America should be crashing out bad as Drake is

Kendrick Lamar is as cute as he is spiteful.

Kendrick Lamar has to be America’s most adorable hater.

I can’t think of any other grown man who can wear Black Air Force 1s and I’d still want to pinch his cheeks.

I mean, just look at him. Cheesing in the most petty and sinister way while rapping a line from his five-time Grammy winning song calling Drake a pedophile during the most-watched event on TV:

This little man is diabolical. And though rap beef might’ve been what piqued many viewers’ interest, using this moment as solely a victory lap would’ve been whack.

He could’ve even made this performance a retrospective look into his 15 year-long career in rap like many other halftime show performers have done, betting on the uptick in streams they’re bound to get in the days following.

Kenny tapped into his catalogue with “DNA,” “All The Stars” and “HUMBLE.” But there was no “Alright” or “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” because — *looks around* —we actually don’t know if this shit will be alright and the vibe has been dead.

“The revolution ’bout to be televised — you picked the right time but the wrong guy,” he said at the top of his 13-minute set.

Samuel L. Jackson portrays Uncle Sam and is dressed for the part, narrating Kendrick and the audience through the “game” that is being Black in America. "Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto," Jackson scoffs at one point. A zoomed out view shows that Kendrick has turned the football field into a giant PlayStation controller.

We also see his all-Black dancers, dressed in red, white and blue, assemble in the form of the American flag, symbolizing the Black folks that built this country. We see that same flag divided in two, with Kendrick rapping in the middle of it, reminding us of the broken promises of equality. The imagery is significant.

He mostly performed songs from his latest project, including “GNX,” “Squabble Up,” “Man At The Garden,” “Peekaboo” and “TV Off.” In his current era, Kendrick is leaning deeper into his Compton roots. Not that he didn’t proudly rep before, but this moment has felt different since he united LA’s hoods at his Juneteenth “Pop Out” last year. It’s not enough to say “we gon be alright” when the world around us keeps neglecting us while simultaneously stealing from us. Now it’s “They Not Like Us” and the “they” is very clear.

Yes, it was hilarious that Kendrick had two of Drake’s exes perform during the show (SZA and a crip-walking Serena Williams), but the “they” isn’t just Drake. It’s anyone who consumes and abuses the culture without holding real stake in it. “They” is those who try to come between “us.” And “they” is anyone who didn’t hear loud and clear what last night’s message was.

Though many believed Drake to be the target in this beef, Kendrick made it clear that Drake just happened to be the biracial liaison for the real target: America.

During the NFL’s biggest night, America’s biggest televised event, and in front of President Trump’s big ass, Kendrick didn’t mince words. You only love us when you deem us palatable. You use misuse our influence. And you try to deem us unworthy of equality. And when we got us, “they” get mad and work to break us apart.

That’s why “Not Like” is the most perfectly petty rallying cry of 2025, why “Squabble Up” is a catchy bop for community protection, and why “Man at the Garden” is a meditative reflection on just how much more we deserve.

This may have not been the halftime show folks expected, but it was the one we needed for a time like this.

Happy Black History Month, y’all!

Watch the full Super Bowl Halftime show here.

And check out this cool halftime BTS video from Wired on TikTok.

What did you think of the halftime show? Was it on point or did you want to see something else? Let’s keep chatting!