![“It depends on what the purpose of the homework is. And it shouldn't just be to make somebody do something, but to show [something]. Have they shown mastery of that point?” Bing said. “Is it something that, in terms of the learning process, connects to whatever learning outcomes. [It’s] kind of shifting the point of the homework from what students sometimes think of it as, instead of what it actually is.” Created by Sylvia Bartlett using Canva.](https://ahstalonnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/hw.png)
Overview
This halftime performance is legendary in many ways, and how Kendrick Lamar fills this piece of art with symbolic elements, Easter eggs, and references makes all the music and pop culture nerds go crazy.
The performance started with the symbolic character of Uncle Sam introducing the audience to “The Great American Game.” PlayStation controller buttons served as the stage, referring to “The Great American Game” that Uncle Sam is referencing in the beginning. The video game theme is a symbolic way to reach young audiences. This performance highlights Kendrick Lamar’s journey traveling through the American dream. Uncle Sam, played by Samuel L. Jackson, represents the personification of America. Uncle Sam represents the critics and people who don’t understand this performance are criticizing what Lamar should perform, and Sam stays as a symbol of the general public who is demanding Lamar stay in line and not get too loud culturally and musically.
The Appearance
The front of Lamar’s jacket spells Gloria, the last song on his new release “GNX.”. Lamar also sports the A minor chain referencing the “not like us” line but also representing the font of the letter A in pgLang, his record label.
Deeper Meanings
As seen throughout most of the song’s choreography, people representing the American flag scatter and run around, representing America’s constant divide and all the different perspectives and opinions people have. Dancers dressed in the colors of the United States form the American flag to beat the American game that is rigged against gangs like Crips and Bloods to unite under one nation and culture. Lamar then transitions into this line,
“The revolution bout to get televised. You picked the right time but the wrong guy.”
We need order and change from hate and stripping minorities of their rights. It is a time for activism and rebellion; he also might be referencing his song Savior from Mr. Morale over how he expresses he is not the guy to lead us as he is not your savior. It is more of a matter of the American people uniting together to rise against hate. It’s bigger than the music, the game; this is real life. All the dancers from the American flag came from the same origin as the clown car GNX, later to be separated and divided. It represents our modern culture as we all come from the same place and are all human, yet we stand divided on lots of politics and ideologies that should be moving us forward as a society. Lamar’s first part of this performance represents him being himself in America, showing his roots and culture of Compton through his high-energy music.
Ramping it up
Uncle Sam (Samuel L. Jackson) lets him know it’s too loud and ghetto and that he needs to tighten up around the mainstream. Uncle Sam doesn’t like what Lamar is doing in the Great American Game. Uncle Sam tries to communicate to Lamar from a privileged standpoint to conform to the industry’s standards that have been set by white folks, reinforcing the reparations of the performance as Uncle Sam says if you behave and tighten up, you will get reparations or be rewarded. This is also a double entendre referencing the “forty acres and a mule,” Lamar spews before performing “Not Like Us.”. This addresses that Black men after the Civil War were promised 40 acres and a mule for reparations due to slavery, yet this promise was broken, further proving the adversity Black people have had to face in this country. After that comment, Lamar doubles down on this idea and plays three hard-hitting bangers back to back: Humble, DNA, and euphoria. These songs primarily focused on overcoming adversity and showcasing SoCal (Southern California) dances during this part of the performance. Humble shows lots of symbolism as it shows Lamar standing in a split and divided American flag, representing the massive cultural divide we have in this country today. This could also mean Lamar is standing in the middle of it to bring us together, acting as the glue to our hurting nation trying to heal. It shows in the choreography as the dancers face toward Lamar in unison but then face outwards in protest, representing the people of our country reacting to the landscape constantly shifting.
Symbolic Elements
The Black men in different colors creating the flag may also represent how the country of America was built on the backs of African Americans. The camera pans to the crowd of lights, which spells out “warning wrong way,” that as a nation we are divided with different opinions and perspectives, and we may be going backward. Uncle Sam is warning Kendrick to go for something more palatable, or else he might lose the “Great American Game.” Lamar is going in the wrong direction sonically, mimicking public outcry and criticism of this halftime performance, which Lamar expected and predicted accurately. Uncle Sam reiterates that he doesn’t want us, the world, and Lamar on stage to show or express our authentic selves. Going deeper into the industry, Lamar seems to be pushing authentic and focused art in this performance by showing it and showing the reaction his art may have on people, hence the Uncle Sam character. So, Uncle Sam deducts one life from the scoreboard, punishing the general public for being themselves, further pushing culture vultures of inauthentic music and TikTok music that may get lots of plays and sales because of a viral soundbite. Kendrick is trying to flip this script or narrative in the industry and to further advocate for highly revolutionary art that pushes the boundaries of rap and music. Then Kendrick transitions hard into the song “peekaboo” while dancing on the X, which may be alluding to the XXXTentacion murder, in which Drake was involved in a lawsuit over the death of XXXTentacion. “peekaboo” acts as an opp-killing song with maniacal intentions, as Lamar alludes to Drake once again by singing this song on the X after Uncle Sam coincidentally deducts one life. That’s just one of many theories in this action-packed performance. Talking about lawsuits, Kendrick references yet another one involving Drake when he said,
”I wanna play their favorite song, but you know they love to sue”, in which Drake sued Universal Music Group over the Kendrick Lamar diss, saying it was “corporate greed.”
Lamar said he would think about it and slow it down musically, transitioning into another Uncle Sam line “You done lost your damn mind.” This is when KDot (Kendrick Lamar) starts “Luther” with SZA. The three women talking to Kendrick have the same tone and pitch as the background singers in “King Kunta,” a song Lamar could’ve played but would’ve received controversial feedback. Then, “All The Stars” plays, uniting all the dancers in colors, and capitalizing on the momentum, Uncle Sam congratulates them, “That’s what I’m talking about! That’s what America wants!” Finally, you think Lamar did it all, and he finally won “The Great American Game,” until he revealed the truth about our nation and the real purpose of this whole performance.
Big Finale
“There’s a cultural divide, Imma get it on the floor, forty acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music. They tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence.”
Lamar once again reiterated the 40 acres and a mule reparations from the Civil War. Lamar is saying that they tried to rig “the game,” meaning America and all its civil rights struggles targeted toward Black Americans. But look at him now; you can’t fake that. Lastly, “Not Like Us” finally echoes around the Superdome with Lamar two-stepping on Drake’s grave. Former tennis player Serena Williams is seen crip walking under one of the street lights, further expressing her Compton roots and even showing her disrespect towards Drake as she dated him back in 2011 and 2015. Williams also crip walked at the Olympics, which she was criticized for, just like how Lamar is getting criticized by the right as well. And with that, Lamar ends the performance with his song “tv off” as he indirectly tells the Super Bowl audience to turn the TV off and go do something about it. It’s bigger than music, and we must come together to rise above the hate and divide we have in our country today. Time Magazine had this to say on behalf of the performance: “In its framing, narrative approach, and density, Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl was unlike any that have come before it. To some, it mystified; to others, it kicked open the door for what this format could be.”
