When rapper Kendrick Lamar took to the stage in February for the Super Bowl’s halftime performance in New Orleans, his chart-topping Not Like Us was peppered with subtle political references and “Easter eggs” – cleverly hidden messaging with symbolism underscored by political and social commentary.
Take the line:
Once upon a time, all of us was in chains
Homie still doubled down calling us some slaves
The “homie” he refers to is rapper Drake, whose May 2024 song Family Matters criticised Lamar for engaging in “performative activism” in the line:
Always rapping like you about to get the slaves freed
You just acting like an activist it make believe
A longstanding rivalry has existed between Drake and Lamar since 2013, and the two have exchanged lyrical shots at each other on several occasions over the years.
Dancers in red, white and blue forming a United States flag during Lamar’s Super Bowl performance, which then divided along colour lines, spoke to the deeply polarised state of politics in the US today, noted Eric Arnold, a cultural historian and hip-hop journalist who spoke to Al Jazeera.
Another political reference Lamar makes in this song is to Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised from 1971, widely regarded as a precursor to using political language in hip-hop. The song critiqued consumerism and mass media’s role in perpetuating racial and social injustice.
During his performance, Lamar invoked the song by declaring, “The revolution ’bout to be televised,” before launching into his track, Squabble Up.
“Hip-hop, Lamar implies, can be a televised revolution, delivering a message of cultural resilience in the face of a suddenly authoritarian government,” explained Arnold.
How was Lamar’s Super Bowl performance received?
It received a mixed reaction. Matt Gaetz, the Florida senator who was forced to withdraw from his nomination by President Donald Trump for US attorney general due to alleged sexual misconduct with a minor and substance abuse, declared: “The halftime show you just watched is obviously the regime’s response to Trump’s historic gains with Black men,” referring to the previous Biden administration and its supporters as the “regime”.
Musician Kid Rock, appearing on Real Time with Bill Maher in February, criticised the performance as a show of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, remarking that it “turned DEI into an IED”. He was suggesting that Lamar’s performance was being wielded as a weapon – an Improvised Explosive Device.
Regardless, it was clearly a political expression. “The relevance of his [Lamar’s] message seemed unquestionable,” said Arnold. “Even as some opined they didn’t appreciate the political symbolism, the dissenting views ironically upheld Lamar’s point about the nation’s divisions across racial, ethnic, gender, social, and economic lines.”
Lamar’s lyrics stem from a time-old tradition of political rhetoric in hip-hop lyrics. Here’s how it all came about.