Kendrick Lamar, acclaimed Los Angeles rapper, has once again proven his talent prowess, this time performing for a massive audience of 127.7 million U.S. viewers. Lamar’s music is known to tackle controversial topics such as systemic racism, Black pride and empowerment, and police brutality. Most recently, he’s been feuding with fellow Canadian rapper, Drake and dissing him on songs.
The show opened with renowned American actor, Samuel L. Jackson, dressed as an Uncle Sam character, who said “Salutations, it’s your Uncle Sam, and this is the great American game,” before Lamar opened with the snippet he released days before his most recent album, “GNX”. After Lamar performed his two songs, the “GNX” snippet and “Squabble Up”, Jackson told Lamar his performance was too loud, reckless, and too “ghetto”.
Lamar’s character embodied America itself, with Uncle Sam representing the federal government, giving Lamar directions for his performance while cautioning him about his intended message Uncle Sam challenged Lamar by asking if he truly understands how to play the “game”- a metaphor for the American political landscape. This question suggested that Lamar must learn to operate within the American entertainment industry and broader societal systems.
Lamar then performed his hit song “Humble” from his fourth studio album, “DAMN”. He rapped in the middle of 40 of his dancers, all lined up to appear as the American flag. It’s important to note that everyone in this formation was African American- a deliberate choice to emphasize the crucial role African Americans played in the establishment of the nation. The visual representation highlighted how they significantly contributed to America’s economic development and prosperity while simultaneously enduring the injustice of forced labor.
He then performed another track from the same album: “DNA”. The song is a call-back to Lamar’s roots and where and what he came from, more specifically, his Black heritage. Afterwards, he performed ‘man at the garden’, from his newest album, “GNX”, where he references Nas’ song, ‘One Mic’. Doing this, he compares Nas’ beef with Jay-Z in the 90s to Kendrick’s with Drake.
The second cameo, after Samuel L. Jackson’s Uncle Sam, was SZA who coincidentally dated Drake in 2009, and was recently featured on Drake’s “Slime You Out”. SZA joined Lamar in songs, “Luther” and “All the Stars.”
Then, before Lamar played his five-Grammy winning hit, “Not Like Us,” he said, “it’s a cultural divide, I’ma get it on the floor – 40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music – yeah, they tried to rig the game but you can’t fake influence.” It is unclear what Lamar’s intended message was, but what was definite and clear was his reference to “40 acres and a mule.”
“40 acres and a mule” refers to a promise made to formerly enslaved African Americans after the Civil War that was never fulfilled. Since then, it’s been a phrase used to symbolize unfulfilled promises of reparations and justice, especially against minorities.
The performance also had subtle themes of a video game, such as stage controls that resembled a Playstation controller and gaming language. From Uncle Sam’s opening line ‘Welcome to the great American game’ to Lamar’s concluding ‘game over,’ this could juxtapose the system in America with video games.
Before he played “Squabble Up”, Lamar said perhaps his most controversial yet talked about line: “the revolution is about to be televised, you picked the wrong guy but the right time.” The first part was a play on American poet and singer, Gil Scott-Heron, who critiqued the relationship between the media and the reality of change in society. Lamar perhaps implied that either his new “revolution” was going to be seen by millions of viewers watching the Superbowl, or it would be broadcasted through social media.
The second part of the phrase is open to interpretation, but it likely implies that whoever chose him to perform in the halftime show, he was chosen at the right time: the day where millions of viewers watched this performance. Whether the NFL or the media knew it or not, they handed the mic to a revolutionary and a generational talent whose performance will go down forever in not just Superbowl history, but in the history of culture and music.
