Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime performance has been applauded online for its subtle and not so subtle references and digs, from Donald Trump to Drake.
On February 9, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles took to the field at the Super Bowl LIX to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2024 season.
However, the real star of the day was Kendrick Lamar, who took to the stage during the halftime show and delivered a performance bursting with 'hidden' messages. Granted, some of them weren't really that 'hidden,' but hey, you may've just got so swept up in his performance that you missed a few.
Trump dig
Lamar opened his set by stating: "The revolution is about to be televised; You picked the right time but the wrong guy."
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No points for guessing what this could be a nod to - the 2024 elections having just led to Donald Trump being sworn in as the 47th president of the US.
A Twitter user wrote: "Kendrick literally protested, and taunted America in front of the president during America's biggest sports event. Chef's kiss."
"Still thinking about Kendrick opening with the line 'the revolution will be televised and you chose the wrong guy' while Trump was sitting right there. Incredible move," another added.
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A third commented: "The amount of political references and symbolism is INCREDIBLE and the fact that Kendrick did all that while Trump was watching makes it even better."
America being divided
Wearing red, white and blue, there was a moment during the set where Lamar's dancers joined together, closely resembling the American flag.
However, they then parted ways - the split picked up on by social media users as symbolising the country's divide.
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"Kendrick creating the American flag and then splitting it in half to symbolize the country's divineness... the amount of amazingly executed political symbolism in this one performance… I'm going to have to sit down with a notebook and pen," a Twitter user wrote.
Another added: "The more I think about the details of Kendrick’s #HalfTimeShow, the more the intentionality of the divided flag during 'Humble' blows me away. There was 4D level messaging in that performance, for every single person watching."
The idea of America splitting and being led in a bad direction was emphasized even further by the message 'WARNING WRONG WAY' appearing in lights in the crowd too, USA Today reports.
Lamar's dancers and reference to '40 acres and a mule'.
Others also pointed out the significance of all of the dancers being Black.
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One Twitter user said: "Black folk representing the American flag because modern America was built on our labor… Kendrick I see you."
"Kendrick making the American flag out of Black men was absolutely beautiful, and the message was clear," another added. "Black people built America."
In 'Not Like Us,' Lamar also referenced '40 acres and a mule', turning around to his back-up dancers to state: "This is bigger than the music."
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'40 acres and a mule' is commonly attributed to American Civil War Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, and was a wartime order promising plots of land and army mules to formerly enslaved Black families - the order was never fulfilled.
Drake diss²
Lamar performed his Drake diss track 'Not Like Us' - which Drake has filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group over as a result of being referred to as a 'pedophile' - joking, 'I want to perform they favorite song, but you know they love to sue,' before going ahead anyway just dropping the word 'pedophiles' from his rendition.
And not only that, but he also brought Serena Williams out on stage too.
With rumors of romance between Williams and Drake and Drake having mentioned the tennis player and her husband Alexis Ohanian within his 2022 album Her Loss.
On the track 'Middle of The Ocean,' Drake rapped: "Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie / He claim we don't got a problem but / No boo, it is like you coming for sushi."
Ohanian responded on Twitter at the time and within 'Not Like Us,' Lamar states: "Better not speak on Serena."
And so including her in his Super Bowl halftime performance? Oh and bringing out SZA to perform too who was also romantically linked to Drake.
*Mic drop* or 'GAME OVER' - according to the words spelled out in the crowd at the end of the set - and this wasn't just a potential nod to the end of Lamar's feud with Drake either.
Nod to PlayStation controller
Art director Shelley Rodgers told Wired the performance was meant to portray Lamar's life as if it was like a video game - each space inspired by the PlayStation controller's buttons - triangle, square, circle and X.
She said: "I think the [video game theme] was symbolic, his way to reach young people. A lot of it is showing his journey, traveling through the American dream.”
Topics: Celebrity, Kendrick Lamar, Music, NFL, Social Media, Sport, Super Bowl, Donald Trump, Politics
Poppy Bilderbeck