Opening up the halftime show with Samuel Jackson to play Uncle Sam himself to be the "voice of reason" or a "referee" if you will about how a rapper needs to perform on stage is absolutely genius. The reasons being the multiple elephants in the room during Kendrick Lamar's halftime show. What are those elephants? Let's start with the first one being the fact this is the first time a rapper has ever headlined a Super Bowl, once it was announced that it was the case you bet there was a lot of people complaining about it, let's just say, America has not been the most kindest to rap music. But can you blame America? It's a very new genre, we still hear the saying "rap isn't music" but with a genre of music being so young yet still making it so far touching the world in lengths that it has, who would be the right man for the job to pull this off? Thus leads to the 2nd elephant in the room, the whole "Lil Wayne should have been headlining debate" it since it's in his home town, it caused the hip hop discourse to debate endlessly, rap has been known to be competitive & has caused a huge debate around the NFLs decision, & lastly the 3rd elephant, Kendrick's MASSIVE beef with Drake, where he pretty much ended that with the hit song "not like us" a song that claimed Drake & his peers to be pedophiles, the song was brought to court & caused audiences to believe he may not play the song in concert due to the contents & it being on such a massive stage.
There was so much going on with this Super Bowl, and needless to say, I believe this Kendrick Halftime Show pulled off a fantastic execution in expert comedic satire stage play & performance. This show began with Kendrick Lamar rapping clearly, viscerally & crouching over the hood of a Buick GNX 1987 the year hiphop was molding to change, the year he was born, the year that changed hip hop, red white and blue figures rushed the stage outside of the GNX and my eyes locked into the show from here on. Kendrick Lamar played songs contrasting to Americas Uncle Sam Jackson and his hilarious use of undermining the hiphop culture, it's all beautiful to look at, listen to & watch, the colors & idea of Kendrick carrying the show on enlivened the mood. But then it reaches my favorite part of the entire show, when all the music is off & he is standing on the block around people at a light pole & just rapping while the men dressed in white are beat boxing, THAT is TRUE HIP HOP culture at its purest form & is a complete homage to the visceral feel. Then we transition to a surprise Guest SZA, her & Mr Lamar offer a terrific Pallet cleanser during the show, hilariously we cut back to the Boy Scout Jackson who says "see? This is what America wants" he's not lying, but then the show ends in a landslide, how Kendrick is able to handle the 3rd elephant in the room I mentioned in my prior paragraph is done in such a creative way, he throws a red herring at the audience & doubles back on what we REALLY want to see. And needless to say, it is truly remarkable!
All in all, look, it's not the GREATEST halftime show ever, however, it is the most ambitious halftime show ever, by far, there is a lot of compelling symbolism & the story it's trying to tell is by far the most effective I've ever seen done for a Super Bowl halftime show. Usually an artist just goes up there & performs their hits & keeps it moving. Kendrick wanted to perform a message, and that message dates back to the origins of hip hop, the essence of the soul & the spirit of the sport... it is a game after all, and it is a game that is now over.
Great work MR. LAMAR!
