Since Kendrick Lamar was announced as the headliner for the Super Bowl Lix Halftime Show last September, music fans have been surprised by the excitement, and wondering how the Pulitzer Award winner will handle historic gigs I think so.
Fresh from the long summer beef with Drake, who produced the Grammy-winning diss track “Not Like Us,” Lamar had the opportunity to host Petty’s most halftime show in telecast history. By January, he was also caught up in a “not like us” honourable lawsuit, and it was unclear whether he could play the song. (He did.) There were also major questions looming over Lamar’s performance that aired. What should a socially conscious rapper say about the current political situation, if any?
In the past, Lamar took the opportunity at a major stage, dealing with the hot button issue and telegraphing his own political unrest. He calls for police brutality at the BET Awards and mass incarceration at the Grammy Awards, not to mention general disillusionment with America. Of all the hip-hop acts who were able to adore the stage at the halftime show, Lamar seemed to have been chosen for the combination of showmanship and ability to create conversation. That said, Donald Trump’s recent reelection – and his shocking attendance at the Super Bowl. The first of the sitting president seemed like an ideal backdrop for Lamar’s signature provocative image and the political aspects of his catalog. Still, Lamar had a different purpose for the night.
After the opening song “GNX (teaser),” Lamar gave the audience a candid note, though not expected in the next 12 minutes. “The Revolution” will air,” Lamar said while the music was being cut out. “You chose the right timing, but you’re the wrong guy.”
If you pay attention to Lamar’s recent musical output, it’s not a whole new feeling. In his fifth album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, released in 2022, Lamar addressed his own position as a socially conscious rapper, but more than the answer There were many questions and contradictions. Meanwhile, it was hard to find the same political unrest that drove through 2015 with his latest album GNX, a radio-friendly victory rap following the highly publicized beef with Drake. In the 2021 Baby Keem song “Family Ties,” he made a reservation about being considered a political symbol. “I was ducking social gimmicks,” he rapped. “I’m ducking overnight activists / I’m not a trending topic.”
Similarly, during Super Bowl LIX, Lamar avoided songs like “It’s OK” and “The Blacker the Berry.” He skipped anything like anti-establishment messages that have been criticised by Fox News anchors in the past. Instead, he mostly chose GNX songs. He will tour the country in April, including “Squabble Up,” “Peekaboo,” “TV Off,” and “Luther,” featuring his future tour mate SZA. The pair also performed their 2018 collaboration “All the Stars” from the Black Panther soundtrack. Inevitably, he played both of his most popular Diss tracks since last summer. I used “Euphoria” and “not like us.” The crowd sang when he came to the song’s most famous and quotable line. Lamar also featured a very visible low case “A” necklace. And Serena Williams, the subject of many Drake lyrics, danced on the field during the performance. In short, the bold acts of the evening were aimed at Drake’s lawyers, not greater injustice.
Still, the halftime show gestured towards politics. During the opening number, many backup dancers emerged from Buick GNX wearing solid red, white and blue hoodies. The show featured actor Samuel L. Jackson dressed “Uncle Sam” in a patriotic suit and top hat. However, it didn’t seem like Lamar was trying to clarify our current government b-liability or any kind of message about the climate. Rather, we saw the rapper perform, as Jackson called the “American Game.” When Lamar, designed as a game of Tic-Tac-Toe, piloted around the stage, watched him navigate the social responsibility imposed on him as a black entertainer, a bit of his own desires I felt like I wanted to sell out.
He also showed what happens when someone in his position falls outside the boundaries of respect and is seen by the wrong audience. Similarly, Jackson appeared several times throughout the medley, serving as both the host and the conscience of Lamar’s corporate. The songs he played were less explicitly political than some of his repertoire, but were not network television friendly and not suitable for NFL viewers. After Lamar finished performing “Squabble Up,” Jackson debated the song as “too big, reckless, too ghetto.”
“Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game?” Jackson asked. “Then you have to be tightened!” Lamar then moved on to a “humble” performance. His dancers, moving like robots, were soon assembled to create an American flag.
The Internet quickly highlighted Lamar’s dilemma. Despite the relatively calm political commentary, right-wing experts like Florida voice Eric Dorgerty and former MP Matt Gaetz have made performances that include some kind of extremist professional black agenda. I ran to X to blame. far-right commentator Jacques Posoviek called Lamar’s performance the “Day Halftime Show.” Perhaps more aggressive sound bites and comments from the angry white maga guy roll in throughout the week.
Lamar’s halftime show may not have been a direct middle finger to Trump that his fans might have expected or hoped for, but he has been told that other artists in his caliber are in such a mainstream stage He may refrain from doing anything in – offered to look into his own location in American culture. Lamar proved he could still be an agitator without standing in the officer’s car or playing in the chains. Even at his most palatable moments, his art is never safe in the end.
