By: Leyla Akil, Contributor
How about that Super Bowl halftime show, huh? I mean, this year’s Super Bowl was an easy 8/10. It would’ve been a perfect 10 if the Bills were playing, but we’ll get ’em next year, right?). Oh, you didn’t like it? Thought it was boring? Funny how people said that about Rihanna’s performance just a couple of years ago.
Let’s break it down: the outfits, the dancers, those ladies in white behind Kendrick? Absolutely amazing. And the symbolic power was undeniable, especially with President Trump in the audience. Kendrick came to stand on business, and that black-on-black Buick resembling a GNX helped him do just that.
One thing Kendrick said really stuck with me as he segued into “Squabble Up,” he said, “The revolution ’bout to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” Cue standing ovation. And did I mention the president of the U.S. was there? It was goosebumps all around.
We can’t overlook Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam. He opened the performance with “Welcome to the great American game,” and no – football wasn’t the game he was talking about.
Jackson’s Uncle Sam symbolized the U.S. government trying to make us silent and complicit, but Lamar wasn’t having it. Uncle Sam tries to fix Lamar’s performance, yelling, “No, no, no, no, no! Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto. Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up!” Cue “HUMBLE.” Again, goosebumps, and not just because I love the song, but because the dancers arranged themselves into a shape resembling the American flag.
Uncle Sam reluctantly approves of Lamar’s performance, but is disappointed when Lamar refuses to “sit down, be humble.” That leads to Uncle Sam’s “deduct one life.” You get it, right? Lamar is saying the game’s rigged to keep people in check.
Can we talk about Lamar teasing “Not Like Us”? Everyone wondered if he’d perform the song that won five Grammys, including Record of the Year. Of course, he would! Kendrick drops “forty acres and a mule,” referencing the broken promise to African Americans after the Civil War. The government promised land and resources, but that promise was never kept. Lamar is saying this is bigger than music – he’s speaking truth to power.
Then came Kendrick’s unexpected shoutout to Mustard – the award-winning producer, not the condiment. This was no mistake – Kendrick was making sure you understood the genius behind his sound, bringing in one of the hottest producers in the game. It left us all trying to process: Mustard is here, and Kendrick’s brilliance was on full display.
The ending was intense. Kendrick finished with “TV Off,” and just as the words “Game Over” lit up the audience, we were left wondering: Game over for Drake? Or game over for Kendrick, who lost the American game, or did he? The expectations the country places on us, expecting us to conform to the “American” way is clearly not something Lamar abides by. He lost the American game, but in doing so, he’s challenging us to rethink what winning really means. Maybe, the game is over for the American government because we the people are waking up.
While I certainly enjoyed the digs at Drake, Serena Williams crip-walking, Kendrick flashing a smile at the camera as he said, “Hey, Drake”; but this performance was about more. A brave individual snuck onto the stage, waving a flag representing both Palestinian and Sudanese flags – regions currently enduring genocides. His bold action is a literal representation of what we need to be doing right now. We can’t afford to stay silent and complicit. In times like these, we must raise our voices and stand up for the oppressed. The protester’s message was silenced by security, but it still resonates. At a time when the world feels chaotic and divided, Lamar reminded us we have to fight for what’s right, even if it means going against the grain.
In the end, Kendrick Lamar showed us that the revolution will in fact be televised – not just on the big stage of the Super Bowl, but in every act of defiance, every challenge to the status quo and every moment we refuse to be silent.
So, next time you talk down on this performance, take a minute to look closer. There was more going on than just the music. Lamar literally spelled it out for you! It’s bigger than the music. There was a message. And if we’re smart, we’ll listen.
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