Kendrick Lamar took advantage of having the most watched Super Bowl halftime performance by using his time on stage to create an innovative and impactful comment on American society.
He put it best when he said, “the revolution about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.”
Lamar used his platform not just to perform, but to create a visually appealing display of activism. His Super Bowl halftime show was a direct callout to American society that should be remembered by all Americans.
The show opened with Samuel L. Jackson dressed as the fictitious Uncle Sam, star-studded top hat and all. Throughout the performance, Jackson would interject with quips related to the rapper’s behavior and song choices.
He opened the performance by proclaiming “This is the American game.” Jackson was referring to more than just the football game, but something closer to the game that Black Americans play in society every day.
After Lamar performed “Squabble Up,” Jackson emphatically proclaimed, “No, no, no. Too loud, too reckless, too… ghetto.”
It seemed that Jackson spit out the words with disdain. It remains unknown to me whether that was his acting skills or actual disgust at the words he was saying.
He then questioned Lamar if he really knew how to play the game, confirming my suspicions that the American game was not, in fact, referring to football. After a brief pause, Jackson yelled out, “Then tighten up!”
This moment was easily my favorite of the entire show. The imagery, the acting coming from Jackson, the immediate transition into “HUMBLE.” It was perfect.
Finally, Jackson seemed to be pleased after Lamar brought out SZA, performing their songs “luther” and “All The Stars.”
“That’s what America wants!” Jackson smiled. “You’re almost there! Don’t mess this…” Jackson was cut off by Lamar’s award-winning diss track “Not Like Us.” Jackson was visibly upset and left the frame, never to be seen again.
I could feel his frustration from the couch, thousands of miles away. Even now, days after the performance, it resonates.
The choice to have Jackson, rather than any other entertainer, portraying Uncle Sam was not a coincidence.
As far as Black entertainers, Jackson certainly knows how to play the aforementioned game. He has fought tooth and nail to become a household name, despite prolific racism throughout his career.
In this case, Jackson portrays a character who works against his very own race in order to be what America wants to see. He quickly takes on an Uncle Tom persona, exemplifying the character introduced in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Uncle Tom is a Black character who turns his back on other Black characters, believing themselves to be subservient to white Americans.
Performing at the Super Bowl is often thought of as the most recognizable stage a performer can do a show on. It’s sometimes referred to as the biggest stage in the world, but what each performer does with that stage defines their show. Lamar transformed the field into what appears to be a prison yard, alluding to Lamar’s thoughts and commentary on mass incarceration.
Not many performers are as outwardly expressive of their political views, especially at something like the Super Bowl. It makes me respect what Lamar did even more. It’s one thing for a celebrity to make an Instagram post claiming activism, but a whole different playing field is introduced when you have the most-watched halftime performance of all time.
Uncle Sam wasn’t the only patriotic portrayal in Lamar’s show. His male dancers, all Black individuals, were dressed in the colors of the American flag. This imagery is used throughout the performance, and is made especially prominent in “HUMBLE.”
During this song, Lamar and his dancers gathered on a set of stairs. The dancers bend at the waist and reach to each other, creating powerful imagery of not only the flag but of the idea that America was built on the backs of Black slaves.
The flag splits, and Lamar stands between them. Later on in his performance, he says the phrase, “a cultural divide,” relating back to the divide in the flag.
Yes, Lamar dissed Drake explicitly in the halftime show by performing “Not Like Us.” Yes, he brought out Drake’s ex, Serena Williams, to further drive home the point that in this rap battle, he was coming out on top. Yes, he brought up a lawsuit surrounding the song and performed the song anyway.
That wasn’t the point of his performance. I cannot blindly believe that a Pulitzer Prize winner, an activist, would dedicate his time on the big screen to some petty rap battle.
Upon first glance, it’s an incredible performance. It’s entertaining, visually appealing and has fantastic music. As I said, that wasn’t the point, and it would be a mistake to take the show at face value.
This is one of the boldest, most politically charged halftime performances I’ve ever seen, and it paid off.
America is currently faced with a political climate unlike any other. With his performance, he is begging viewers to not take injustice lying down. Without spoon-feeding his audience, he showed them exactly what the issue in America was.
The unfortunate truth is that the individuals who need to hear his message most won’t pay enough attention or use the connotations he provided to let it affect them.
Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance was not a Drake diss track, but rather a dig at American society.
Lamar didn’t diss Drake, he dissed America and called for change and action by way of social justice and equality when, in his final song, begged viewers to “turn the TV off, turn the TV off.”
