Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl Halftime Show Was A Brilliant Piece of Performance Art

A beautiful middle finger to our nation's government on sport's biggest night.

We all respond to art differently. Art is an inherently intimate aspect of life that helps us all make sense of what it means to be a human being. The way people respond to specific pieces of art can be very telling of their ethos, their intelligence. It’s a window into the soul.

I’m not one to hide my feelings when it comes to art. I’ve been to the movies with people and begun raving about the film before it’s even finished. That being said, I find it best to avoid any strong takes while the work is still so fresh. The best art is meant to be digested, revisited over a long period of time. Only through patience will we truly be able to sip the sap from the maple tree.

When we found out a couple of months ago that Kendrick Lamar would be doing the halftime show, the biggest question was whether or not he was going to perform “Not Like Us” and call Drake a predator on the world’s biggest stage. Admittedly, I was curious about that as well. Celebrity gossip can be riveting, but to reduce the idea of Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance to a rap beef is to minimize the depth and value of his body of work. Prior to the Super Bowl, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth has amassed 22 GRAMMY awards, released 5-6 successful albums (depending on if you think Section.80 is an album), and produced some of the most beautifully cinematic music videos we’ve ever seen (see “Alright,” “These Walls,” “Not Like Us”). He is the only musician who creates music with lyrics to in a Pulitzer Prize. Every other prize has gone to either a classical or jazz artist. This is not just a person who got into a fight with Drake. This is a world-class talent, a capital “A” artist. I couldn’t wait to see what he’d do on the Super Bowl stage.

The first face you see is Samuel L. Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam in a custom Bode suit, inspired by the 17th and 18th illustrations of the unofficial American mascot. His hat has 16 stars, a nod to an old Civil War-era flag symbolizing the 16 free states, stripping out the confederate states.

In the first scene, Kendrick is crouching on the hood of a Buick Grand National, customized to look like his most recent album’s titular GNX. Background dancers emerge from the car one by one, each dressed in monochromatic red, white, or blue outfits. There must have been an underground tunnel system leading to the car as dozens of them emerged from the vehicle, like the old “clown car” trope.

The men dance around Kendrick as he raps along to tracks from GNX. Then, they assemble in the image of an American flag as he transitions into “Humble.”

The whole performance is rich in symbolic imagery and cultural references. There’s a point early in the show in which a group of men in baggy jeans and white t-shirts do Bay Area dance moves during “squabble up,” a reference that you’d probably only clock if you’re from California.

Where the show, really thrives, however; is in its commentary on the current state of our country. Samuel tells Kendrick “No, no, no. Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto. Mr. Lamar, do you know how to play the game?” Not to mention the stage design was inspired by the PlayStation controller. How did that line go over so many people’s heads?! It’s damn near the thesis statement of the whole performance. Jackson is a stand-in for the government and American culture. He’s a stand-in for anti-blackness, for conformity, for the oppressor. After Kendrick brings out SZA for “luther” & “All The Stars,” two of Lamar’s least controversial songs in his discography, Jackson applauds the song choices: “That’s what America wants. Nice, calm. You’re almost there, don’t mess this…” before the beat to “Not Like Us” drops. Lamar gives us his takeAmerican society’s desire for black people to be pacified, acquiescing to an image that they all have to be the same - don’t be too loud or reckless. Be tame. Don’t make a scene. Act how we want you to act.

Early in the show Lamar states “The revolution 'bout to be televised/You picked the right time, but the wrong guy,” a callback to Gil Scott-Heron’s 1970 song and poem where he calls for action in the streets. While there are a number of ways to interpret this, my take on it is that Kendrick is referring to now being the right time to revolt and to stand up to oppressors, but America picked Trump, who is the wrong guy.

During “All the Stars,” the backup dancers march giving hand gestures that can only be interpreted as a stand-in for a Nazi salute. They march like they’re in a late 1930’s German Army parade. During “Not Like Us,” those same dancers fall to the ground, several of their bodies forming the shapes of so many swastikas. Saying that America is a fascist nation is one thing, but to do it with the president in attendance is an act of bravery. We all know what’s going on in this country. Elon is doing Nazi salutes on stage, Ye is releasing Nazi merch, and Trump is a fascist leader who is making big tech oligarchs and the media kiss the ring. This place is a goddamn mess, and Lamar doesn’t hold back.

There is more obvious symbolism in the show as well. His lowercase “a” chain, is the musical note for a-minor, which he has used to call Drake a predator in the past. Serena Williams is Drake’s ex-girlfriend crip-walking on his grave — a dance move she was previously criticized for performing at Wimbledon. This is what we love about Kendrick Lamar. His storytelling is rich with descriptive detail, symbolism, and references that reward the viewers/readers/listeners who return to the work. The show was as much of a “fuck you” to America, to our government, as it could be given the magnitude and extreme regulation of the event.

Lamar’s performance was the first Super Bowl halftime show I had to rewatch several times to fully understand the layers at play. During that time, several people complained that the performance was “boring.” This is where I return to what I said in the introduction: the way people respond to specific pieces of art can be very telling of their ethos and intelligence. It’s a window into the soul.

I don’t mean to imply I’m some sort of genius. If I were, I wouldn’t be typing this while on the clock at my corporate job. But I know one thing about myself — I make an effort to understand the art I consume. Some people can’t read between the lines. Either they don’t care to or they’re blinded by bias. There is nothing wrong with not understanding something, but slander puts you in some ugly company. If you don’t know what I mean, just look at what Fox News is saying about the performance. You can be aligned with them if you’d like.

To the people who called the performance bad or boring: you wanted him to prance around the stage and play songs from Good Kid, m.A.A.d City, some of his more energetic songs that you can stand up and dance to, right? You wanted him to entertain you? If you listened to and understood Samuel L. Jackson’s Uncle Sam, you’d know that Kendrick was going to make an unflinching statement, a commentary on being Black in America and being left feeling helpless in a nation in decline.

Twitter had several videos of old people…who all looked a particular way..saying things like “they can’t understand what he was saying,” or “he’s not making sense,” which is one of the oldest forms of racism in the book.

There are people who just want to be entertained, to turn their minds off and allow the moment to take them. How I envy them. But Lamar tells us that this is not the time for that. Turn this TV off and look around at what is happening. This is one of the scariest times in our lifetime and you people want to just be entertained? Kendrick Lamar is not that kind of artist. He leans into the current moment, into history, and allows his pen to script a message to the rest of us. In 13 and a half minutes, he did just that, knowing damn well it would go over a lot of people’s heads. And if you hated the performance, I think you should ask yourself why. There are probably some uncomfortable biases deep in there.

I found it beautiful and rebellious. Lamar is a once-in-a-lifetime talent. It’s not a coincidence that the halftime show was the most watched ever. He played it perfectly. A middle finger to Drake. A middle finger to Trump. A middle finger to all of those who side with oppressors (because let’s be real - if you’re a supporter of this current administration, you have hate in your heart. This is as hard of a line in the sand as there can be). Enough storytelling and rich imagery to reward those of us who wanted to dig in a little deeper. I think there’s a lot to learn from a performance like that, if we allow ourselves to be educated. Maybe we should all turn the TV off. lol…

Peace and Love.