Super Bowl
Page: 3
Even though Kendrick Lamar has five No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 among 88 hits on the chart, there were still viewers who tuned in to the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show seemingly unaware of the depth of the rapper’s decade-plus catalog. So Lamar was smart to lean into his releases of 2024 — […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show performance will be dissected and discussed for weeks if not months on end, due to the easter eggs and cultural references throughout. Ahead of the rapper dropping the “Not Like Us” diss track, Kendrick Lamar opened up with a verse referencing “40 Acres and a Mule” to introduce the song as it built to its epic opening.
Kendrick Lamar rapped the lines, “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music. They tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence,” each stanza punctuated by the keyboard stabs from DJ Mustard’s production. The line has many wondering what “40 acres and a mule” means and with this being Black History Month, we’re offering our brief explainer of the line.
The “40 acres and a mule” is a phrase that refers to a section of Special Field Orders, No. 15 issued by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1865 after slavery was officially abolished via the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. With the Union Army poised to vanquish the Confederate soldiers in the U.S. Civil War, Gen. Sherman’s declaration to divvy up land owned by the Confederacy to formerly enslaved Black people was a promise that became upended by the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
With Andrew Johnson taking control of the White House in succession, the promise was dismissed with the land going back to the original owners. Historians note that this takeback began a long and systemically planned series of maneuvers to keep Black people from ascending to the same level as their white counterparts, even during the largely fruitful yet brief period of Reconstruction. Today, proponents of reparation for the descendants of Black slaves in America point to this broken promise as grounds to advance their cause.
A small handful of individuals did receive land under the special field order, especially in southeastern Virginia, and parts of South Carolina including coastal lands, but those efforts were met with roadblocks eventually held up by President Johnson rescinding the offer.
Kendrick Lamar employed deeply symbolic messages throughout his performance, with many believing his American Flag-influenced backdrop, the including of Samuel L. Jackson as a brash and outspoken Uncle Sam, and the Compton native’s unrelenting focus on platforming Black music and culture was an indictment of recent political happenings.
Source: Chris Graythen / Getty
Naturally, many pundits, including those in right-wing media circles and even in the mainstream, have little understanding of why Jackson as Uncle Sam was pivotal to the performance and harkened back to Lamar’s loving ode and dire warning to Black America via his acclaimed third studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
Given the themes of some of his past releases, it could be assumed that Lamar is a champion of reparations or, further, a champion of Black excellence and perseverance despite the broken promises of 40 Acres and a Mule. Regardless of where the intent truly lay, America, especially those who have endured despite being mostly frozen out from the dream of having our own, definitely took notice.
—
Photo: Getty
One of the biggest moments of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX Halftime performance on Sunday night (Feb. 9) was when he called on his fellow Compton, Calif., native Serena Williams to crip walk onstage during “Not Like Us.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
While many fans online loved the surprise cameo, Stephen A. Smith weighed in with his own take, taking aim at Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. “If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him, trolling your ex?’” the sports analyst began during his First Take podcast on Feb. 10. “If I’m married, and my wife is going to troll her ex, go back to his a–. Because clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for, and you with me? Bye!”
For context, Drake and Williams reportedly dated in 2015, and the rapper revealed that he wrote his 2016 hit “Too Good” about the athlete. The tennis champion’s appearance during the performance was widely speculated to be a dig at Drake — the famous subject of Lamar’s “Not Like Us” diss track. In 2022, Drake fired shots at Ohanian, rapping on “Middle of the Ocean”: “Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie/ He claim we don’t got a problem but no, boo, it’s like you comin’ for sushi/ We might pop up on ’em at will like Suzuki.”
Trending on Billboard
Co-host Ryan Clark then chimed in, adding, “If you with Serena Williams, you’re going to be a kept man anyway — don’t start that, you ain’t gonna run the house.”
Shannon Sharpe also added in defense of Ohanian, “I think he is doing pretty well. He founded Reddit and then he sold Reddit for a big chunk of change. I think he OK.”
Ohanian ended up responding to Smith’s thoughts on X. The entrepreneur, who was in attendance at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, replied to a tweet from the New York Post about Smith’s comments. “I got you @stephenasmith,” he wrote, linking to the inspiration behind Williams’ crip walk, which was the backlash she received for the dance at Wimbleton more than a decade ago and how the decision is “bigger than the music.”
“I know I should know better, but I continue to be surprised by full the spectrum of genius and stupidity in humanity,” Ohanian concluded.
See his responses below.
