Last night, the Philadelphia Eagles won The Big Game.
While there was so much about the game that gave me goosebumps, electrified, and, honestly, inspired, the most exciting part for me – and for many – was the halftime show. For fear of being too petty (re: my issues with the Chiefs organization being too financially and outwardly supportive of the color orange, their players and families openly supporting the current regime, Butker, Swift, etc.), I’m going to spare you most of my thoughts.
But not about the halftime show. I’ll spare you nothing there.
The halftime show was remarkable from the first lines out of Samuel L. Jackson’s mouth – aka the only Uncle Sam I’ll ever listen to – all the way through the impactful GAME OVER finale. If you were allowed to watch and listen closely in your party environment, you probably noticed a bit more.
To begin, there wasn’t a single white performer on that field and I was living for it. It’s Black History Month, and our joke of a government is trying to erase that. This was a massive, immediate message to many people – one, in particular, who was actually there in person instead of doing their jobs correctly to protect our country from a coup.
The stage performance was just over 13 minutes of spectacular set design and art, beginning with video game audio and squares lit up like tic-tac-toe. (I have seen references to Squid Games, a show I will not watch. I’m sorry.) Samuel L. Jackson is lit up in the middle square to introduce Kendrick, who starts on top of a 1987 GNX wearing red, white, and blue, decidedly. The car is the namesake of his surprise sixth studio album, which was released last November. He’s also kneeling, with a single spotlight on him, completely alone. This, alone, was a statement to the orange one in who led people in tearing down those who protested during NFL games not so many years ago. The short song Lamar begins with appeared on teasers for the album and there are lines from it that immediately pulled at fans when the album came out, but isn’t an official track on any current releases.
In the first big choreographed moment, the lights strobe, a good amount of dancers in red square up and sync up, and Kendrick says, loudly, “The revolution’s about to be televised. You picked the right time but the wrong guy.” This line is a direct reference to a satirical poem released in 1970 by Gil Scott-Heron, which reads, “The revolution will not be televised.” This piece is a response to the spoken-word art “When the Revolution Comes” by The Last Poets, and mentions famous figures and cultural linchpins that serve as a smokescreen for the actual revolutionaries.
Kendrick reciting these words with the American colors around him, was an obvious poke at several people in attendance. It was also the first time I screamed out of excitement.
He pivots fast into “Squabble Up,” dancers in red, white, and blue sweatsuits surrounding him in various formations. After lining up, they start to step and it is a powerful moment of rhythm and control. Which is when Samuel L. Jackson steps back in and says, “No, no, no, no, no! Too loud! Too reckless! Too ghetto! Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up!”
And that beautiful man is a smokescreen for the watching audience. Because as he is screaming the same shit conservative media uses against people of color to delegitimize their art and their lives, the dancers are forming an American flag on the steps. And now the camera is back on Kendrick, in the center of that flag.
And so begins “Humble.” The crowd is roaring at this point, while these incredible male athletes/dancers engage in sharp movements that would be hailed as 11/10 at a cheerleading competition. Their precision was admirable, poetry in motion. This is when I started noticing some dancers had their faces covered, some had their heads wrapped.** Some you could see fully, and others had dyed their hair to match their outfits. I can only imagine that this type of scene is what scared some viewers into saying the halftime show was “scary” and “militaristic.”
That’s ok, but it was by design. The performance was meant to make us question things, created as a living protest, and isn’t threatening to the viewing public at all. So you might have to sit in that discomfort for a while.
He quickly launches into “DNA,” which famously challenges a deplorably racist Fox anchor’s comments about hip-hop being damaging to black people. He runs across the field to dance in front of varying dancer formations, then gives us some “Euphoria” and slows down for a rendition of “Man at the Garden” with a slew of dancers seemingly hanging out by a lamp post behind him.
“Peekaboo” begins after another appearance by Samuel, who – in keeping with the gaming theme – tells the scorekeeper that Lamar only has one life. Kendrick and his dancers are now inside one of the X’s on the field, looking like a Nintendo controller. He rotates thorough the “X,” bouncing around and making for a really interactive time with the television audience.
Then, Kendrick pauses and asks a group of female dancers, “I wanna perform they favorite song but you know they love to sue.” The introductory instrumentals to THAT SONG begin, and the crowd goes WILD. But he’s teasing us, and you can hear Samuel yell, “You’ve lost your damn mind!” while Kendrick slows everything down.
