He started with a giant video of an American flag behind him and, around him, a formation of marching soldiers in camouflage and ski masks, as he rapped about poverty and revenge in “XXX.” He was briefly joined by the song’s hook donors, Bono and the Edge from U2. In another pause, Mr. Lamar cued video supertitles: “This is a satire by Kendrick Lamar.” There was an excerpt from “DNA” — thoughts like “dodging bullets, reaping what you sow” — with Mr. Lamar flanked by fist-pumping soldiers; it ended with a gunshot and a blackout. In the silence, Dave Chappelle appeared. (For more on that, see below.)

A dancer in loose white robes pounded a big Japanese taiko drum and shadowed Mr. Lamar’s moves. Soon, he turned to verses he had recorded as guest raps for Rich the Kid and Jay Rock, refusing all conciliatory roles: “Who am I? Not your father, not your brother, not your reason, not your future, not your comfort, not your rebel, not your glory.” The soldiers had turned into red-hoodied figures; one by one, with rhythmic gunshots and flames behind them, they fell to the stage. And in all the mayhem, with syllables flying at machine-gun speed, Mr. Lamar had rewritten his lyrics so there would be no silences or bleeps from CBS — so everything he wanted to say got through. This was a popular-culture moment of proud, planned destabilization. JON PARELES

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An Irresistible Disrupter