This year’s Superbowl halftime show was a sight to see. Kendrick Lamar and his guests and announcer brought great passion to the stage. If you missed the halftime show this year, you might be among the few. This was one of the most viewed halftime performances in Super Bowl history. This performance is the first time a solo rapper would headline the Superbowl halftime show, making history. Not only is Lamar a solo rapper, but he is also a 22-time Grammy Award winner.
To summarize the performance, it is set on a stage shaped like a Play Station controller and starts with one of Lamar’s guests, Samuel L. Jackson, dressed in red, white, and blue, mimicking Uncle Sam’s outfit. Samuel L. Jackson gives a brief announcement to the audience before it cuts to Lamar. His performers continued the U.S.A. aesthetic by wearing the colors of the American flag. In Lamar’s performance, he plays “Squable Up,” “Humble,” “DNA,” “Euphoria,” “Man at the Garden,” “Peekaboo,” “Luther,” “All the Stars,” “Not Like Us,” and finally “TV Off.” He also had two guest singers, SZA and Mustard, and a special unexpected guest, Serena Williams. The performance, for many, felt short, but it was packed with action.
Many started watching this performance expecting it to be another diss to Drake, which it was in some ways as it starred Serena Williams, one of Drake’s exes. As you watch the performance, you can see there is more to this performance than just a funny diss. To sum up, the theme of this performance was new America. There was a lot of passion from Lamar and Samuel L. Jackson that many have interpreted as commentary on the modern state of the U.S.A. Lamar used lots of storytelling throughout his performance, leading to several interesting theories about the performance’s meaning.
Several theories have arisen from Lamar’s performance, from hidden dances to secret messages portrayed throughout the show. Some of the major theories were related to the shape of the stage and the lights above the audience. The concept of a video game and the prominent themes of a new America led many to theorize that Lamar was trying to communicate that the government has games and that if you don’t play them, your game will be over. While there has been no confirmation on whether this theory is remotely true, many people have debated its idea. Many also noted the controller pattern as another diss to Drake since Sony owns PlayStation, and Drake is signed to Sony’s record label. None of the theories have been proven true, making the halftime performance up to interpretation.
In the end, Lamar’s halftime performance was unlike America has ever seen at the Superbowl. Lamar is the first-ever solo rapper to perform at a Superbowl game, and his unique storytelling elements make it exhilarating to watch. I hope this performance leads to more interactive, story-driven halftime shows in the future and is taken as a lesson to improve the event.
