Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar performed with singer and songwriter SZA during the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show on February 9th. Other celebrities in the performance included Serena Williams and Samuel L. Jackson.
Opening and “Uncle Sam”
American Actor Samuel L. Jackson appears at the beginning of the performance dressed as the personification of America, Uncle Sam. He opens the show with the following lines…
“Salutations! It’s your Uncle, Sam, and this is the great American Game!”
Shortly after his dialogue, Kendrick appears on top of a black Buick GNX, beginning the 2025 halftime show, rapping “Bodies.” His backup dancers come out of the car dressed head to toe in the American flag colors—red, white, and blue. The crowd then floods with excitement once his song “Squabble Up” plays. The energy is radiant, and the audience is eager to see what else will come. Uncle Sam makes a significant encounter interrupting Kendrick with his next following lines:
“No, no, no, no, no! Too loud, too reckless, too… ghetto! Kendrick Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up!”
The purpose of these lines was to imply he wants Kendrick to be “humble,” opening up a flawless transition to perform his third song of the show, “Humble.” His backup dancers come together to surround Kendrick in the American flag. The dancers then march to the beat preparing for the next song, “DNA.” Both “Humble” and “DNA” come from the same album “Damn.” released in 2017. However, some viewers were disappointed that one of his most popular songs from that album, “Love,” wasn’t performed at the halftime show.
“I was watching the halftime show with my family, and me and my sister were waiting for him to play “Love.” I feel like it would’ve been better if he did play it.”
Said Ava Nam, a student at Canyon Hills High and viewer of the Super Bowl. The Grammy-winning rapper then plays the fifth song of the show “Euphoria” a diss track in response to the rapper Drake who had made a song “Push Ups” dissing Kendrick as well as other big-time rappers. He quickly performs “Man at the Garden” and “Peekaboo” , both songs a part of his newest album “GNX.” However, at the end of “Peekaboo,” Kendrick builds anticipation in the crowd playing snippets of his highly publicized diss track to Drake, “Not Like Us.”
“I wanna perform their favorite song,” Kendrick says, regarding “Not Like Us.”
Sza’s appearance
The crowd’s anticipation of Sza joining the performance calms down as she makes her entrance in their newest collaboration, Luther. They follow the song with their award-winning piece, “All the Stars,” made for the 2018 film The Black Panther. Sza exemplified great passion while performing this song. At this point in the show, the audience is going crazy, especially when the long-awaited “Not Like Us” starts to play. The energy in the crowd is at its peak!
Pettiness goes a long way!
Going back to the Kendrick Lamar and Drake conflict, in May of 2024, Drake’s response to Kendrick’s diss track “Euphoria” was “Family Matters,” unaware of the serious humiliation he was about to face when Kendrick released not one, not two, but three diss tracks. One of them was “Not Like Us” which went viral for its most famous verse, calling out Drake’s past with pedophilia.
“Why you trollin’ like a b****? Ain’t you tired? Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.”
“Not Like Us” had won 5 Grammys in all the categories it was nominated for before the Super Bowl, and now it was being sung by most people in the Super Bowl stadium. Kendrick even brought out one of Drake’s exes, former tennis player Serena Williams, to dance along. Purposely, Kendrick avoids looking into the camera until his lyrics “Say Drake” come along, and he stares directly at the camera.
As a wrap of the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime show, Kendrick closes off his performance with “TV Off” and the crowd goes wild and the lights flash everywhere. There have been mixed opinions about the performance. Some gave serious critiques and followed disappointment, while others were satisfied with what Kendrick had in store.
