Kendrick Lamar: The Lyrical Godfather and Drake’s Career Grave Digger

By COOPER RATHMANN

Kendrick Lamar had quite a lot to say once he took the field in the Caesar’s Superdome on February 9, 2025, for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The audience was sitting on the edge of their seats for Kendrick to call Drake a “certified pedophile” and yell “MUSTARD” on live television. But there was so much more to it. 

The political messaging was immediate when the cameras cut to Samuel L. Jackson wearing the Uncle Sam suit. Jackson provided commentary throughout the performance about Kendrick’s rapping and behavior during the show, encouraging the political undertones. He made a few more scattered appearances in a supporting yet powerful role as the narrator.

Kendrick utilized a wide range of his discography for the setlist. Kendrick pulled tracks from previous albums like “DAMN” for fans to get a blast from the past while performing songs from his newest studio album “GNX”. Each track was unpredictable and had its own unique choreography. That variation of track and dance style was seen best when Kendrick transitioned from “Peekaboo” to “Luther”  by teasing “Not Like Us” while subsequently introducing special guest performer SZA.

Outside of the musical aspect, the stage was set up with PlayStation shapes to represent the idea of the “American Game” and some stigmas certain communities face. The dancers were covered from head to toe in red, white, and blue respectively, at one point forming the American flag during “HUMBLE”. Perhaps the most compelling part of the dancers was on the same track when only the inner circle remained while the rest lay lifeless, emphasizing the symbolism of oppressed communities.

There was so much movement and constant prop changes and while Kendrick was a solo act for the majority of the performance, his presence could be felt through the TV. However, that stage presence was not received kindly by certain groups of individuals. Fox News ended up censoring a lot of the performance and all over social media, many are creating banter about how their older family members did not “appreciate” Kendrick’s rapping.

The halftime show has made it to being a meme, primarily because of the shots taken at Drake, which were metaphorical bullets to his career’s heart. One example of these disses is using tennis legend Serena Williams as a surprise dance cameo once “Not Like Us” was finally blaring through the microphone. The most well-known diss toward Drake was when Kendrick gave the camera one of the most devious looks on the planet while saying the line “Say Drake”, speaking to the rapper directly.

Overall, Kendrick Lamar’s Superbowl Halftime Show is a continuation of changing music taste across the country, following in the footsteps of the hip-hop performance of Super Bowl VI. In all honesty, the new reign of rap during these is a refreshing, new breath of life for the Super Bowl stage. Even if the older generation does not appreciate his craft, they better get used to it because the era of rappers dominating the music industry will be a staple of the future of music.

_{Featured image: The Sporting News}