Kendrick Didn't Perform at the Super Bowl: He Delivered Poetic Justice
I envy writers who can react and write instantly. It takes me a while to process, gather info, understand, and then have commentary cohesive enough to give you all. Not only did I need it, but Kendrick’s performance deserved all that time.
With that said, there isn’t much to add in defense of the Kendrick Lemar halftime show.
If you didn’t enjoy it, that’s fine. If you didn’t appreciate it, you’re stupid. He said what he said, I said what I said. That’s what artists do.
I don’t listen to Kendrick as much as I should. I actually don’t listen to music anymore as much as I should. Not for lack of caring, just due to lack of time.
But I’ve never discounted Kendrick as one of the most phenomenal lyricists of our time, and neither has the Pulitzer or the Grammys.
This was one of the largest BLACK cultural moments on THE largest platform DURING Black History Month. No whitewashing, no softening. Just Kendrick, in his full element, making sure we felt it.
Lots of other people have unpacked the symbolism, so I’ll just list it here as a recap:
Uncle Sam, aka Uncle Tom — telling K.Dot to pipe down and make his performance digestible and entertaining. Literally, exactly what some of y’all are saying he should’ve done.
The Black, male dancers in red, white and blue, placed as the flag — cut in half. CRAZY. Not only is the country divided but this reflected it being just as divided as gangs. YUP.
Serena. The same Crip Walk they shamed her for at the 2012 Olympics..after she WON? She brought it right back for that… And let’s not forget — Drake is her ex. She didn’t just dance — she stomped on his grave. (Ugh, I really used to love Drake.) Anyway… bodied.
The game board. Some people say the X’s, O’s, squares and triangles was a play on the PlayStation remote, others say it was for Squid Game. Either way, brilliant.
The Black men in white T’s standing under the street light (a Black-as-ever reference) and Uncle Sam coming out to say “Oh, you brought your homeboys with you…Scorekeeper, deduct one life.”
The “a” chain. First of all a lowercase A is part of the logo for pgLang, which is named on the back of his jacket and is his creative communications company. Last of all, because the game is literally over in so many ways, Drake really took a MAJOR L.
Things you may have just missed:
Warning Wrong Way words in lights that appeared right after the dancers formed the American flag.
A Gaza-Sudan flag being waved
And if you missed any, or all, of that, Kendrick himself summed it up best: “This is bigger than music.” He meant it, and I’m here for it.
Kendrick is an artist in every sense of the word. He used this platform, his platform to storytell, both visually and audibly. And he did it well.
I understand wanting halftime to be as entertaining as the game, and I understand rap as a not super far-reaching genre of choice. Even some of his fans criticized how he didn’t perform mainstream hits like Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe, Alright, or Poetic Justice (jk…RIP😂).
That’s funny because Drake was featured in Poetic Justice.
But, my guy literally got poetic justice. He (Janet) said any time, any place you can get it…and by that he meant at the Super Bowl Halftime show.
Let’s talk about poetic justice.
Poetic justice is the fact of experiencing a fitting or deserved retribution for one’s actions. It’s the idea that ultimately virtue is rewarded and evil never goes unpunished.
Most artists don’t create art because they’re talented. Most artists create art because they’re called to create life with their talent, they’re called to speak to dead things and cause them to breathe, they’re meant to see something wrong and say something about it.
Most artists see something upside down with the world and use their gifts to start to force it to be right-side up.
Most artists can’t hold back calling out injustices. No matter the platform, no matter the stage, no matter the audience — any time, any place.
Some say Kendrick is wrong for calling Drake a pedophile in a song that became the summer anthem, Grammy-winning, and now Super Bowl-performed song of 2024.
I say…maybe Drake shouldn’t do things that make him be perceived as a pedophile.
I don’t know Drake. Kendrick does. And usually, proximity gives insight. People lie and exaggerate all the time, but I think that someone with the balls to perform a show like this probably wouldn’t have a reason to lie a MAJOR lie about a peer.
Even if Kendrick was a lil off about the accusations, I’m going to have to doubt that he just made it up out of thin air — something is in the air.
Some say Kendrick should’ve stuck to bumps…something uplifting, slower tempo’ed, more even-keeled.
I say…is now the time for that?
Now, is exactly the time to go off — again. Silence hasn’t ever helped us before and it sure won’t start to help us now.
People complain that we don’t have an MLK for our time. I think even if we did, you might say that you don’t want to hear him (or her…HELLO!) because s/he’s not spreading the message the way you want it presented.
Poetic justice on personal levels and on governmental levels might not look like speeches from pulpits or documents from offices.
It might look like lyrics you have to listen to a few times to digest.
It might look like protests you have to organize yourself.
It might look like conversations you need to have with someone who disagrees with you.
It might look like journaling until you find the courage to post it.
It might look like resting until you have the energy to strategize.
Listen to the poets.
Let justice ring.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Walk humbly — but never silently.
