By JESSICA SCHIEBER
News Editor
Did you notice?
- Lamar’s varsity jacket had the name Gloria emblazoned on it, the title of the final track on his 2024 “GNX” album.
- The lowercase “a” necklace he wore probably stands for his company logo that uses a lowercase “a.”
- Lamar’s Drake-directed song “Not Like Us” omitted some of the lyrics.
- Serena Williams’ cameo during the same song was another jab at Drake.
- DJ Mustard, who produced “Not Like Us” topped off the performance.
Many people may have missed the symbolism in Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance during the 2025 Super Bowl.
Lamar started the performance by having a group of dancers, who all were wearing red, white and blue, all leave the same car. Upon the exit, the dancers all make way to stairs and stand behind Lamar in a way to represent the American flag.
This was a huge symbol that first stood out to people. Many would overlook it to just be because it was the Super Bowl, but what Lamar meant by it was something far greater. The symbol was a question for our nation: could we be an united nation when we are all so divided?
It is no question that our nation has become divided. The division had been around for a long time. What is disappointing is that now neither side is willing to compromise. The people of our nation are now wanting it to be a picture in black and white and ignore the gray. When a person gives up the willingness to compromise it leads to more people to be even more divided than before. This is what Lamar was calling out during this part of his performance.
Another big symbol was that the stage represented a controller for a video game. Many speculate that this was a call out to how we as Americans are just players in the rat race of a capitalist society. Others see it to represent how we as humans are a part of the game of life. This stage was one of the best planned ones that I have witnessed in terms of the Super Bowl. Not only did it showcase a controller, but at the end of his performance, lights spelled out the words “Game Over,” which is a direct reference to when you may lose a video game.
While the “Game Over” signal could have been because his performance had ended, I am not inclined to believe that. All throughout the performance, Lamar had shown his incredible ability of using symbolism. I am inclined to believe that it is to represent that we as Americans have already lost in a sense. If we go back to the beginning of his performance and think back to the question of could we be an united nation when we are divided, then the “Game Over” could mean that we have already lost what America was supposed to be.
If we use the stage as a connection to this sign then we can say that the game is over because we are already so involved with the capitalist society, and there is no way that we could escape it. Lamar’s performance has been one of my favorite ones I have seen in the last few years, and while I am not big on rap, I can appreciate the symbols that he showcased. Lamar is a creative artist and it was shown in his halftime show. He is not only skilled with how he comes up with lyrics, but also how to get a message across to a nation