s focuses has been removing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, such as having the Center for Disease Control and Prevention halt studies featuring “DEI terms” and signing an order declaring that the United States will only recognize two sexes. In less than a month under the Trump administration’s second term, the country is faced with widespread censorship, and art is not safe.
One of Jackson’s most important quotes as Uncle Sam was, “Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” Calling Black music “ghetto” once again echoes judgment toward Black culture but could also allude to censorship. Censorship is a key part of repression, as it acts to control narratives. Book banning and getting rid of DEI initiatives are examples of censorship that we are seeing in present-day America, but censorship as a pattern of oppressive regimes can be traced back throughout history.
In the 1920s, the Nazi Party coined the term “degenerate art.” This term was primarily used to describe German modernist art, but any art during this period that was declared degenerate for reasons of being an “insult to German feeling” was banned, while artwork that supported Nazi values was promoted. This term was also altered to include “degenerate music” and films. Going back to Lamar’s performance, the use of the word “ghetto” in Jackson’s dialogue to describe rap and making use of symbols like the American flag and Uncle Sam himself, Lamar was able to comment on the treatment and censorship of Black music and subvert this narrative.
Looking back at history is important to recognize common tactics for control and to understand why art has been, and always will be, political in nature. Lamar’s use of his platform to clap back against Trump — and to his face, moreover — illustrates the importance of using art as protest. Through celebrating and uplifting Black culture along with the intricate artistry he is known for, Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show will go down in history as one of his all-time best performances.
