Kendrick Lamar, a black American rapper, singer and artist used hip-hop as a political protest at Super Bowl LIX 2025 halftime show which was also attended by the 47th President of United States Donald Trump. The Super Bowl has become a more than a sports event, it’s a cultural and political stage.
Kendrick and Trump are two strictly different visionaries. Lamar enlightened this by his artistic statement while Trump assimilates reactionary nationalism, economic populism, and political conservatism that resonates with his ideology of “Make America Great Again (MAGA)”. Lamar challenges, the systemic injustices, racial discrimination, and the elite power structures that substantiates them, through his artistic force. Lamar has long used his music for political resistance, activism, poetic storytelling while shedding light on the police brutalities and the history of African-Americans and many more civil and political issues of America.
His past award-winning albums, are the demonstration of his abilities to turn personal and collective pain of America into a politically charged art. In this cultural battlefield, Trump has positioned himself as a staunch opponent of “woke” ideology, taking advantage of it as a political rallying cry against the progressive ideas and movements. His rhetoric policies have often undermined American values and on several occasions he dismissed talking about certain issues like racism, health care, educational crisis and inequality of people of color in America.
Art has historically played a key role in the political arena. Musicians and artists have influenced movements and challenged the status quo. Lamars performance has reaffirmed that music is not only entertainment, but also a tool for awakening, mobilizing, and enlightenment. For his Super Bowl performance, Kendrick took a bold step by starting the show saying, “Revolution ‘bout to be televised, you picked the right time, but the wrong guy”. This was a deliberate twist to Gil Scott-Heron’s iconic phrase, “The revolution will not be televised”, while his original work suggested that true change occurs at an individual level beyond media gaze and Lamar implied it to the current movement, which was both visible and urgent while clearly reflecting on the broader societal tensions.
His performance was infusion of symbolism and conscious lyricism. Consequently, the dancers were dressed in red, white, and blue colors representing a divided American flag which signifies political and social fractures in the United States. Before performing his diss track about a fellow artist Drake, “Not Like Us”, Lamar also stated “Forty acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music”. This referred to the unfulfilled commitments made after the Civil War in 1865 where freed African-American slaves were promised of a land and resources to help them become economically self-sufficient.
The order reserved 400,000 acres of land for black families— an assurance that was never honored. Lamar highlighted the enduring legacy of systemic inequality, and ongoing struggle for true freedom. Throughout the performance actor, Samuel L Jackson, dressed as uncle Sam served a narrative guide while emphasizing on the tension between national identity and the realities of marginalized communities.
Moreover, according to various sources and social media videos, a dancer during Kendrick’s performance allegedly waved the Palestinian flag on the stage, who was later arrested by the security. Although this courageous act of defiance and humanity never made it to the mainstream media broadcasting the halftime show, it nonetheless sent a strong message to the world on the ongoing brutalities, oppression and barbarous treatment of Palestinians. Additionally there is growing speculation that most Americans are against the Trump administration’s decision for forcible resettlement of Palestinians from the Gaza strip. Since this proposal not only raises significant ethical, geopolitical and legal concerns but might also lead to anti-American sentiments resulting in security risks for United States’ interests abroad. Furthermore, a widespread concern among Americans is the use of their tax-payer dollars, being used in the ethnic cleansing of a nation entangling the nation in a conflict and war they do not support. In essence, Kendrick Lamar utilized his halftime show as a platform to blend his artistry with incisive social commentary, urging Americans to reflect and engage with the current struggle for justice and equality.