Smooth R&B starts, and he rolls right into a sultry version of “Luther” featuring the indelible SZA. Our girl first appears sitting down casually, decided out fully in a gorgeous red that perfectly matches her hair and goes well with Kendrick’s mostly-blue getup. This slower tempo moment allows them to really connect with each other on stage. It also gives the pair the momentum they need to launch into the Black Panther anthem “All the Stars.” SZA was A-plus, no notes. What a powerful, beautiful presence to have joined him on stage, a moment that got us extra amped for their upcoming tour.
Samuel L. Jackson comes back in with similar commentary as before, noting that “nice and calm” is “what America wants.” The humor and the magic in these moments cannot be spoken about enough, he was making fun of us to our faces and I truly couldn’t get enough of it. He was about to wrap it up all “politically correct” when Kendrick decided it was time.
“Not Like Us” was incredible, an aerial shot catching more sharp, beautiful moments from the dancers. The freestyle coupled with very impactful choreographed moves made it such a celebration of community and diversity at the same time. No one had to sing to make a deliberate, profound statement.
But he did. And when Kendrick did, he looked right down the barrel of the camera as he said, “Say, Drake, I hear you like them young.” The pettiness was palpable, but it was also powerful. Especially when you take into account all of the hushed rumors that have swirled about Drake and his preferences and behavior over the years. While some might take Lamar’s diss tracks as pure petty for the sake of being that way, he’s using his platform to call out unacceptable behavior that has (for some reason) been normalized. He’s calling things out, and he’s doing it strategically.
If you want to fight me about the fact that there are no current official allegations against Drake, I would like to say one thing. The cameras panned the stage pretty quickly, but you caught it as well. The GOAT Serena Williams was c-walking on stage. They showed her twice, living in her joy and dancing her ass off. Which most people would think nothing of until you realize two facts.
One, that this incredible talent was policed for celebrating at the Olympics in 2012 with the same c-walk or “Crip Walk” dance. The media and fans ripped into how the champion celebrated, which was no better or worse than anyone else. Now, she gets to do the same walk on the most televised event, and she gets to do it with ferocity.
Two, that Serena was romantically linked with Drake from 2010-2016. Having her dance during this diss track about him is an extra dig for her, but it’s also a statement. If you weren’t fascinated by the entire stadium singing “a minor,” the fact that Lamar was wearing a lowercase “a” chain – literally “a minor” -, or the flags that some dancers were flying with kids on them, then I need you to know it all happened and it’s all connected. Serena’s participation seems to be a co-sign that the claims in the song aren’t just claims.
Which should worry you, if you weren’t already aware – and nervous – of Drake’s shifty behavior.
For those who didn’t recognize all of the Easter eggs, Lamar worked with a team to build out a gaming controller set, dancing within different buttons. By the end, he was rapping, “turn the tv off, turn the tv off,” smiled into the camera, and then the lights went down on the floor and the lights in the seats spelled GAME OVER.
**I do want to recognize that during the telecast, one of the dancers bravely waved Sudanese and Gazan flags. Having some of the dancers wear face and head wraps helped to make this possible. It allowed for people to make their own statements showing as much or as little of their bodies as possible.
CBS Mornings took the helm celebrating the performance. “Everything he did had power, had purpose,” exclaimed Vlad Duthiers. But while they took time to discuss America’s reaction and the controversy around it all, they didn’t mention the live genocide protest or several very important Easter eggs. For the most part, even for as liberal as their cast is, you could see how the media is being asked to speak about the performance overall.
If you take that halftime show and couple it with the incredible pre-show performances by musical legends Lady Gaga and Jon Batiste – and “America The Beautiful” performed by Lauren Daigle and Trombone Shorty – the game was a full win all around. Those involved were pumping diversity into the mix, bringing us not just a variety of people of all different backgrounds and affiliations, but celebrating it. Plus, multiple genres were represented with a noticeable majority black performers.
For the record…
- I love that the first black female coach in the NFL, Autumn Lockwood, took home a championship victory.
- Two people got booed and I’m not mad at it.
- The HAIM sisters passively existing everywhere makes me laugh a lot.
- I’m overjoyed for SZA’s mom, specifically.
- Paul Rudd looked like he wanted to melt into the floor of embarrassment, that poor man.
- Jon Hamm lost his voice before the game, which makes him the real winner.
- I’d like Bradley Cooper’s food truck to make a pit stop here.
- The Eagles head coach is a loser.
- Oh, Butker lost? Good.
- Elmo has the best takes.
