Even though a record breaking 133.5 million people watched this year's superbowl halftime show, a vast majority of its audience may have been unaware of the deeper meanings featured throughout it. This year's star, Kendrick Lamar, accompanied by SZA and Samuel L. Jackson, was able to present many themes of pressing matters in America today. By opening the show in their red, white, and blue wardrobe, Kendrick and his dancers immediately signaled that the show would entail themes of American ideology. Continuing this narrative, Samuel L. Jackson made his way on stage dressed as none other than Uncle Sam. As Kendrick performed, Mr. Jackson began to criticise his performance, calling him “too loud” and “too ghetto”. This is a representation of how black culture has been criticized through systematic racism in America often through abuse of power. Next, Kendrick performed his song “HUMBLE” and his dancers were aligned in an American flag formation, but it was split down the middle. Many viewers interpreted this as a representation of the political divide in America today. As the song finished, Lamar stated “The revolution about to be televised. You picked the right time but the wrong guy.” There has been mass speculation around this comment but many believe this was a reference to president Donald Trump and a revolution that may be soon to come. Kendrick Lamar also finished his well-known rap battle with final digs to the artist “Drake” in this Superbowl performance. Kendrick was able to further humiliate Drake with elements as simple as Kendrick’s outfit. Kendrick was seen wearing an “a” chain, a reference to a line from his diss track on Drake. Kendrick was also wearing a full denim outfit during this performance, which many may not know is known as a “Canadian suit”, a dig at the Canadian rapper. Kendrick also featured Drake’s ex-girlfriend, Serena Williams, in his performance as a backup dancer. And to top it all off, his live performance ended with the words “GAME OVER” spelled out in the crowd, a reference to the end of his and Drake’s rap battle. Overall, this year’s performance was not only entertaining, but was able to present important lessons about pressing issues in America today, and cap off a memorable event in Kendrick’s rap career.
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