By Kaylon Coleman
If you were up to what a majority of Americans were up to Feb. 9, you watched the hopes of a Chiefs three-peat crash and burn miracuously, leading to an Eagles Superbowl win. I’m personally over the moon knowing I can tell my grandkids one day that the Chiefs didn’t completely dominate the league in my college years. Along with a spectacular game for us Chief haters, what I really want to talk about is the Kendrick halftime show and all the hidden implications, details and inferences we can take away from it.
To kickoff, we’re introduced to Samuel Jackson as “Uncle Sam,” — which I didn’t know I needed ‘til I saw. I believe this is supposed to be the same Uncle Sam featured in Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, which was used to represent the government, racism and corruption. Sam talks about the “great American game,” which could correlate back to football and the Super Bowl, but I think is meant to represent a box of sorts, in which you must play by the rules or face the consequences.
Kendrick starts his performance with a snippet of an unreleased song from his new album GNX. He concludes the snippet saying “The revolution about to be televised, you pick the right time but the wrong guy.” This leads us into his new song Squabble Up. That is, until Uncle Sam interrupts once again, this time exclaiming “Too Loud, too reckless, too … ghetto,” asking Lamar if he really knows how to play “the game” and, if so, to tighten up. This is commentary on how — in my experience — Black people are told to fit into the standards set by the white patriarchy. Uncle Sam is criticizing Kendrick’s performance by telling him it’s unruly, and implores him to perform the “proper” way.
We then see Kendrick and background dancers form the American flag with Kendrick standing solely in the middle, dividing the flag. Kendrick uses this imagery to show a country divided.
Kendrick then takes us back with a couple of his old songs including Humble, DNA and Euphoria before leading us into a rendition of Man at the Garden. We are shown men behind Kendrick all dressed in white, 16 to be exact. I believe these figures symbolize each friend Kendrick has lost growing up, a total of 16.
Uncle Sam interrupts once again, claiming that Kendrick has cheated the system by bringing his homeboys up with him – the “old cultural cheat code,” so he asks the “scorekeeper,” to deduct one life for seemingly beating the system. The “cultural cheat code” that Uncle Sam is referring to follows a long pattern of history in America: When someone from the culture is boosted to the position of an icon, leader and someone who brings people together, the “scorekeeper” deducts one life. Martin Luther King, Fred Hampton and Malcolm X are a few examples. The “cultural cheat code” is that we as a people are stronger together, which is a no-go. We’re left to interpret who the “scorekeeper” is in this scenario, but I find it interesting that Uncle Sam looks right at the camera when delivering this message.
We’re then taken into peekaboo along with a pump fake of Not Like Us, with Kendrick claiming he’ll think about it because, “you know they love to sue,” a nod to how Drake decided to sue UMG for defamation and harassment due to the success of the song. Kendrick decides to slow it down instead, prompting Uncle Sam to say he’s lost his damn mind. We’re then introduced to SZA — the first of Drake’s exes to be brought on stage — as the duo delivers a fabulous performance of Luther and All the Stars
At this time, we see the background performers start to unify once again, symbolizing a reunited America. This along with the performance delights Uncle Sam. “That’s what I’m talking about, that’s what America wants, nice and calm.” He then says “You’re almost there, don’t mess this…” before being cut off by Kendrick’s Not Like Us — for real this time.
Kendrick then delivers the most powerful part of his performance, laying it all out on display summing up the entire performance.
“It’s a cultural divide, Imma get it on the floor, 40 acres and a mule this is bigger than the music, yeah they tried to rig the game but they can’t fake influence.”
What Kendrick is referring to here is the promise of 40 acres and a mule to formerly enslaved African Americans after the Civil War, which for many families was never fulfilled — the promise was bigger than the prize. The “game” was set up against African Americans, by means of racism, segregation — the list goes on. But even though the “game” was set up in such a way that people of color weren’t built to succeed in this country, white people can’t fake — or deny — the influence.
Kendrick also calls back to his song Wesley’s Theory off To Pimp a Butterfly, in which Uncle Sam asks the same question.
“What you want you? A house or a car? Forty acres and a mule, a piano, a guitar? Anything, see, my name is Uncle Sam, I’m your dog.”
We’re then taken into Not Like Us finally and I can say I was genuinely shocked to see Kendrick say Drake likes them young. For anyone saying being hateful doesn’t prosper, just remember Kendrick won five Grammys and a Superbowl performance off of a diss track.
During the performance, we get a cameo from Serena Williams — the second of Drake’s exes to come out — doing the Crip Walk to Not Like Us. While I believe this is definitely a shot at Drake considering the history between the two and Drake’s recent obsession with Serena, even revealing in his 100 gb music drop last year that his song Too Good with Rihanna was about the tennis player, this also provides commentary on the controversy that Serena faced when performing the same dance during the Olympics. Everyone supports Serena when she fits into the box that people have set for her, playing tennis and being formal, but once she expresses herself in a way that contradicts that image, she is ridiculed and criticized, which is what Kendrick is trying to say.
We then get one last cameo from DJ Mustard himself, while Kendrick switches to his last song tv off. Once Kendrick’s performance is over we see flashing lights on the stage saying “Game Over,” which wraps Kendrick’s thematic message up in a nice little bow, as now that he’s shed light on the “Great American Game,” it’s game over – turn his tv off.
Any way you slice it, there are definitely a lot more clues to dissect from Kendrick’s halftime performance, but one thing is definite — Kendrick is the G.O.A.T, end of story.
Kaylon Coleman is a junior journalism major with a concentration in news and a minor in Psychology and Communications. He is the Social Media Assistant Manager for LJ. He is also the president of the Black Student Union at CPH, social media coordinator for the Umoja Center, and a part-time radio DJ.