Decoding every easter egg and diss from Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl show

EntertainmentMusic
15 Feb 2025 • 6:00 PM MYT
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Kendrick Lamar is arguably well on his way to becoming one of modern rap’s GOAT, and his halftime show at the 2025 Super Bowl has easily solidified that to be true. But just why has it caused such a stir on social media? Let us walk you through all the easter eggs and disses that you may have missed while watching it.

Expectedly, one of the biggest sporting events in the world — the Super Bowl 2025 was a star-studded affair. With attendees ranging from US President Donald Trump to Taylor Swift, the face-off between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans was a drama-filled night. Besides the Eagles’ decisive 40-22 victory over the Chiefs, the halftime show performance by Kendrick Lamar also became the highlight. Here’s a breakdown of all the easter eggs, disses and celebrity cameos in the Super Bowl performance of Kendrick Lamar.

Ahead of his much-anticipated Super Bowl performance, there were a lot of speculations about who would join the legendary rapper as a special guest. While the names of his past collaborators including Taylor Swift and Beyoncé were seemingly in the mix, the rapper tapped SZA as the guest star who joined him to perform their popular duets including “All the Stars” from the Black Panther soundtrack as well as “Luther” from his recently released GNX album.

Above all, fans were eager to witness if Lamar would sing his Grammy-winning track “Not Like Us” on the world stage. Initially released as a diss track aimed at fellow rapper Drake during their infamous 2024 rap battle, “Not Like Us” has reached multiple milestones since its release.

However, it’s safe to say that with his recent halftime performance, Lamar emerged as a far bigger force in the pop culture world beyond the rap feud. Take a look at Lamar’s complete setlist from the halftime show and all the easter eggs you may have missed from the viral performance.

Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl halftime show setlist:

  • “Squabble Up”
  • “Humble”
  • “DNA”
  • “Euphoria”
  • “Man at the Garden”
  • “Peekaboo”
  • “Luther” featuring SZA
  • “All the Stars” featuring SZA
  • “Not Like Us”
  • “TV Off”

Decoding the easter eggs and disses from Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl show

Motifs and iconography

While Kendrick Lamar belted out tracks from his decorated discography, the rapper also let his choreography make powerful statements during his Super Bowl 2025 halftime show. American imagery being the theme of the moment, dancers for his set were dressed in the colours of the American flag. At one point during his performance of “Humble”, the dancers also reassembled in a formation to create the American flag. At the front and centre of Kendrick’s performance was a veiled political message about anti-Black hate and violence in a divided America.

Samuel L. Jackson as the narrator “Uncle Sam”

Arguably, one of the most celebrated and successful actors of all time Samuel L. Jackson served a major role at the 2025 Super Bowl as Lamar tapped him to play the important part of a narrator for his set. Appearing as the character of “Uncle Sam”, the 76-year-old Marvel star sported a blue coat and top hat resembling the American flag. All through the performance, Jackson’s Uncle Sam made comments about the rapper’s performance that reflected the stereotypes faced by Black artists in the American music industry. The storyteller in Lamar particularly peaked at the moment when Jackson’s Uncle Sam described his performance as “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto” highlighting the stereotypical labels that bring down the hip-hop culture. Samuel L. Jackson’s patriot character also seemingly appeared as a dominating symbol challenging the views of the current US government.

Lamar’s open dig at Drake for suing his own record label

A few minutes into his energised halftime show, Kendrick teased, “I want to play their favourite song… but you know they love to sue.” Before performing “Not Like Us” towards the end of his spot, Lamar teased Drake by mentioning the artist’s recent lawsuit where he sued Universal Music Group over the song, accusing the label of trying to “create a viral hit” out of a song that made “false factual allegations” about him. Drake claims that UMG knew the lyrics of the song were false but promoted the song anyway.

The “Not Like Us” lyrics

Ever since Kendrick Lamar was confirmed as the 2025 Super Bowl halftime performer, fans speculated about how the rapper could pull off performing the famed diss track “Not Like Us” on the world stage given its sensitive lyrics. Much to the surprise of fans, Lamar not only namedropped Drake as he does in the original lyrics but also stared right into the camera while doing so. The rapper, however, did opt out of using the word “paedophile” from the song’s original lyric: “Certified Lover Boy? Certified paedophile.” Lamar also edited out the n-word that appears in the song throughout the performance.

Despite the origins of the the song being conflict-induced, Lamar smartly doubled down on his political message by changing the opening verse that seemed more suitable for Black History Month saying, “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music”— referring to the promised reparations for formerly enslaved African Americans.

The meaning behind Kendrick’s “a” chain

The theatrical nature of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance had fans looking for easter eggs and disses in all elements of the show. An eye-catching fashion choice of the rapper also raised many questions as netizens discussed the multiple meanings behind it. For the performance, Lamar wore a a dazzling chain with a pendant featuring a lowercase “a” which many assumed was another dig at Drake and a reference to the popular “a minor” line from “Not Like Us.” Others also pointed out that it was a nod to the PGLang (the name of the entertainment firm co-founded by Lamar and Dave Free) logo which also appeared on the rapper’s jacket alongside the words “Compton” referring to his hometown. Nonetheless, The dazzling chain shined all through Lamar’s performance, whether intended as a diss or not.

Serena Williams’ cameo in “Not Like Us”

Serena Williams is a Compton legend and the Tennis ace stepped up for her fellow hometown star by making a cameo in the halftime show performance. As Lamar began singing “Not Like Us”, the camera panned to the corner of the stage, and the 43-year-old tennis all-time-great Serena was seen crip walking.

Besides her being the pride of Compton, the neighbourhood that Lamar dedicated the song to, Williams’ appearance was also a potshot at Drake who reportedly dated her around 2011. Following their breakup, Drake has seemingly referenced Williams in his 2013 song “Worst Behavior” and also in his 2022 song “Middle of the Ocean.” In his diss track against Drake, Lamar then hit back at the Canadian rapper with the line ‘better not speak on Serena” in “Not Like Us.” Thus, the imagery of Williams dancing to “Not Like Us” was not lost on anyone.

The PlayStation easter egg

Those carefully watching the Super Bowl performance of Kendrick Lamar also noticed some unusual easter eggs and disses like the stage design in the formation of a PlayStation controller’s iconic cross, circle, triangle, and square symbols. As the lights went down following his epic performance, the words “Game Over” illuminated in the stands. Many believe this was the final nail in the coffin of Lamar in his highly-publicised rap feud against Drake. The finale of the Super Bowl performance seemed like a concluding victory lap from Lamar.

(Main and featured images: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

This story first appeared on Prestige Malaysia.


Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
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