Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance

Photo Collage by Samantha Rosinski, Staff Photographer

The Super Bowl is one of the most legendary and viewed television broadcasts, one that plays throughout the United States and the world. While the Philadelphia Eagles securing the big underdog win was incredible for the team and fans watching, Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance was unlike anything we have seen. 

When Lamar took the stage on Feb. 9, many people like myself were aware and expecting him to use this platform, especially with President Donald Trump in the audience, to speak his truth and the feelings of many others in the United States. 

The NFL posted the whole show on YouTube, and I recommend you watch it a few times over and see if you can pick up anything before continuing to read. The more that you listen, the more you will hear. The more you watch, the more you will see.

The show opens with Samuel L. Jackson playing the role of Uncle Sam, symbolizing American patriotism and national identity. Jackson himself is a significant figure in Black culture and an American icon. Jackson begins by saying, “This is the great American game.” Of course, we are watching the Super Bowl, but I don’t think the message is genuinely that surface-level.

Before they show Jackson on-screen, we see an aerial shot of the stage lit up into nine separate squares that make a complete rectangle. Each corner has a different shape: a square, triangle, cross (x) and circle. These are four shapes often found on video game controllers, and along with Jackson's statement, it is clear to me that the show is set up to talk about this great American game.

Lamar began by performing a freestyle and then made a statement that certainly did not fly over my head. “The revolution is about to be televised; you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” Lamar simply says that they chose the perfect person for this performance, and the timing could not be more perfect.

Following this statement, Lamar goes into the track “squabble up,” off his newest album “GNX,” which portrays themes of survival, legacy and power. We see him squatting on top of a black 1987 Buick GNX, a model similar to the one Lamar’s dad drove him home from the hospital in 1987. The car represents his newest album, “GNX,” and his upbringing in Compton, California. Dancers begin emerging from the vehicle until they are interrupted by Jackson.

“Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto. Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game?” Jackson said, pointing out the conditioning within white supremacy in America, which is that Black people should be docile, quiet and grateful for what they get, not loud and aggressive-common stereotypes of Black culture.

Lamar then performs “HUMBLE.,” a track from his album “DAMN.” At the beginning of the song, all of the dancers stand in rows to create an American flag, but Lamar stands in the middle of this flag to represent the division in America. Next, “DNA.,” another track from “DAMN.,” opens with the lyrics, “Loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA. Quarter piece, got war, and peace inside my DNA,” highlighting the authentic greatness and struggles he carries and how success and pain have been intertwined in his experience. No matter how people view him or the black community, greatness will be the result.

After a few more songs, Jackson reappears with another loaded statement. 

“See you brought your homeboys with you, the old culture cheat code. Scorekeeper deduct one life,” Jackson said.

I have seen a couple of different reactions to this, and what it could mean, so I will tell you both. The first meaning could be that Jackson’s reference to “homeboys” and this “cheat code” is directly referring to Trump and all of his billionaire friends in the stands who are coming together to create a culture that puts the Black community in harm’s way. “Scorekeeper deduct one life” could be referring to the disproportionate amount of deaths in America —  relative to race. 

However, this could also hint at assassinating Black cultural leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey. When Jackson appears before he begins speaking, as Lamar is finishing the track “man at the garden,” he stands under a street light with what could be depicted as his “homeboys.”

Moving on, Lamar then talks to his female dancers about “playing their favorite song,” referencing “Not Like Us.” He then says, “But you know they love to sue.” This song was released in retaliation to the diss tracks between him and Drake. However, “Not Like Us” ultimately became more than a diss track. The song is an anthem to West Coast Rap and swept five awards at the Grammys this season. Either way, there has been a bit of controversy surrounding the song and whether or not it should have been performed during the halftime performance.

“You know what, I’ll slow it down,” Lamar says as he transitions into SZA, coming out on stage to perform alongside him. They perform “luther” off the album “GNX” and “All The Stars” from the soundtrack of “Black Panther,” and then, once again, Jackson comes back on screen for his last statement.

“That’s what I’m talking about. That’s what America wants: nice and calm, you’re almost there. Don’t mess this up,” he says before he is cut off by the start of “Not Like Us.” 

Lamar says, “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music.” After slavery was abolished, 40 acres of land and a mule were promised to free slaves from the government; this was supposed to give people the government of their land and resources. However, this promise was never seen. 

Lamar then discusses how crucial Black culture has been to America and the world: “They tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence.” This message points out the ongoing attempts to undermine and suppress the true power of Black culture. Despite the attempts to steal from or suppress Black culture, its presence and power are undeniable and can not be replicated. 

After the beginning of the song and a lot of the iconic Drake disses, Serena Williams is shown on screen crip walking. Like Lamar, Williams is also from Compton. At the 2012 Olympics, Williams beat her opponent, Maria Sharapova, to win the gold medal. To celebrate and give tribute to her roots, she did a winning dance, crip walking. She later received backlash for doing this, but Lamar and his team loved her expression after winning the medal and invited her to perform during the halftime show.

Lamar ends the show with “tv off” from “GNX” and brings out DJ Mustard. All the lights go off as if the TV is turned off, and the words “GAME OVER” are illuminated with lights in the crowd. To me, Lamar says we need to turn the TV off, stop being distracted by what the media and government are putting in our faces and stand together to withhold and run a revolution.

Lamar’s statement and monumental performance at the Super Bowl were so impactful and essential because of the viewership he could reach. Viewership mattered greatly because to start a revolution, which his performance insinuates, everyone must be aware, on the same page, standing together and united. Also, Lamar’s performance was a letter of love to his community and his home city of Compton. Overall, he called out America for its lack of appreciation for Black culture and Black people who have such an immense influence in our country.

While I cannot speak for Lamar or the Black community, this is what I got out of the performance and research. There are many more details not mentioned here, but we can all agree that this halftime performance is one to be remembered and one that will continue to linger much longer after the music ends.