The Superbowl halftime show is one of the main reasons individuals watch the Superbowl. With the Superbowl LIX happening recently, the halftime performer was long awaited. For the 59th anniversary, rumored artists such as Taylor Swift turned down the opportunity to carry out the anticipation for this annual show. Though, in September, Kendrick Lamar was announced to be the performer for this intermission, not long after, his guest performer SZA was announced.
This announcement created a foreseeable performance, with popular songs anticipated from the artist. These included but are not limited to” All the Stars” featuring SZA, “Luther” from the GNX album, which was released this past November, and the big diss “Not Like Us,” the recent Grammy winning single.
If you have been following the timeline of the conflicts between notable artists Kendrick Lamar and Drake, who both have reputations in the music industry, you would know that their quarrel with albums has been interesting to witness. With the artists going back and forth for a while, the recently dropped single was a song that many of the world were looking forward to hearing at the super bowl.
When it was finally time for the halftime show to start, Samual J. Jackson opened the act with a small speech. Lamar was introduced with the spotlight while he starts off with a bang. Throughout the show, Lamar teased the audience with the hypnotizing beat of the song, “Not Like Us.” Throughout the performance, this track was teased and eventually reached the climax, with Mr. Lamar ending the halftime show with the song.
During the anthem, blows at Drake were taken, with name dropping and Kendrick Lamar smiling at the camera when saying “Say Drake” a line of the song that then leads to accusations against the hit artist. Lamar adding gas to the already scorching fire, brings out Serena Willams, an ex of Aubrey Graham better known as Drake.
This caused an uproar inside the stadium, many celebrities attending singing along with the song. When scrolling through social media not long after, memes of Drake and Kendrick Lamar were trending and eventually reaching #3 in billboards. These videos feature pictures of Lamar smiling menacingly at the camera and older pictures of Drake seemingly angry.
After watching the Superbowl halftime for myself, there was a deeper meaning for this performance. It is even stated in the songs that it is more than the music. Though, overall, the beginning was interesting, and I enjoyed how it built up and became a greater performance with each passing minute.
