Once upon a time, J Cole rapped “me and Drizzy, this shit like the Super Bowl” in “First Person Shooter” – the track which sparked the unavoidable rap beef between superstars Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Well, look how that turned out. Less than a year later, Lamar has not only won five Grammys for his record-breaking Drake diss “Not Like Us”, but he also performed the track to hundreds of millions of viewers last night at one of the biggest televised events on Earth: the Super Bowl LIX.  

The performance was somewhat of a coup de gras (or, a coup Degrassi) on the infamous beef, featuring numerous jabs and references to Drake, as well as wider commentary on the current political state of America in the wake of President Donald Trump‘s re-election. Running for 13 minutes, and including appearances from SZA, Mustard and Serena Williams, the halftime show was replete with subtle imagery and messaging, from backup dancers arranging to form the shape of the star-spangled banner, to Lamar cryptically announcing “You know they like to sue” before teasing “Not Like Us”.

There‘s a lot to digest so, below, we break down the layered symbolism behind Kendrick Lamar’s viral Super Bowl performance.

THE AMERICAN FLAG

National imagery was everywhere during the iconic performance, not least of all when backup dancers dressed in red, blue and white arranged to form the shape of the American flag during the opening stabs of “HUMBLE”. The moment had layered significance. Firstly, some viewers interpreted the all-black arrangement of dancers as a comment on how the US was built on the labour of African Americans. More subtly, however, the inclusion of red and blue bandanas could also be seen as a reference to the signature colours of the bloods and crips gangs in America – whom Lamar famously ‘united’ on-stage at his The Pop Out concert in June, 2024. Lamar himself was raised in the Crip neighbourhood of Compton, LA, hence his blue jacket.

KENDRICK RECREATES GNX ALBUM COVER

The lights raised on the performance to reveal Kendrick standing on a black Buick GNX, recreating the cover from his last album (and one of Dazed’s top albums of 2024) GNX. The limited edition submodel of the Buick Regal muscle car holds a special significance in Lamar’s life, reportedly being the car that he was driven home by his father in after his birth in 1987.

KENDRICK SAID ‘GAME OVER’ ON THE BEEF

One symbol that has remained the source of online speculation is the apparent recreation of a PlayStation controller in the closing moments of the performance. As Lamar performed Drake diss track “Not Like Us”, backup dancers fanned out across the pitch to form the shape of an ‘X’, ‘Square’, ‘Triangle’ and ‘Circle’ – the iconic buttons on a Sony PlayStation controller. While the exact intentions behind this are still unclear, some fans have suggested that this might be a subtle jab at the fact that Drake’s Ovo Sound record label has recently signed a distribution deal with Sony Music. Regardless, the video game analogy resurfaced moments later when drones took to the sky to spell out ‘GAME OVER’ above the crowd. The beef is well and truly won. 

HE TEASED DRAKE’S LAWSUIT 

Lamar knew precisely what we all wanted to hear last night, playfully teasing his Grammy Award-winning Drake diss track “Not Like Us” throughout the show. Before finally playing it, he turned to his four female backup dancers and joked that he wanted to perform the crowd’s favourite song, but “you know they love to sue”– a clear reference to Drake’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) for defamation and harassment over the track’s release. 

Ahead of the Super Bowl, Drake’s legal team released a (lame) statement: “We are confident that the evidence we will ultimately present at trial, including information we’ve already learned and continue to receive since filing the lawsuit, will expose UMG’s gross prioritisation of its own corporate profits and executive bonuses over its exclusively signed artists’ well-being and the truth.” 

As the Guardian put it in their review of Lamar’s performance: “The Chiefs might have been losing by 27 points at halftime, but it was Drake at that moment who was the biggest loser in North America.” A lot of people also thought Lamar’s A chain was a reference to the infamous “a minor” line in “Not Like Us”. On the whole, this was a very bad night for Drake :(

SERENA WILLIAMS’ CAMEO 

As Lamar performed “Not Like Us”, Serena Williams, a fellow Compton native, was shown crip walking on stage, a dance move that was created in the 1970s by first-generation Crip member Robert “Sugar Bear” Jackson. William was previously criticised for celebrating her 2012 Olympic gold medal at Wimbledon by crip walking. The moment was a pointed reclamation, given the backlash she faced over a decade ago. 

Her performance also nodded to the long-running tensions between Drake and Williams, who apparently dated in 2011. In “Not Like Us,” Lamar also warned Drake not to “speak on Serena.”

SAMUEL L. JACKSON AS UNCLE SAM

Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance as Uncle Sam was a striking twist on the classic American symbol. Dressed in the signature blue coat, striped trousers, and star-spangled top hat, he took on the role traditionally linked to patriotism and military recruitment.

As he performed, Jackson narrated and chastised Lamar, declaring he was “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto” – a clear representation of how America polices Blackness. The moment also hinted at a deeper critique: no matter a person’s race, if they are committed to the American empire, they will always put the empire first. Not all skin folk are kin folk, after all.

Regardless of how you interpret it, the visual was bold and brilliant, playing out in front of Donald Trump, who allegedly didn’t watch the whole performance.