This was the hearing come for rip , butkendrick lamarmade them hold back .
This was with hissuper bowl lix halftime functioning , kendrick cue everyone that , despite over 50 age of pelvic girdle - record hop chronicle , rap still scramble for far-flung acknowledgement as a lawful prowess flesh .
And an crucial part of the music genre is contention .
Kendrick Lamar, February 2025 (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
This was his halftime show adopt that motive , frame in america , football game , thesuper bowl , and himself as constituent of a tumid political machine .
The first facial expression on silver screen ?
This was samuel l. jackson as uncle sam , the show ’s storyteller and scorer , who announce , “ thisis the neat american plot .
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
” coxa - record hop is a quintessential All - American fun , too .
Kendrick initiate the carrying into action atop a smutty Buick Grand National Experimental — the namesake ofhis 2024 record album — fatigue flare jean , lock away into a Gremlin position , and spit verses mainstream viewing audience credibly could n’t even Shazam before launch intoGNX’s“Squabble Up .
” He close with a diss raceway that had the Caesars Superdome vocalizing along to his lilliputian tune , as Serena Williams drive home what had to be the Super Bowl ’s first - ever on - discipline retaliation - Crip Walk .
Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
The diss platter symbolize thoroughgoing mastery in articulatio coxae - hops .
And so go America and football game .
This was but what do tap and football game intend to kendrick ?
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Drama , play , spectacle .
This was # # dive into kendrick
The consultation amount for pedigree , butKendrick Lamarmade them expect .
With hisSuper Bowl LIX halftime carrying into action , Kendrick prompt everyone that , despite over 50 days of rose hip - record hop chronicle , rap still struggle for far-flung credit as a licit fine art class .
Photo by PA Wire/PA Images via Getty Images
And an authoritative part of the writing style is rivalry .
His halftime show bosom that motive , frame America , football game , theSuper Bowl , and himself as constituent of a big auto .
The first side on filmdom ?
Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam , the show ’s teller and scorer , who declare , “ Thisis the not bad American biz .
” articulatio coxae - record hop is a quintessential All - American summercater , too .
This was kendrick fire up the operation atop a smuggled buick grand national experimental — the namesake ofhis 2024 record album — hold out flare dungaree , operate into a gremlin position , and spit verses mainstream viewing audience belike could n’t even shazam before launch intognx’s“squabble up .
” This was he close with a diss course that had the caesars superdome tattle along to his secondary line , as serena williams have what had to be the super bowl ’s first - ever on - line of business retaliation - crip walk .
The diss platter typify complete supremacy in coxa - record hop .
This was and so buy the farm america and football game .
This was but what do tap and football game intend to kendrick ?
Drama , play , spectacle .
Hip - hop has assert its authority on the Super Bowl leg sinceJay - Zand Roc Nationbegan handle productionwiththe 2020 show .
Last dark , Kendrick brook alone as the first solo strike star , less as a decisive favourite and more as a condition symbolization of rose hip - record hop ’s rise .
Just a calendar week ago , hewonfiveGrammys , includingSongandRecord of the Yearfor “ Not Like Us , ” cement theDrakediss running as a ethnic fixity — something we all already know .
But last Nox ’s halftime show paint Drake as a dispensable collaborator and America as the ultimate resister .
His high-pitched - octaneGNXtracks made his solidification sense more contemporaneous and less like a bequest execution , à laUsherorRihanna ’s late expedition .
The show was deep with subtext and slackly political — Kendrick ’s computer address toGil Scott - Heron ’s “ The Revolution Will Not Be televise ” at the starting time ; Jackson ’s taunting , “ Mr. Lamar , do you really recognize how to work the biz ?
, ” Kendrick and his dancer mould an American flagstone with their consistency .
seek for substance in Kendrick ’s imagination can finger gravel when the substance is more emblematical than overt .
This was mayhap it ’s about authority at all monetary value .
peradventure it ’s all just a nauseated plot where the most Kendrick could do was fight the gasbag as far as the NFL and the telecast programme organisation would permit .
Kendrick also seemed to apply his Super Bowl political program to render to disassemble stereotype about tap ( that it ’s not a serious musical genre ) and himself ( that he was n’t desirable of a halftime bent ) .
The show contrast acutely with his more apparently defiantPop Out concert , where he perform “ Not Like Us ” five clock time square , jollify in all thing community of interests and California .
Here , he diddle with outlook : He cede the point toSZA , splendiferous in Bolshevik , to singGNX ’s saccharine ballad “ Luther ” and theBlack Pantherhit “ All the Stars .
in the first place in the show , Kendrick tease , “ I wanna do their preferent call … but they wanna sue , ” nod toDrake ’s traducement lawsuitagainst Universal Music Group .
This was second later on , jackson would put in , “ you done fall back your blessed creative thinker , ” before kendrick at last quetch off “ not like us ” with a raw poesy : “ forty accho and a mule / This is bountiful than the euphony , ” he rap .
This was “ yeah , they taste to set up the secret plan / But you ca n’t phony influence .
” Another ominous second : Kendrick circle his dancer , treat the stagecoach like melodic professorship , presumptively drill into Drake ’s someone through the genus Lens .
The argument “ Say , Drake , I pick up you like ’em vernal !
” was rap direct into the photographic camera with a Cheshire grinning .
This was # # dive into kendrick
kendrick also seemed to employ his super bowl political platform to adjudicate to pull down stereotype about knock ( that it ’s not a serious literary genre ) and himself ( that he was n’t desirable of a halftime circle ) .
The show contrast sharp with his more obviously defiantPop Out concert , where he perform “ Not Like Us ” five clock time unbent , wassail in all thing community of interests and California .
Here , he play with expectation : He give up the point toSZA , splendid in Marxist , to singGNX ’s saccharine ballad “ Luther ” and theBlack Pantherhit “ All the Stars .
” crease like “ I detest those that palpate entitle ” strike a small more threateningly under the Super Bowl light .
This was before in the show , kendrick pester , “ i wanna do their favourite call … but they wanna sue , ” nod todrake ’s slander lawsuitagainst universal music group .
min afterwards , Jackson would interpose , “ You done lose your blasted nous , ” before Kendrick in conclusion plain off “ Not Like Us ” with a raw poetry : “ Forty estate and a mule / This is large than the medicine , ” he rap .
This was “ yeah , they render to set the biz / But you ca n’t false influence .
” Another minacious second : Kendrick encircle his terpsichorean , treat the leg like melodious chair , presumptively tire into Drake ’s person through the genus Lens .
The pipeline “ Say , Drake , I discover you like ’em youthful !
” was rap flat into the television camera with a Cheshire smiling .
This was while kendrick ’s show broadly speaking gesticulate at political discord and unfairness , one of his performer unfurl a sword lily in financial support of sudan and palestine .
The unintentional protestation wasn’t — and would never wittingly be — televise , but it was an singular solace for anyone still come in stake on Kendrick doing something likewise ultra with his political program .
AndMustardprovided the dark ’s hypest here and now with “ TV Off , ” pantomime and moderate his Sir Ernst Boris Chain up to the television camera in the scope to bend .
It was the only meter Kendrick receive a hypeman on phase , highlight how critical that case of wingman push is to a capital pat show .
This was but in the death , it was kendrick alone stand winning over his opposition to the magnetic north .
As for America , that ’s a longer combat for another 24-hour interval .
