During the 59th Super Bowl, attention was immediately drawn to the halftime show, headlined by Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar. After a string of successes such as the release of his critically acclaimed album GNX and five Grammy wins, including song of the year for his song “Not Like Us”, people were eagerly anticipating Lamar’s halftime performance.
Lamar’s response to this was to put on a divisive performance that was a direct protest of the American system. Lamar opted to put on a performance dripping with symbolism, putting spectacle and entertainment in the backseat to deliver a message straight to the viewer.
The show starts with actor Samuel L. Jackson introducing himself as Uncle Sam, a symbol of America and its government. He then introduces the viewer to what he calls “the great American game”.
The connection to gaming is prevalent throughout the show, with the set being composed of the gaming symbols, X, Circle, Triangle, and Square.
During the show lights in the crowd also flash many phrases common in video games such as, “GAME OVER”, “START HERE”, and “WARNING WRONG WAY”.
The phrase “great American Game” may also be referring to the game of football. As the cameras cut from Uncle Sam, our focus shifted to Kendrick on the hood of the same car that was on his GNX album cover.
Many people begin to make their way out of the car all dressed up in one of the American colors, red, white, or blue. Noticeably they all came from the same place but ended up getting separated showing the division in America.
The first song Lamar decides to play is Squabble Up from his album GNX. This is met with immediate disdain from Uncle Sam who calls the performance too reckless, too loud, and too “ghetto”. He asks Lamar if he knows how to “play the game”.
The system benefits from Black artists but hates it when they begin to speak up or act in a way that doesn’t conform and causes too much uproar.
As a response to this, Lamar begins to make his way through the songs “Humble”, “DNA”, “Euphoria”, and “Man at the Garden”. During these songs the words “WARNING WRONG WAY” flash in the crowd showing how he still isn’t playing the game right according to Uncle Sam.
After these songs, Uncle Sam reappears unhappy with how Lamar is choosing to proceed, saying he is using a “culture cheat code” by bringing people from LA with him and then “deducts one life” further adding to the gaming symbolism.
The next song played is “Peekaboo” where at the end he teases his song “Not Like Us”, saying that he would play it but he might get sued. Being one of the most divisive and aggressive songs, Uncle Sam is audibly shocked by this saying “You done lost your damn mind.”
Instead, Lamar decides to play something calmer, “Luther” and “All the Stars”, joined by fellow artist SZA. This is the most unified part of the whole play with SZA dressed in red and Lamar dressed in blue side by side.
Uncle Sam remarks happily that “This is what America is all about”. The America Uncle Sam wants the most is one where the controversy and problems are swept under the rug, where he can control artists like Lamar.
As Uncle Sam ends his last appearance he implores Lamar to “not mess this up” but before he can finish he is cut off by the beat of “Not Like Us”.
Before officially starting the song he explains his reasoning stating that there’s a cultural divide, and notably the line “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music”.
This line dates back to the Civil War when formerly enslaved African Americans were promised this after slavery was abolished. The promise was never fully fulfilled since President Andrew Jackson reversed it when he took office.
Lamar is tired of how the system has treated African American people and is no longer content with being confined in its system. He decides to play the song despite the threats of being sued and the warnings of Uncle Sam as a form of rebellion.
Lamar ends the show with the song “TV off” telling the viewers to turn their TV off while the words “GAME OVER” flash in the crowd. This is a direct message to the viewers telling them to stop being distracted by the media and go out and make real change.