— Coming off of the single greatest year any rapper has ever had, Kendrick Lamar captivated audiences worldwide yet again in his polarizing Super Bowl LIX halftime performance.
Kendrick Lamar has been on an unprecedented run following his surprise verse last March on Future and Metro Boomin’s 2024 record, “Like That,” as well as during its well-documented aftermath. While engaging in a historic rap battle with fellow rap superstar, Drake, the Compton-native not only showcased his prolific lyrical talents, but also displayed his underrated humor, boldly intentional artistry, and undeniable passion for Hip-Hop culture. With all of this leading up to a performance on America’s biggest stage, Kendrick was primed to take the world by storm and he did just that.
Almost a week removed from Kendrick Lamar’s 13-minute Super Bowl LIX halftime show, the most common critique of the performance has been that it was missing a few of K.Dot’s biggest hits. While he did perform records like “Humble,” “DNA,” and “All The Stars” with the help of longtime labelmate SZA, smash hits like “Alright,” “m.A.A.d city,” “B*tch Don’t Kill My Vibe,” “Swimming Pools,” and “Loyalty” were absent from the set list. Now while this is a fair complaint from the avid Kendrick fan, Kendrick’s calculated approach to the Super Bowl LIX halftime show was just what Hip-Hop needed.
As the first ever Hip-Hop artist to perform solo at the Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar was on a clear mission — to highlight and demonstrate the raw energy, defiance, militance, and fervor that has made Hip-Hop such a powerful genre to begin with, for all of the world to see.
During a pre-Super Bowl interview conducted by radio personality, broadcaster, and DJ Ebro Darden and music journalist Nadeska Alexis, Kendrick Lamar thoroughly re-emphasized his love for Hip-Hop culture. Even when referencing his 2024 rap battle with Drake, he expresses his love for the competitive and aggressive elements of the culture that have been watered down and often removed entirely from the “sport” he loves. He further expresses his belief in rap as an art form to be respected and proclaims that it can take you as far as you want to go.
So, what does all of this have to do with the importance of his Super Bowl LIX halftime performance?
Well, in front of a packed stadium filled with droves of people who don’t share his background or beliefs — likely including the president of the United States, Donald Trump — Kendrick Lamar put on a masterclass in rap and live performance by deploying his otherworldly showmanship, supreme poise, and thought-provoking symbolism.
Performing a combination of hit records, diss tracks, and album cuts from his latest album GNX, Kendrick Lamar told a story of the Black American experience with the help of Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam along with an army of dancers and performance artists. Even world-renowned tennis legend Serena Williams showed up, not only to support Kendrick Lamar in sending shots at their mutual enemy, but also to represent her hometown of Compton and perform the ‘Crip Walk’ as a callback to the controversy she faced at the 2012 London Olympics after performing the same dance.
Choosing to use this moment to rebel against the traditional Super Bowl format of simply playing all of your hit records is fundamentally Hip-Hop.
Choosing to rebel in a way that ardently and publicly questions and critiques the “powers that be” is fundamentally Hip-Hop.
Choosing this moment to further diss an adversary that, according to Kendrick Lamar, has unforgivably wronged him and so many others is fundamentally Hip-Hop.
Unapologetically expressing your views as a Black artist despite the backlash you may receive from those who aren’t a part of your community AND those who are is fundamentally Hip-Hop.
However, doing all of this while being able to simultaneously entertain millions across the world with incredible music, potent lyrics, and yet another dazzling live performance is something that very few can do. Kendrick Lamar just happens to be one of them.
So, before we allow naive and misguided, or even disingenuous and unsophisticated, sentiments to pervade the conversation surrounding this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, we should think about what Hip-Hop truly is and what many of us may have inadvertently allowed it to become.
Demanding that Kendrick Lamar conforms to a desired setlist, viewing his mentioning of Drake as “clout-chasing,” or disparagingly and erroneously declaring that he “focused his entire performance on petty beef” criminally minimizes the role Kendrick Lamar plays as a respected voice in our culture while displaying a gross lack of understanding of said culture.
What Kendrick Lamar has done is reinvigorate the spirit of Hip-Hop, not only at Super Bowl LIX, but in everything he’s done since March 2024. Kendrick just showed the world that conformity and complacency has no place in Hip-Hop and that the desire for acceptance by any means necessary is a detriment to our own cultural development. Lastly, he showed that Hip-Hop, just like any other respected art form, both requires and deserves passion, creativity, integrity, and reverence.
If you don’t see it that way, it’s ok. Maybe you have another point of view that’s well-rooted in Hip-Hop culture that may be worth listening to. But, it’s very likely that it may just be time to come to terms with the fact that you’re ‘not like us.’