So why Kendrick this year? On top of the fact that Kendrick won 5 Grammys for his song, “Not Like Us”, only a couple weeks before, and the fact that Kendrick has risen in popularity a lot recently. This question is also answered pretty simply by NFL’s head of music, Seth Dudowsky. “Few artists have impacted music and culture as profoundly as Kendrick Lamar. Time and time again, Kendrick has proven his unique ability to craft moments that resonate, redefine, and ultimately shake the foundation of hip hop,” Seth stated on the NFL’s official website. Dudowsky essentially says that Lamar was chosen because of how much his music influences the entire population, and how Kendrick is not afraid to speak up about what he believes is wrong. 

Serena Williams made a surprise entrance in “Not Like Us,” dancing as Kendrick raps in the background. Williams had a tiny section, but it spoke volumes. Williams had been an

ex of Drake (the artist “Not Like Us” is about), who had written many lines about her in his music. Williams showing up for this show was symbolic of her destroying Drake and everything he had done to her as a final homage. Williams’s dance was the same as hers at the 2012 Olympics. Williams was highly criticized and destroyed for it, with people calling it “ghetto” (a recurring theme in this show) or too daring, but this performance was Kendrick’s way of giving the dance back to her. Serena Williams’s showing at this performance was an end-all, and crucial to the overall theme Kendrick was trying to convey in this revolutionary halftime show. 

Not shocking to most people, SZA also showed up during the show to perform “All the Stars” and “Luther.” SZA and Kendrick have had an extremely close relationship for years, even saying they feel like siblings.They have both mentioned how grateful and honored they are to watch each other grow and the others’ abilities to be themselves, even in the public eye, and all the pressure from it. SZA also dated Drake briefly in 2009, and with all the feud that is going on between him and Kendrick, her being there was just another slap in the face to Drake. 

In a moment of confusion for many viewers, Samuel L. Jackson also played a significant role in the halftime show. In the halftime show Jackson plays the character Uncle Sam, as an easter egg for the character he plays in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained”. In both roles, he portrays a Black man who goes against his race to thrive in American society. Jackson is also an activist, and has been for a while, a popular act was when he was an usher at Martin Luther King’s funeral. But his lines, “Mr. Lamar, do you know how to play the game?” and “Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto,” are in response to Kendrick’s song “Squabble Up.” His character combats Lamar’s performance, saying his songs aren’t conventional for a populated platform like the Super Bowl. The all Black backup dancers forming the American Flag, and Jackson’s comments symbolize them in their place. But instead of submitting to the racist commentary and symbolism from Jackson, Lamar continued his songs. 

The first song was a teaser of an unreleased song fan-named, “Bodies”. This blended into “Squabble up,” and then “Humble” played, the song that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize. After was “DNA,”  followed by “Euphoria,” one of the Drake diss tracks. “Man at the Garden,” played prior, and “Peekaboo” are both on his new album, “GNX” along with “Luther,” which is currently his most popular song on Spotify. He also brought out SZA for the performance, followed by “All The Stars”. “Not Like Us” has an iconic moment where he grins at the camera during the line, “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.” Fans say it’s because he won the rap battle with Drake. “TV Off” is performed last, featuring Lefty Gunplay, a fellow LA rapper.

The symbolism behind the entire performance is also incredibly understated but strong. He plays with hidden messages, propaganda, and rebellion colors. He’s always been anti-establishment. The start of the performance shows the stage in a game control element, representing the ‘Great American Game’ as Jackson says, which means politics, capitalism, and prisons. He stands on top of a GNX, the cover of his newest album. The backup dancers are dressed in red, white, and blue. They stand in a formation of the American Flag while Kendrick stands in the center, representing the division of America. The camera pans up to the crowd and has lights that spell ‘Warning Wrong Way”. It has several meanings, but an important one is that it is a message for people who pursue a life of crime, saying they are going the wrong way. Since the set represents a prison yard, that’s a viable theory. He’s the first Pulitzer prize-winner to perform at the halftime show. 

Reactions over the halftime show have been highly mixed. Some groups find the show boring and not up to the typical upbeat Super Bowl halftime show standards. They mention how Kendrick was hard to understand and say that the Super Bowl halftime show should be used to highlight an artist’s entire career, not just their new music (which is what Kendrick did, aside from a few exceptions). Others say Kendrick’s show was strong, and did precisely what was needed. They say that Kendrick did not need to be upbeat like the other performers before him, because of how symbolic his show was and how being upbeat was not his priority. They say Kendrick instead focused on showing what he saw wrong with America nationwide.