Photo via NPR
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On Sunday, February 9th, over 127 million viewers tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles showdown in the 59th Superbowl. Celebrated as one of the most important games in American sports, the halftime show is one of the ordeal’s most anticipated moments. This year, Grammy award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar headlined along with popular R&B artist SZA. While Kendrick’s performance was just under 15 minutes in length, it was jam-packed with symbolism of America’s problems today, serving as a critique of the country’s current political state and return to hyper-conservatism, especially with the recent election of President Donald Trump.
To understand the halftime performance, it is vital to talk about Kendrick Lamar as a rapper and his influence on the genre. Kendrick grew up in Compton, California, in the mid-90s amidst peak gang violence and poverty. He was exposed to various traumatic events at a young age and quickly found music and rap as an outlet to talk about and shed light on these problems. As he grew older and accumulated more fame, topics like gang violence, police brutality, and systemic racism became a focal point of his music, and he advocated against factors that contributed to such problems. However, as he gained more traction, many people did not understand what he was rapping about, and saw rap as corrupt and something that promoted harmful ideas. Despite this, he never toned his messages back. He continued to produce albums like To Pimp A Butterfly and Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, which served as commentary about race and racism in American culture. Kendrick is a rapper who has put activism at the forefront of his work and art, and explicitly makes these messages clear in everything he produces; the halftime show was no exception.
The performance opens up with Samuel L. Jackson dressed up as Uncle Sam, a famous American figure from the 19th century. Uncle Sam symbolizes the American government and people while boosting morale and patriotism, especially during wartimes. Jackson starts off by saying, “This is the great American game,” personifying this patriotism. As the performance progresses, Jackson’s comments have a clear tone switch, and he begins to resemble another famous American figure, Uncle Tom. This derogatory figure is meant to symbolize a person who is compliant with their oppressor or someone who “betrays” their own people. Jackson comments throughout the performance, deeming parts of it “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.” These are all common phrases that have been used to stereotype Black people and culture. Jackson also asks Lamar if he “knows how to play the game” and tells him to “tighten up.” The physical setup of the stage, in the shape of a PlayStation controller, further demonstrates this idea of the lives of Black people in America and how obtaining the American dream is almost game-like. Obstacles like systemic racism and negative narratives built into our society serve as setbacks for minorities in America. While working harder cannot fix these things, the American Dream paints it that way. Jackson telling Lamar to tighten up plays into this notion of working harder and conforming to white ideals. Lamar moves on with the performance, brings SZA out, and plays more mainstream songs; Jackson says, “That’s what I’m talking about, that’s what America wants, nice and calm.” This refers to how Black people have been conditioned to dilute and conform themselves to be perceived as equal in society and how Black culture has been seen as the other.
During the performance, Lamar also said quick but important phrases touching the country’s current political state. Towards the show’s beginning, Lamar says, “The revolution is about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” The first part pays homage to a poem written by Gil Scott-Heron, a critique of how activism at the time, in the form of college protests, was not televised and often censored. However, Lamar flips this narrative through his entire performance, with all the political symbolism intentionally present in one of the most viewed sporting events. He uses his power and platform to switch the narrative and put the power in his hands. Further in his performance, he says, “Forty acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music. Yeah, they tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence.” He directly quotes one of his most famous songs, “Alright,” but also references a famous phrase during the post-antebellum era, which refers to Special Field Order No 15. This entailed that freed Black families would be provided with economic compensation (40 acres and a mule) to gain complete independence and start a life post-slavery. However, as with many orders and laws during this era, they were never truly fulfilled. This is a dig at how his music and performance are more profound than what is at the surface level, and is reflective of America’s deep-rooted social problems.
The most apparent symbolism during the performance happens when Lamar’s dancers appear wearing red, white, and blue and form the American flag with Lamar in the middle—demonstrating how America was built on the backs of Black Americans through slavery and exploitation while the dancers bend over to expose the backs of their hoodies and physically crouch down.
Countless more moments could be touched on during the performance; these were just a few. Unsurprisingly, Lamar’s performance did not translate well with the audiences viewing the halftime show. According to a poll posted on social media by Darren Rovell, a previous ESPN sports analyst, close to 50 percent of the voters gave the Super Bowl halftime show an “F” grade. This reflects how people did not enjoy the show and possibly even demonstrates how rap still has negative connotations with the U.S. public. However, this means that Lamar’s performance was successful in his eyes because the critique of America through rap is something that isn’t supposed to be digestible or outright clear to the public. It serves more as a dig to those in power, which becomes even more interesting considering that Trump attended the Super Bowl. Having this show be performed in front of the President’s eyes, who has recently been at the head of this swing towards political hyper conservatism. Kendrick’s performance could not have been carried out during a more prevalent time than now. It seems more and more everyday our country falls victim to more undemocratic ideals and norms; uncertainty is all that seems to lie in our country’s future politics.
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This article was edited by Ella Richards and Isabella Valentino.
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