Kendrick Lamar made his presence at the Super Bowl 2025 very known.
During his stellar halftime performance, the 37-year-old performed some of his biggest tracks as well as a duet with SZA. It comes just days after he spoke of how difficult he found it narrowing down his back catalogue to just 13 minutes. As he opened the performance, Kendrick teased his diss track, Not Like Us – a clear dig at his rival rapper, Drake.
The performance was watched by millions across the world, as well as a sold-out Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Meanwhile, a whole host of famous faces descended on the stadium to find out if the Kansas City Chiefs can make history by winning for three consecutive years.
This year, the likes of Lady Gaga, Kevin Costnor, Louis Tomlinson, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift and Ice Spice were on hand to watch. Controversial President Donald Trump was also in attendance, with ITV’s Craig Doyle noting that the President was greeted by boos when he entered the stadium. Kendrick’s performance certainly got tails wagging. Here, we take a look at some of the biggest parts of his performance.
Prior to taking to the stage, Kendrick told fans that his music had always been about “storytelling” and he vowed to continue with this during his halftime set. His set saw Samuel L. Jackson join him on stage, dressed as Uncle Sam. Appearing before the crowd, the Hollywood actor said: “This is the great American game,” before introducing the performance.
This sentiment was echoed with the rapper sitting on a Buick Grand National GNX which was a nod to his latest album. He kicked off his set with an unreleased track, Bodies, before going into Squabble Up. Dancers who appeared around Kendrick had dressed in white, blue or red sweatsuits to symbolise the American flag.
“The revolution’s about to be televised,” Kendrick said, adding: “You picked the right time but the wrong guy.” But by this time, the camera was back on Samuel L. Jackson, who said: “No, no, no! Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto! Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Tighten up!”
He was then surrounded by all-Black dancers as they formed the American flag. While there was no clear dig at the President, rather than the “End Racism” message which has been part of the Super Bowl since 2021, instead, “Choose Love” was chosen. This didn’t go unnoticed by social media users. One said: “The irony of Kendrick Lamar performing and making statements about the state of America in front of President Trump is priceless.”
Meanwhile, a second typed: “Samuel L Jackson as Uncle sam, the personification of America, telling Kendrick his performance is ‘too ghetto’ and then it cutting to Kendrick’s all-black backup dancers arranged as the American flag all while That Man is in attendance? Kendrick I was not familiar with your game.”
A third typed: “Kendrick having Samuel Jackson as Uncle Sam (personifying America) calling Kendrick’s performance ‘too ghetto’ and then cutting to his all-Black backup dancers displaying as the American flag during Black History Month while Trump is in attendance? King s**t.” Another commented: “Donald Trump is forced to watch Samuel L Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam, introduce Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl half time show after asking the NFL to not show the ‘End Racism’ In the End Zones is the Headline.”
Despite being the first sitting President to attend the game, Donald Trump didn’t stay around for too long. The controversial reality star turned politician stayed in true spirits as he diverted attention to himself. Having attended with his daughter Ivanka and son Eric, the 78-year-old had previously backed the Kansas City Chiefs to win.
Speaking on FOX News, he praised Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany, who is a known supporter of his administration and beliefs. He said: “She is a Trump fan and a MAGA fan, I happen to love her, she’s a great person. I guess you have to say that when a quarterback wins as much as he’s won – I have to go with Kansas City. At the same time, Philadelphia is fantastic, it’s going to be just a great game.”
But Trump decided to leave the game before it even finished. After exiting, he took a pop at Taylor Swift, who has been vocal about her dislike for him over the years. Taking to Truth Social he posted: “The only one that had [sic] a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift. She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!”
A protester waving a Palestine flag disrupted Kendrick’s halftime show performance. The man stormed the field during the break as millions watched rapper Lamar perform ‘TV Off’ at Caesars Superdrome in New Orleans. He was seen holding a two-part flag representing Palestine and Sudan. Security staff quickly pursued him onto the field, apprehended him and promptly escorted him off the stage.
The individual had been wearing all black clothing and stood on the black vehicle which was part of Kendrick’s set. The flag read: “Sudan” and “Gaza” and was completed with a black heart.
He later jumped off the vehicle and started running across the pitch. Initially, it seemed as though the protest was part of Kendrick’s performance but it later emerged that this was not the case. After a short period of time, three members of the security rushed onto the pitch and apprehended the person
During the performance between tracks, Kendrick headed over to a group of dancers as he said: “I wanna perform their favourite song but you know they love to sue,” before a clip of the song played over the speakers as Kendrick added: “Yeah that song, oh maybe I’ll think about it.”
However, ignoring any potential backlash from Drake, Kendrick later went on to perform Not Like Us – leaving the crowd rapping along to the track. However, he left out one particular lyric heard in the recorded version of the track. Kendrick opted to leave out the lyric where he makes a dig at Drake. However, he added a new line to the song as he rapped: “Why you trollin’ like a b**ch? / Ain’t you tired? / Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-minorrrrrr”.
In January this year, Drake decided to head to a lawyer’s office rather than the studio and began legal action regarding Kendrick’s diss tracks. The dad-of-one, 38, launched a federal defamation lawsuit against his music label over Kendrick’s Grammy Award winning hit. The Canadian rapper is taking Universal Music Group to court, alleging they are part of spreading a “false and malicious narrative” that he is a paedophile. According to the court documents, Drake asserts that the label was aware that Kendrick’s track would feature lyrics and visuals in a music video that made this accusation against him.
A spokesperson for UMG dismissed Drake’s claims as “offensive and untrue”, stating: “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.
But that wasn’t the only swipe Kendrick took at Drake. During his performance, tennis legend and Drake’s rumoured ex, Serena made an appearance. The 43-year-old shocked fans when she appeared on stage to dance during his Not Like Us track. While it wasn’t announced that Serena would be joining, it certainly didn’t stop fans reacting.
“Having Serena Williams come out was f***ing wild,” said one. A second added: “I cannot believe he got Serena Williams to come up here.” A third commented: “No way Kendrick brought out Serena Williams!” “Awww nahhh drake really can’t show his face after this. IS THAT SERENA WILLIAMS?!?!” exclaimed another.
Serena later posted a video on social media following her appearance. She said: “Man, I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon. Ooo I would have been finiiined! Haha it was all love.” She was rumoured to have dated Drake on-and-off in the early 2010s. But this wasn’t the first time she had danced to the track.
She previously used the track during her appearance at last year’s ESPYs. Speaking previously about the record, she said: “I love that song. It’s like the hit of the summer. When they play that jam, I’m jamming. That jam is jamming.”
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