Serena Williams Crip Walking Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show: The Biggest Highlight of the Super Bowl 2025 So Far

As Super Bowl 2025 kickstarted, it has surprised us with momentary yet memorable incidents since its beginning. This year's Super Bowl has set the pace for more fun as the championship continues to move forward. With the Philadelphia Eagles winning against the Kansas City Chiefs and Serena Williams’ grand entry to Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show, this championship is already winning hearts. 

Let’s take a glimpse into the surprise cameo of Serena Williams during the Super Bowl halftime show through this article in The Silicon Journal.   

The Super Bowl championship game is one of the most popular championships in the world. Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, being the venue for this championship, has been featuring super games like the Kansas City Chief Vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. Even before we got over the dramatic win of The Eagles during the Super Bowl on February 4th, the championship threw another surprise at us.

The Unforgettable Cameo

Four-time Olympic gold medallist tennis star Serena Williams made a surprise appearance on February 9th during the halftime show of Super Bowl 2025. As she crip walked the stage for rapper Kendrick Lamar’s performance and danced in the halftime show, she has been in the news since that very moment.

She received a squeaky welcome inside the venue from the audience as she danced to Lamar’s tune with his popular creation, “Not Like Us.” 

Serena took to her social media channel to share the news right after her appearance at the Super Bowl, stating, “Let’s go Super Bowl halftime??! I died a little!” She shared the footage of her backstage preparations before the cameo. 

Both Lamar and Serena share the same Californian roots as they hail from the Californian city of Compton, in a show that features singer-songwriter SZA and actor Samuel L. Jackson. Her crip walk moves referred to these shared roots.

Serena showcased similar dance moves during the London Olympics in 2012 where she danced after defeating Maria Sharapova, storming controversy about the inappropriateness of the dance in such an event. 

Serena addressed the Wimbledon controversy in the video clip of her backstage preparations during the Super Bowl 2025. She stated laughing, “Man I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon, Oh, I would've been fined." 

Serena boldly defended her Wimbledon criticism in 2012, with her supporters finding the criticism racist.

The Crip Walk move was crafted by ‘The Crips’ in 1970, a Los Angeles area street gang. Later, this move was adopted in the hip-hop community, especially in Los Angeles. 

Serena’s cameo in the Super Bowl championship game has drawn people’s attention not only for her crip walk but also for her past connection with famous rapper Drake. She dated Lama’s rival Drake in the past and the focus was on Lama’s Grammy-award-winning track ‘Not Like Us,’ which he performed on the 9th. He referred to Williams in the track and called her Not Like Us, and further added Drake “better not speak on Serena.”

As Lamar was performing on the track, the camera panned to Serena who crip walked during that song. As Drake‘s rumored girlfriend, he has made her references in his songs like “Worst Behavior.” Drake was also on the news when he called Serena’s husband a “groupie.”

This 43-year-old Tennis champion has been married to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian since 2017.

The Moment of Flag Formation

Signifying the Divided States of America, Lamar’s flag formation moment is another highlight from the halftime show of the Super Bowl. As he sang “Humble,” Lamar had 60 dancers surrounding the stage, dressed in red, white, and blue, who lined up to look like the flag of America. Lamar rapped “DAMN,” standing in the middle of the formed flag, cutting it in two opposing halves. This formation symbolized the present state of the country following the Trump election, who also was a spectator that day of the Super Bowl 2025 championship.

The ‘A’ Chain 

Lamar also performed wearing a gleaming ‘a’ chain that also caught the audience’s attention during the event. Some perceived it to be a narrow reference to his chant of “a minor” in the song ‘Not Like Us.’  Many perceived it as an alternate logo for his company ‘PgLang.’ Although the actual story behind the chain remains unknown, people refused to believe it was a casual wear for this intentional rapper.

Mustard on the Stage

At the end of his stage show, Lamar called Mustard, the producer of ‘Not Like Us’ on the stage. Mustard also produced “TV Off” and “Hey Now” of Lamar’s GNX Album. During his appearance in the Super Bowl championship game halftime show, Mustard shared an anecdote concerning the composition of ‘Not Like Us.’ He said he made the song beat in 30 minutes and sent it to Lamar. This half-hour work of his gave the world the iconic song.