Many of us believe in signs or just coincidences that are shown to us and have different interpretations of them. One particular sign was the symbolism posed during the Super Bowl halftime show. 

Let’s go back to the beginning: In 1987, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born in Compton, California. He grew up with his parents, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. Throughout his childhood, he was surrounded by poverty, violence, and even police brutality. Despite these challenges, he gained a passion for poetry, which later grew into songwriting and lyricism.

           Fast forward to 2009, 16-year-old Lamar goes under K-Dot and releases a few songs that soon gain popularity, which helped him reach Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and Lil Wayne. Through 2011 and 2012, he released two albums, which got him nominated five times for a Grammy and one for Best Albums of the Year.

          We see in Kendrick’s music that he tends to touch topics like substance abuse, gang violence, police brutality, racism, and how the lower classes can not receive the same treatment as those of a broader society, called economic disenfranchisement.

And then he released his album “To Pimp A Butterfly”  where it quickly became a symbol for the Black Lives Matter Movement of 2013 after the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner. The song that made it an even bigger role was “Alright.” This song is still widely used for a bigger purpose, being a protest anthem. His songs soon won him a Pulitzer prize. He was then put on the movie’s soundtrack, Black Panther, which was praised for its beautiful depiction of culture. 

           Moving forward to 2024, another hit song, “Not Like Us,” hits the charts quicker than imagined. This song not only talks about a certain person but the topics behind it, like pedophilia, race, misogyny, and cultural identity.

           So what is so important to his Super Bowl performance, you may ask? Let’s start with Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam is an important character that represents America itself. Samuel L. Jackson playing him had a showing on how America views colored people. “Too Loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” 

          While Kendrick was performing “HUMBLE,” you should’ve caught a glimpse of the formation the dancers were in. The American flag, showing the line-up, the colors, and those who were behind the formation. The flag was split down the middle, where many have interpreted it as our country being divided or how this country is and was built off the labor of colored people.

         Afterwards, Lamar chanted, “The revolution is about to be televised. You picked the right time but the wrong guy.” This quote could be demonstrated as a direct call-out to both the current state of America and President Trump, who was in attendance at this year’s Super Bowl. He is the first ever president to be in attendance for a Super Bowl. 

            The wardrobe is one of the most symbolistic things throughout the performance – where everyone, including SZA were fully adorned in either Red, White or Blue, get a reference yet?

             The Great American Game is another way of saying life in America where it got to a point that Uncle Sam was telling the “scorekeeper” to “deduct one life” after Lamar repeatedly disobeyed Uncle Sam’s requests.  Kendrick ended his act by chanting, “Turn this TV off,” multiple times before the lights were cut off to a message revealing “GAME OVER,” which could have multiple meanings depending on the viewer.