“The revolution is about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” These are the words Kendrick Lamar spoke after being fresh off a Grammys sweep from the week before as he jumped into the start of the Super Bowl Halftime show. When Lamar was announced as the artist taking on the halftime show people had many predictions and high expectations. Some people wondered if he would use his air time trolling Drake while others thought he might bring out Taylor Swift to sing ¨Bad Blood¨. But no one predicted that Kendrick Lamar would use his 13 minutes of airtime to critique American culture and government. It was a decision that took a lot of nerve. But despite the risk Lamar used the platform he was given to entertain as well as sprinkle in messages that speak to bigger issues.
“This is the great American game” Samuel L. Jackson who was playing Uncle Sam stated at the beginning of the show. He was referring to the physical game that was being played on the field, as the Super Bowl is one of the biggest nights of sports in the world. He was also referring to the games being played with American citizens, in the sense of politics, capitalism, and prison. The stage was set up to resemble a video game controller and as Lamar traversed this stage, Jackson continued to critique the way he played the game. He would tell Lamar what he wanted and didn’t want throughout the ¨American Game¨.
During the performance, people took note of Lamar’s lowercase “a” chain. Many thought that it was a reference to the “a-minor” line in his Grammy Award-winning song “Not Like Us”. He also wore a blue jacket that read “Gloria” on the front to reference one of the tracks of his latest studio album. He kicked off the performance with “Squabble Up” introducing a number of dancers all dressed in red white and blue. When he finished this song Uncle Sam made attempts to censor his performance claiming that it was “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” This is something that a lot of MAGA leaders have also said claiming that the halftime show was “too black”.
Upon receiving these notes the camera turns to Kendrick standing among his African American dancers who have formed an American flag. People have suggested that this could have a deeper meaning, suggesting that America was built on the backs of African Americans. The flag immediately splits as he begins to sing “Humble” and “DNA” representing the ongoing racial and political tension within the country. Lamar stood in the middle of the divided flag which even had their backs turned to each other at one point during the song.
The lights in the crowd then start to spell out ¨Warning Wrong Way¨ which could be going back to the directive that is sometimes found in video games. It could also be a reference to America going the wrong way or the fact Lamar was doing the opposite of what Uncle Sam wanted, seeing that the ending of his set would consist of his beef with Drake who previously won five Grammys.
After Lamar finished his performance of “Man at The Garden”, Uncle Sam stated that he was using a “culture cheat code” and that the scorekeeper should take away a life. Kendrick then proceeds to sing “Peekaboo” and teases “Not Like Us” he says, “I wanna play their favorite song but you know they love to sue.” which is a reference to Drake suing Kendrick after the release of the song. An instrumental of the song is played as he goes “yeah that song”. He decided to slow it down a bit as he introduced the next section of the show with SZA.
SZA, who coincidentally is an ex-girlfriend of Drake, sang two songs with Kendrick. The duo sang “Luther” and “All The Stars” as SZA wowed the crowd with her effortless vocals. After the segment, Uncle Sam reappeared to say “That’s what I’m talking about, that’s what America wants nice and calm. You’re almost there, no don’t mess this-“. He is then cut off with the instrumental of “Not Like US”. Uncle Sam then disappears and Kendrick reappears saying, “It’s a cultural divide Imma get it on the floor. Forty acres and a mule this bigger than the music. They tried to rig the game but you can’t fake influence.” This is Lamar saying that this performance is bigger than any song that he is performing.
Then Kendrick starts his Grammy award-winning song. He altered the lyric ¨Certified lover boy, certified pedophile” by leaving out the word pedophile. Even with this change, Drake did not get off easy, as Kendrick looked straight into the camera saying ¨Say Drake, I heard you like ´em young¨. The camera also showed Serena Williams, a world-renowned tennis player and another ex-girlfriend of Drake even though her crip walk only got five seconds of screen time the symbolism of that was not lost on audiences.
The performance then concluded with the words “Game Over” spelled out over the audience. This could represent many things, the end of “the game”, the end of the beef with Drake, or the end of America. However, you interpreted Lamar’s halftime show it goes without saying how talented and well-thought-out an artist he is. Even if you didn’t pick up on the secret messages and symbols sprinkled into the show, the thirteen minutes spent watching the performance never had a dull moment and many aspects that could be appreciated by multiple generations and cultures.