I know I should know better, but I continue to be surprised by full the spectrum of genius and stupidity in humanity.— Alexis Ohanian 🗽 (@alexisohanian) February 11, 2025
Spike Lee was a big fan of Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl 59 Halftime Show. Kendrick used frequent Spike Lee collaborator Samuel L. Jackson as the show’s “Greek chorus,” just as Spike used him as Dolmedes in his 2015 musical satire Chi-Raq. Lamar also took a moment to bring up the Reconstruction Era proposal to give […]
Kevin Durant wasn’t too enthralled with Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. When asked about Lamar’s performance on Monday (Feb. 10), the Phoenix Suns star called the day “boring” and said it was of little interest to him. “It meant nothing to me,” he said to reporter Dana Scott. “No thoughts — I didn’t really […]
Jimmy Kimmel is coming to Taylor Swift‘s defense after Donald Trump taunted the pop star on social media following the 2025 Super Bowl. On the latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday (Feb. 10), the late-night host recapped the night prior’s big game — which ended with the Kansas City Chiefs losing 22-40 against the […]
02/11/2025
Check out all the answers from this year’s honorees, including Usher, WNBA star Angel Reese and football legend Shannon Sharpe.
02/11/2025
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
Yes, you read that right.
Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show was hands down one of the Blackest moments of 2025. In just 13 minutes, he flipped Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, seemingly took aim at Trump, and delivered a powerful American story—all while throwing lyrical haymakers at Drake.
Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
The Black Pride and Political Messaging
Let’s start with the deeper themes. The entire performance felt like a message to Drake, but it also paid homage to Spike Lee’s Bamboozled. Samuel L. Jackson, playing the role of Uncle Sam, wasn’t just a jab at Drake and the industry—it was also a shot at the executives and critics who wanted Kendrick to dial down his relentless lyrical assault on Drizzy. It even took aim at those who dismissed Lamar as doing Civil Rights Rap—as if calling out injustice is a bad thing.
Jackson’s narration made that clear when he introduced Lamar saying, “It’s your Uncle…Sam, and this is the great American game.” The line exposed how America polices Black artistic expression, punctuated by Jackson’s follow-up: “Too ghetto”—right before his mic was cut.
The symbolism didn’t stop there. The American flag served as a double entendre: a reminder that the country was built on the backs of enslaved Black people, but also a critique of how racism continues to divide. Lamar’s dancers even wore outfits reminiscent of The Mau Maus, the militant culture purists in the film Bamboozled, underscoring his message about protecting Black culture from exploitation.
Then came the “Not Like Us” moment. Looking his dancers dead in the eye, Lamar declared: “This is bigger than the music.” Highlighting the phrase—40 acres and a mule—refers to the unfulfilled reparations promise from 1865, a theme Lamar has touched on before in To Pimp a Butterfly. In the song “Wesley’s Theory,” he rapped about the illusion of prosperity for Black Americans: “What, you want you a house or a car? / Forty acres and a mule, a piano, a guitar?” By bringing it to the Super Bowl stage, he made it clear: the fight for equity isn’t over—especially in his home state of California, where reparations debates are ongoing—hence the sign in the crowd saying “wrong way” because he was speaking up in a sanitized forum.
WARNING WRONG WAY! Nothing but respect for Kendrick 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hnxCXlIr8C
— ECP408 (@ecp408) February 10, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The Direct Shots at Drake
Now Let’s discuss the direct jabs at Drake.
During the performance, Lamar teased the crowd with the possibility of performing his Drake diss and L.A. anthem, “Not Like Us.”
“I want to play their favorite song, but you know they love to sue,” he quipped, referencing Drake’s defamation lawsuit. As the beat dropped, Lamar flashed a sly smile and rapped, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young,” before letting the audience complete the lawsuit-inspiring line—”certified pedophile.” The litigious remark comes after Drake took his issues with “Not Like Us” to court, in January filing a federal lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the diss track that accuses him of being a pedophile, allegedly.
Midway through, Lamar locked eyes with the camera and dropped another bombshell: “They tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence.” The line was widely seen as a response to Drake’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group, which accuses the label of helping spread the allegations fueling “Not Like Us.” With that one line, Lamar dismissed both the lawsuit and any industry attempts to undermine his influence.
The Subtle (and Not-So-Subtle) Jabs
Despite its deep cultural messaging, Lamar’s performance was full of layered shots, including the set designed as a giant PlayStation controller—pointing to Sony, the parent company of Drake’s label, OVO as he was literally controlling the narrative while fueling conspiracy theories about hidden messages.
