The Music Beat: Diving Into Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show

The fans who packed the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday may have rooted for different teams, but they were part of two shared experiences – Super Bowl LIX and Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance.

Although Lamar recently won five Grammys, has been making hits since 2012, and his recent chart-topper “Not Like Us” has earned more than 1 billion streams, the Super Bowl served as an introduction of Lamar to many. His performance was packed – it covered a beef with fellow rapper Drake, featured Serena Williams “crip walking” (performing a dance move that originated in Los Angeles and was later adopted by hip hop artists) and showcased Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam.

UVA Today talked to University of Virginia pop culture expert Jack Hamilton to dig into Lamar’s performance and assess its cultural impact.

The performance drew strong reactions on all sides, with celebrities, politicians and music fans sharing their opinions on social media. Hamilton gave it a thumbs up.

 

 

Hamilton said Michael Jackson introduced the modern Super Bowl halftime show, with all its pageantry, in 1993. Lamar certainly delivered a spectacle.

Throughout the roughly 13-minute performance, Lamar teased “Not Like Us,” his biggest hit to date and the song that has made Universal Music Group (Lamar’s label) the subject of a libel lawsuit. The diss track targets Drake and, according to the musician’s lawyers, falsely accuses him of criminal activity.

But Lamar mostly rapped comparatively lesser-known songs, like the unreleased “Bodies” and “Man at the Garden.” That may be because Lamar is still reaching the height of his popularity.

Often, Hamilton said, musicians who perform at the Super Bowl are “legacy artists,” people who have already reached the peak of their musical careers – like Usher and Rihanna, two recent halftime performers.

“A lot of older artists treat the Super Bowl halftime show as a capstone,” Hamilton said. Usher, Lady Gaga and other previous halftime performers have a ton of hits to choose from. Lamar, despite his stardom, has fewer No. 1 songs.

He also recently released a new album, “GNX” (also featured during the halftime show) and is currently touring.

Portrait of UVA pop culture expert Jack Hamilton

UVA pop culture expert Jack Hamilton, an avowed Kendrick Lamar fan, says the artist’s music is polarizing. (University Communications photo)

“He used it as an album promotion opportunity. It was a strategic choice, to get people to stream ‘GNX’ or buy the record,” Hamilton said.

Viewers on social media lauded the performance, but Lamar drew criticism from his detractors, too.

“Kendrick is obviously a massive star, but he’s not like Rihanna or Bruce Springsteen,” Hamilton said. Viewers expecting a musician with more mainstream appeal were likely to be let down.

“He’s also a fairly uncompromising musician, not someone who works in the pop vein the way, frankly, that Drake does. So, his music itself lends itself to a stronger response,” Hamilton said.

The performance was packed with references and Easter eggs for attentive listeners to find. During “Not Like Us,” for example, the camera cut to tennis star Serena Williams crip-walking. The cameo was doubly significant, as Williams is an ex-girlfriend of Drake’s and was assailed for doing the same dance at the 2012 Olympics after she defeated Maria Sharapova.

Lamar donned a chain with a lowercase “a” pendant, a possible allusion to a lyric referring to Drake in “Not Like Us”: “try to strike a chord and it’s probably a minor.”

Biotech Innovation Has A New Home in Virginia, to be Great and Good in all we do.
Biotech Innovation Has A New Home in Virginia, to be Great and Good in all we do.

R&B singer and Lamar’s frequent collaborator SZA performed “All the Stars” and “Luther” with him. SZA also dated Drake in 2009, leading some fans to think her appearance was an extra jab aimed at her ex. At the end of the performance, Lamar brought out his producer, Mustard. Some viewers might have wondered who the man was, which Hamilton said made it an even more rewarding watch for Lamar’s diehard fans.

“Those were the cool touches that made this memorable,” Hamilton said.

Still, Hamilton said, halftime shows are restricting for most musicians, so their Super Bowl performances are unlikely to be their best. Prince’s 2007 show is one of Hamilton’s favorites, but it’s far from Prince’s best performance, he said.

“There’s so many time constraints, so most artists don’t perform full songs. They do a medley,” he said. “And the network and the NFL have their own concerns, so you’re not free to do that much within a halftime show. It’s a product that’s being created for a very specific context.”

Hamilton said Lamar’s show stood out for how he foregrounded hip-hop (Dr. Dre has also performed a halftime show, though it came later in his career. And it’s having a viral moment. Pictures of Lamar grinning directly at the camera as he raps, “Say Drake,” are already their own meme format. Though Hamilton named “Not Like Us” the song of the summer and it has had staying power, Hamilton doubted this halftime show would be long remembered.

“Even the best halftime shows don’t make history,” Hamilton said.

Media Contact

Alice Berry

University News Associate Office of University Communications