While the Philadelphia Eagles prepared for their triumphant win against the Kansa City Chiefs, Kendrick Lamar and SZA took over the Caesar Superdome.
Together, Lamar and SZA performed an intricate show that both excited fans about his upcoming tour and left viewers with questions to mull over.
Lamar is no stranger to hidden meanings in his art, and the show demonstrated that. From dictations of Uncle Sam to jabs at Drake, he was intentional with his art. His performance was more than just music to entertain the masses.
As many hits as he may have, Lamar’s goal was never to make money but to inform and open the eyes of the American people with his sound.
Watchers were stunned by the surprise guest of Samuel L. Jackson, who played Uncle Sam during the show, representing a patriotic figure of America.
Throughout the show, Uncle Sam represented the underlying theme of the United States’ societal views on black culture over the years.
Jackson refers to society as the “American Game” and that Lamar has to “play the game right,” with the actual stage being a large tic tac toe board.
Many opinions were thrown out referring to the backlash Lamar got for his previous albums Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, To Pimp A Butterfly, and DAMN, adding comments such as, “You can’t be too loud, too ghetto, you gotta tighten up,’ right?”
Additionally, during the performance, Serena Williams took the stage during the song “Not Like Us” as she was seen crip walking and smiling at the cameras.
Initially, people thought that she was there as a jab at Drake due to their past relationship, but that wasn’t the only reason for her appearance.
In 2012, Williams was bashed in the papers for crip walking at Wimbledon during the Olympics in celebration of her win. As decorated of an athlete Williams is, she was forced into silence after simply dancing. This gives a good, yet disheartening insight into how Black people can be stereotyped so easily for the simplest things.
Smaller details in Lamar’s performance can be pointed out like the line “40 acres and a mule,” referring to when Black people were first set free in America and were promised 40 acres of land and a mule to start their new life, but that promise was never fulfilled.
In 1865, post-Civil War, Special Order No. 15 was put in place by Union General William Sherman, where parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida were meant to be split up and given to recently freed African Americans. However, once Andrew Johnson came into power after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the order was taken away.
“The revolution ‘bout to be televised” refers to a poem written by Gill Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
The poem discusses how the revolution of American culture and society cannot happen without action.
At the end of that line, Lamar says, “You picked the right time but the wrong guy,” making people question what he means.
Lamar took his rap beef with Drake and turned it into a message exposing the corruption in the music industry. His mission was reshaped from his original intentions.
“This is bigger than the music” is a line that stuck out to most fans, hitting close to home.
To people, music means so much more than something to listen in pastimes. Lamar uses music to hit people on an emotional level rather than responding to a simple rap dispute between him and Drake.
His way with words won him the Pulitzer Prize in 2018, and to this day, he has continued to use his talents to send a notion to the world about Black pride and love by highlighting the many beautiful things that it is.
Many would think that with an artist performing at the Superbowl, they’re at the top of their game when Lamar used this as an opportunity to speak to the hearts of the American people and spill out the strong sentiment Black people hold onto every day about their home country. The history behind Black Americans is full of highs and lows, and Lamar hopes to reshape that into something this community can be proud of through his words and talent.