Kendrick’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Review: Divisive, Transgressive…and Pure Kendrick

Kendrick Lamar has made a career of surgically elegant writing, challenging norms and not following trends. All of those qualities were on full display during the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime show…for both good and for ill…but we will get to that in a moment. First, let’s take a look at the pre-game entertainment:

Lady Gaga Performing Hold My Hand:

First off, the hat and the bleached eyebrows were not doing it for me…but live your truth Gaga and enjoy. The walk down the street with Brady, Strahan and the first responders in the wake of the terror attack was moving. It set the scene for Gaga’s emotional rendition of Hold My Hand and was a fitting tribute to those that were injured and lost their lives. I’m glad that the NFL used the time to remember those who lost their lives and use the moment to bring people together. They could have easily glossed over it and focused on the game, but at a time where most of the country is divided, and the government victimises marginalised people, it is good to see the NFL stressing the communal good.

Jon Batiste’s rendition of The National Anthem:

What can I say…we are huge fans of Jon Batiste on Jukebox…and for good reason. His vocal and musical talent is unrivalled within music. His emotional and powerful vocal was on full display as he added in some keyboard flourishes akin to his work on Beethoven Blues. His repetition of “land of the free” was seen by some as a shot at president Trump, who was in the audience. Whether it was a shot or not, it was a bit of flare that I really liked and showed how he made the anthem his own. Great rendition from a New Orleans native.

Ledisi and a New Orleans high school choir: Lift Every Voice and Sing:

Known as the ‘Black National Anthem’ in popular culture, Lift Every Voice and Sing has been sung at the Super Bowl more recently. Ledisi is a New Orleans born R&B icon with 13 records to her name and 14 Grammy nominations. She released her Super Bowl rendition as a single and it is a powerful rendition. Her vocal is immaculate and backed by the choir was a brilliant move and really gave the track some depth. I hope this performance turns more people onto Ledisi’s work and she becomes more of a household name.

Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Halftime Show:

First of all, we need to view the halftime show as more of a televised concert than something for the fans in the stands. With Apple Music sponsoring the show, it is far more of a TV event than ever before. For that reason, I think we need to view the energy of the show and its staging differently than we have in the past. In that light, I am going to review the show on how it came across watching it on TV than how it may have been perceived in the stadium. Having said that, it was more of an uneven show than the previous two with some questionable lows, but some soaring highs.

Let’s get the lows out of the way and end start with the most divisive aspect of the show. Kendrick does not like to follow the masses and does his own thing, which makes for amazing records, but also makes for questionable set lists. Out of his 10 songs, 6 were new tracks from his new record GNX. This seems more like a business / artistic decision, than trying to give something to the fans. Say what you want about the Rihanna show, which I loved, she gave the fans a buffet of favourite tracks and soaring moments. There was almost none of that with Kendrick’s show. There was nothing off of his masterpiece To Pimp a Butterfly and the hits he did play were buried at the end of the set. I think it is a bit much to assume that the general audience will know your latest record well enough to get anything out of some abridged tracks during the halftime show. Finally, we need to talk about SZA. I know Kendrick is the headliner, but I think SZA was wasted. Even though Luther is a great track, I don’t think it had enough juice or showcased her vocal enough.

Before we get to the highs, let’s look at the transgressive nature of the show, which I enjoyed. He teased Not Like Us multiple times during the show without payoff, before busting it out at the end. I could not believe that the NFL allowed him to bust out the bar calling out Drake by name, insinuating that he is a paedophile (he did not say the word, but we knew what he was saying) and called out “a minor” to the entire audience singing along. It is a tough L for Drake…Kendrick’s diss song got like 5 Grammy’s, has been listened to over a billion times and was sung at the halftime of the Super Bowl with a sold out crowd…tough L.

I also thought having Samuel L. Jackson as an “Uncle Sam” hype man representing America was both genius and transgressive. In an era with white supremecists getting pardoned by the president, having an African-American man represent America and calling Kendrick’s tracks “too ghetto” for Americans was brilliant. Having Samuel L. Jackson in this role is way that Kendrick could critique race within the show and reinforce the racial themes of his work. Also, it was funny that Jackson was calling out Kendrick for doing too many new songs. Having Trump in the audience watching all this go down was an added troll.

The more transgressive and divisive aspects ofthe show may, or may not, have worked for you…it was a mixed bag for me. However, there were some highs that I think worked for most people. Everyone loved the Serena Williams moment where she was dancing to her ex-boyfriend’s diss track…yet another L for Drake. I thought the staging was a bit blah, but having everyone file out of the GNX car like a circus act was fun. Then the dancers forming the American flag with HUMBLE. was sick. For most viewers the highlight was Not Like Us, but my highlight was All the Stars with SZA. I adore this song and I think it was the best use of SZA in the show and she got a chance to really let loose.

After re-watching the show a few times I fall on like a 7/10. I think there were far too many new tracks and this was behind Rihanna and Usher by a fair margin. Moreover, I think Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Christmas halftime show was lightyears better than this halftime show. Having said that, I think Not Like Us will go down in halftime lore, Samuel L. Jackson was brilliant and hardcore Kendrick fans would have been happy. It will be interesting where the halftime show goes from here and what happens next year.