Hip-Hop sensation Kendrick Lamar performed at this year’s Super Bowl halftime in New Orleans at the Caesars Superdome, on Sunday, February 9th. The Compton native rapper was joined by SZA. The two have a planned tour together, and the Super Bowl halftime show may be a foreshadow to the upcoming tour. Lamar put on a one of a kind show, spreading messages through musical performance on politics. Although the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef was very prevalent in his performance, Lamar made it clear that when brought into perspective it’s pure entertainment, and there is so much more going on worldwide.
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“Salutations! It’s your Uncle Sam, and this is the great American game.” Kendrick Lamar spared no time waiting and got straight to the point at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. Lamar’s message behind the halftime show had lots to do with politics, and America’s outlook on rap stereotypes. He incorporated famous actor Samuel L. Jackson dressed up as Uncle Sam who had multiple narrations throughout the performance. These narrations included multiple digs at how America views rap to be “ghetto” and “loud.” After those digs, Lamar sang some of his slower songs such as “Luther” and “All The Stars” with SZA, which lead to Uncle Sam being more pleased and saying “That’s what America wants… nice, calm.”
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The timing of the show and the message delivered was perfect timing. February is Black History Month, and Lamar shined a spotlight on the influence of rap and black artists. “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music; they tried to rig the game, but you cant fake the influence,” sang Lamar as he marched through his dancers who were assembled as the American flag. Personally, I view the timing and meaning of this to be that as much as most of society chooses to shade Black culture, it ultimately is undeniable and plays a huge role in America’s history. This was a very striking statement to make in front of the current President, Donald Trump, who was said to cancel Black History Month. The power of Lamar’s message in the performance was so strong to have rumored that Trump left the Super Bowl.
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Kendrick Lamar’s hit song, “Not Like Us,” seemed to be the elephant in the room throughout the night. “Not Like Us” is a distrack on fellow rapper Drake and, a week prior to the halftime show, won five GRAMMYS. It was a controversial decision whether or not Kendrick was going to perform the song because it would risk Kendrick being sued by Drake for defamation. Throughout the show, Kendrick teased, singing it multiple times. “I want to play their favorite song, but I know they love to sue,” states Lamar as one of the subtle taunts following a few beats from the song. Risks aside, it was without a doubt a good decision to sing “Not Like Us” as the crowd sang along to the lyrics which brought up the energy levels at Caesers dome!
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There were many blows directed towards Drake during Lamar’s performance. Tennis legend Serena Williams had a short cameo during the performance of “Not Like Us.” The camera panned to display Williams dancing to the song which is quite a diss towards Drake as Williams is Drake’s ex. Many fans also speculate that Williams was a guest because of her connection with Lamar being that they are both Compton born stars, dominating their game. Another prime example of shade being thrown was Lamar wearing a chain with a lowercase “a”, or for those who understand music terminology, a minor. This is a play on lyrics from the song “Not Like Us,” specifically the part “tryna strike a chord and its probably A minor”; these lyrics are referencing Drake making moves on minors.
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It’s safe to say that Kendrick Lamar absolutely clocked Drake, and Lamar’s halftime show solidifies him winning the ongoing feud. A current conspiracy on the arrangement of the stage is that it was set up to resemble a game controller’s buttons. This would symbolize the game being Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s beef, and Kendrick controlling it through his songs like “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us.” Back to the political outlook of the show, this could also symbolizing Kendrick being criticized and controlled by America’s view on rap. This led to Lamar changing his style of music to be more calm. At the end of the performance, they showed the crowd, which lit up to say “game over.” This served as a mic drop to end the performance.
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Although everyone has their own opinion on Kendrick Lamar’s performance I would argue it to be a strongly influential performance and delivered a message with perfect timing. It was definitely not the most electric or visually complex shows, but that isn’t what was most important to Lamar. The simplicity of the show is what made the messages within it powerful. After watching Kendrick Lamar and SZA perform on such a big stage, increased my anticipation for their opening night of the GNX tour in Minneapolis.
