During the most recent Super Bowl hosted in New Orleans on Feb. 9, rapper Kendrick Lamar performed 10 songs during the halftime show. The show featured Samuel L. Jackson, SZA and Serena Williams. Lamar’s creatively executed performance attracted positive attention from both football and non-football fans, being the most watched Super Bowl performance of all time with 133.5 million viewers.
The performance opens with Lamar crouching on a black Buick, stating that “the Revolution’s about to be televised”. This line is a reference to Gil-Scott Heron’s 1971 poem, “The Revolution will not Be Televised”. The poem essentially stated that the media usually does not portray racism so less people will be informed and be encouraged to speak out on it. By stating the opposite of the title, Lamar is expressing that he will break against this negative norm with the rest of his performance.
As the music progressed, dancers dressed in red, white and blue rushed out of the car. This was not the only instance where the colors of the American flag were incorporated in the performance. African-American Actor Samuel L. Jackson wore an Uncle Sam costume. Yet in this performance, he is referred to as “Uncle Tom”. This refers to black Americans who turn on fellow black Americans in order to enforce the white-established status quo. He plays the role of the “antagonist” in the show, accusing the dancers of having stereotypically black qualities, saying that they were “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto”.
Another example of red, white, and blue being incorporated is when the dancers, who were all African-American, stood in the formation of the American flag while Lamar stood in the middle, parting the dancers into two groups. The visual represented America’s past and addressed that it was built on the backs of black slaves, and represented what Lamar viewed as the divisive present state of America.
Although Lamar’s performance was mainly about the African-American identity, it gained traction online for the performance of his hit song “Not Like Us”. During the performance, the crowd can be heard cheering along with Lamar on the lyrics, “a minor”, which called out fellow rapper Drake on his alleged attraction to underage girls. Lamar’s bold attitude on pointing out problems in both the country and other rappers resulted in his performance generating 80 million social media engagement and 183,000 posts on twitter.
The Super Bowl has always been a fantastic opportunity for artists and performers to make a cultural impact and express their talent. By incorporating unique ideas and creative elements of performance in his show, Kendrick Lamar has managed to do just that.
