Kendrick Lamar performed one of the most impactful and politically relevant Super Bowl halftime shows in history Feb. 9 by demanding his audience’s full attention.
Most fans took Lamar performing the halftime show as the perfect opportunity for him to get the last punch in on his public beef with Drake. Even though he got a few hits in, Lamar took the opportunity of performing at one of the most watched television broadcasts during one of the most politically sensitive times in America and took full advantage of it. Viewers who found Lamar’s performance boring or lackluster need to take a closer look at all of the hidden and blatantly obvious references and comments on Black American culture.
Lamar brought out many guests to the stage including SZA, DJ Mustard, Serena Williams and Samuel L. Jackson as historical figure and political motif “Uncle Sam.”
The performance opened showing the stage divided into four quadrants. Four symbols represented these quadrants: a square, circle, triangle and X. This stage was made to simulate a Playstation controller, beginning the game motif Lamar continues throughout his performance.
Jackson introduced himself as Uncle Sam and welcomed the audience to the “great American game.” Lamar opened his performance by teasing an unreleased song his fans have temporarily named “Bodies.”
His dancers were dressed in different sweatsuits colored either red, white or blue. They piled out of the GNX he was standing on and dispersed around the stage. As the track began to mash up with “Squabble Up,” Lamar said confidently into the mic, “this revolution’s about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.”
This was a direct reference to the Gil Scott-Heron song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” The 1971 anthem is a commentary on how social revolutions are not brought to individuals and are not widely covered by the media.
Lamar stated that this politically charged performance came at the perfect time but he is not the right person to do it. This statement can be interpreted in two ways: either he is threatening that there will be no bars held during the performance or that the people who should be making these statements are the people in power.
President Donald Trump, who recently signed executive orders to terminate diversity, equity and inclusion in federal agencies, was in the audience and forced to listen. Lamar made a brave decision to talk about the very violent issues and attacks towards the Black community in politics directly to the man who is encouraging them is beyond powerful.
After a few verses of “Squabble Up,” Jackson interrupted his performance and told him he needed to switch it up. Jackson called it, “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” He asked if Lamar knew “how to play the game.”
The “game” theme throughout his performance represents the people who tell the Black community how to behave and how Black lives and artists are perceived by the American people.
The “game” has to be played correctly and they have to be meticulous in their decisions to be positively perceived by the white majority. Hence why Jackson called his performance “ghetto,” Uncle Sam fears that he was not playing the game correctly because he was not catering to the white majority by performing hip-hop music.
Lamar proceeds to play his hit song “HUMBLE” surrounded by his dancers forming a split American flag with Lamar placed in the middle. The subtle symbolism with the previous themes of a divided America proves Lamar’s brilliance.
A moment of choreography that sent chills down my spine was all of the dancers leaning on each other and turning their backs to the person behind them. The tiny details like showing America turning on each other and how America is built on the backs of Black people further solidified how in-depth Lamar thought about his performance.
Lamar then stood at a light pole surrounded by dancers casually freestyling to him rapping “Man at the Garden.” It was a quick moment but a fun fresh breath of air to have a relaxing moment before the next song. Lamar and the dancers exited and Jackson came in for another interlude.
“Oh, I see you’ve brought your homeboys with you! The ol’ culture cheat code. Scorekeeper, deduct one life,” said Jackson.
The insensitive word choice was calculated and is from the controlling white perspective. Uncle Sam is the voice of our authoritarian government and judging audience. Jackson telling the “scorekeeper” to deduct a life is a reference to fearmongering and racism within America.
Uncle Sam represents American imperialism and is telling Lamar that he is not playing by the rules or the “great American game” correctly. Sam says that a life should be lost instead of letting culture be the focus of the performance. This follows up seamlessly with Jackson warning him earlier for not following the white agenda. Our government can tend to use threats, fearmongering or executions to keep people in line to make sure the “game” is being played the way the government sees fit.
This leads right into my personal highlight of his performance; “Peekaboo.” The camera work and coordination for the four separate quadrants of talented dancers plus a wandering Lamar who jumped into frame during the “peekaboo” line was flawless. Dancers were behind Lamar casually freestyling and executing strenuous vibrant energy.
Lamar’s female dancers interrupted his performance in a 90s-esque conversational rap style. He joked that he wanted to play everyone’s favorite song “but you know they love to sue.” A quick snippet of “Not Like Us” rings through, causing the audience to erupt in applause.
Five-time Grammy award-winning diss track “Not Like Us” was one of the most popular songs of last year, famous for calling out Drake multiple times for his problematic behavior. Lamar and his label have faced many lawsuit threats by Drake for the song and Lamar forced Drake to face the music.
He then throws the audience a curveball by performing “Luther” with SZA. She came out on stage and the two sang beautifully side-by-side. They then performed their hit song “All The Stars” from the “Black Panther” soundtrack. The visually appealing dancer formations, rotating stages and artistic performance by both Lamar and SZA electrified the stage.
Jackson takes the stage for one last interlude and says, “That’s what America wants – nice, calm. You’re almost there, don’t mess this…” in which Lamar interrupted with “Not Like Us.”
Before the song starts Lamar raps along to his backup singers and says “it’s a cultural divide and I’m gonna get it on the floor. 40 acres and a mule this is bigger than the music.”
This line was a direct reference to the reparations slaves were promised to Black Americans in 1865 by William T. Sherman. This reference went over so many people’s heads but this line is probably one of the most impactful lines from his performance.
“Not Like Us” was the peak of his performance with energetic dancers and lights. Lamar addressed Drake personally, looked directly into the camera with a sinister smile and rapped the lyric, “Say Drake I hear you like ‘em young.” That moment made me laugh out loud and was one of the best moments from the performance. Hearing the stadium through the screen scream “a-minor” sent a chill down my spine and was the last punch in the Drake rap beef.
At the end of the song, the camera panned to pro tennis player Serena Williams crip walking in a tennis outfit on a separate stage. This was yet another jab at Drake since he famously borderline stalked and was obsessed with Williams for years. Lamar invited Drake’s ex to perform with him while simultaneously making her performance follow the motifs of Black culture.
During the final song “TV Off” Lamar brought out his producer DJ Mustard. This song was a perfect end to a perfect performance. He ended telling the audience to “turn this TV off” and simulated pressing the off button on a remote towards the camera.
The camera panned to the audience showing the lights forming the phrase “game over.” Fans speculated this was a reference to the Drake rap feud and was Lamar’s way of telling Drake that it is over and he lost. I believe this is a reference to the “game” Lamar and Jackson have been referencing throughout the duration of the performance.
Lamar has had a phenomenal year and has gotten a lot of press because of this public Drake feud. It is easy for motifs and symbolism to get lost on people when all they want is for Lamar to finally end Drake’s career. Setting the feud aside, Lamar’s performance and storytelling abilities are otherworldly.
His ability to include serious political statements while also doing an entertaining performance and not missing a beat is unmatched. The commentary on our current political climate and how deeply divided America is at this moment is so important for Americans to see. If any artist were to make any sort of political statement at this big of a level it should be Lamar. Based on his accolades and cultural impact, he is the most qualified. His subtleties and penmanship got college courses based on his work and won him a Pulitzer prize.
Lamar delivered a performance unlike any of the halftime performance predecessors. He demanded his audience to pay attention to the narrative instead of providing safe and nostalgic anthems while also slamming the last nail in the coffin of the rap feud with Drake.