And then there was Serena Williams. The tennis legend hit the C-walk on the X button to “Not Like Us”—a callback to the backlash she faced for using the dance to celebrate her Olympic gold medal win in 2012. This wasn’t just shade at Drake, but also a broader message about respectability politics and Black joy being policed.
Lamar closed with an electrifying performance of “tv off” with DJ Mustard, bringing the show full circle. The track’s message? Stop getting distracted—wake up to reality. And, of course, it doubled as a parting shot at Drake and J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter,” proving once again that Lamar plays the biggest game of all.
The Bigger Picture
Before the big night, Lamar told Apple Music that his performance would be culturally significant and an evolution of everything he’s done before. He wasn’t lying. The internet is still dissecting every line, every symbol, every move. But as Jay-Z said back in 2001, “You fools don’t listen to music, you just skim through it.”
Kendrick wasn’t just putting on a show. He was making history.
—
*Respectfully.
This year’s Super Bowl has made television history, with the broadcast setting a ratings record for the second year in a row.
According to FoxSports, an average of 126 million viewers tuned in to watch their broadcast on Sunday (Feb. 9), which saw the Philadelphia Eagles emerge victorious over the Kansas City Chiefs with a final score of 40 to 22. According to the network, those figures measure viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes, Tubi, Telemundo and NFL digital properties.
That number is a 2% increase on the 123.7 million viewers who watched last year’s event, which outshone any audience previously recorded by Nielsen. Fox also noted that their peak audience of 135.7 million viewers occurred around the game’s second quarter, between 8:00-8:15pm ET.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Though the evening’s big takeaway was undoubtedly related to the game itself, a sizable portion of the Super Bowl’s viewership likely came thanks to the halftime show, which featured Kendrick Lamar in the spotlight.
Trending on Billboard
Much of the discourse relating to Lamar’s appearance revolved around the potential content of his performance – specifically whether he would perform his Drake diss track “Not Like Us”.
Having inspired a defamation lawsuit from its subject matter against Lamar (and Drake’s) record label, Universal Music Group in January, and having taken home five Grammys (including Record of the Year and Song of the Year) just a week earlier, Lamar ensured that the song received pride of place in his already-iconic set. Samuel L. Jackson, SZA, and Serena Williams also joined Lamar onstage for the performance at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome.
Currently, specific break-out numbers for the halftime show have not been made available, though it would likely be in contention for the title of the most-watched halftime show in history. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that honor belongs to the 1993 Super Bowl, which saw Michael Jackson change the face of halftime entertainment, bringing in 133 million viewers for his appearance.
Kendrick Lamar took over Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Sunday night (Feb. 9) for the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show,
After SZA’s ethereal appearance during Lamar’s set, it could make sense for K.Dot to pass the baton to his upcoming tour mate and frequent collaborator. She’d have plenty of songs to choose from, as her 2017 album Ctrl peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and spawned standout tracks like “Love Galore,” “The Weeknd,” and “Broken Clocks,” while her Billboard 200 chart-topper SOS featured hits like “Kill Bill,” “Snooze,” “Good Days,” “I Hate U” and more.
Within R&B/hip-hop, a few more stars who come to mind for future Super Bowl headliners include Lil Wayne, who wanted to perform in his hometown of New Orleans, and Nicki Minaj, who dropped the long-awaited Pink Friday 2 in 2023 and expressed plans for the third installment of the Pink Friday series in September. Jay-Z is also likely to take the halftime slot, as he and his company Roc Nation have signed on since 2019 to help the NFL pick out talent to perform during the prestigious game. “I thought it would be selfish to pick myself too early,” he previously said of performing during a red carpet appearance for the premiere of The Book of Clarence. “Maybe one year.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Over in the pop world, Taylor Swift could take over for her Kansas City Chiefs boyfriend Travis Kelce and have her time in the Super Bowl spotlight, or Justin Bieber could take the stage, as he’s been teasing a return to music in recent months. BTS is also scheduled for a much-anticipated reunion after the group members complete their South Korean military service in mid-2025, so why not celebrate with a major Halftime Show takeover?
Trending on Billboard
Country has had a major year, and Post Malone could be a fun headliner following the release of his country-tinged F-1 Trillion project. Or perhaps his “I Had Some Help” collaborator Morgan Wallen should take center stage. There’s also a chance that the Super Bowl Halftime Show goes back to spotlighting rock acts, with Metallica and Linkin Park’s new lineup as great contenders.
Who do you think should do the honors and headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show? Let us know by voting here or below.