jacuzziwaters

[jacuzziwaters]

So far I see everyone talking about “oh man Kendrick really got Drake by performing ‘Not Like Us’ at the Super Bowl”. And while that was great, everybody’s just ignoring the, well performed, message about American society and racial discrimination (especially black people and culture)?

I mean it was great no matter what.

[jacuzziwaters]

Someone please talk with me about the Uncle Sam parts of the Super Bowl performance because oml I fucking loved it

Starting out with the “this is the Great American game” which like feels like it’s referring to the Super Bowl and football in general, until you get to the next interjection:

“No, no, no. Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto—Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up”

This is the great American game — trying to contort yourself into white culture and cutting out everything that makes you Black aka being “loud” and “reckless” and “ghetto” to survive

And you’ve always gotta tighten up!! You’re never going to be good enough because you’ll never be white, but you’re supposed to keep trying anyways!!!!

So for Kendrick to just go “fuck it” and be authentically Black in front of the entire country?? Hell fucking YES

[jacuzziwaters]

At least I can revel in Kendrick’s artistry. Uncle Sam telling him that to win the American game he can’t be “ghetto” after performing squabble up. And saying that he likes it when he’s ‘calm’ after performing all the stars. The game board with an American flag of black performers. Just damn

[jacuzziwaters]

the details in kendricks performance are so good....... his outfit (which is baller btw) referencing his songs with his hat saying 5+5 and peakaboo & wop wop wop on his jacket, kendrick saying the revolution will be televised u picked the right time but the wrong guy, having uncle sam jackson say kendrick do u really know how to play the game while kendrick's stages are shaped like buttons on a video game controler, having serena williams featured doing the c-walk after the media blazed her for doing the same at wimbledon, the american flag being made up of black men, shouting out his hometown compton, like THIS is how u do a halftime show. gorgeous

[jacuzziwaters]

You see across social media the difference in how Chappel Roan is praised for "starting a movement" by bringing up healthcare in terms of her own benefit, but Kendrick Lamar, with an entire discography on social issues and bringing attention to stuff going on in the world to those less financially sound than him gets reduced to the "Not Like Us" craze, because it's a single feeding into the rap battle culture and it "annihilates" Drake.

[jacuzziwaters]

can't wait for the kendrick scholars to analyze and dissect every bit of that stunning performance. idgaf about drake at this point i mean that look into the camera was devastating but- THE BLACK EXCELLENCE!! you can't take the politics out of kendrick's work man. and they sure as hell will try!!! and fail. beautiful love to see it

[jacuzziwaters]

can't wait for the kendrick scholars to analyze and dissect every bit of that stunning performance. idgaf about drake at this point i mean that look into the camera was devastating but- THE BLACK EXCELLENCE!! you can't take the politics out of kendrick's work man. and they sure as hell will try!!! and fail. beautiful love to see it

[jacuzziwaters]

can't wait for the kendrick scholars to analyze and dissect every bit of that stunning performance. idgaf about drake at this point i mean that look into the camera was devastating but- THE BLACK EXCELLENCE!! you can't take the politics out of kendrick's work man. and they sure as hell will try!!! and fail. beautiful love to see it

[jacuzziwaters]

but anywho watching this in a white conservative household was certainly an experience. sza came on, everyone was like “oh at least she can sing,” “see i like this,” and then uncle sam jackson said “now this is what america wants, something calm!” and i about cackled

[jacuzziwaters]

me, watching the super bowl halftime show:

[jacuzziwaters]

if you got into rap because of the Kendrick x Drake beef I need you to know it's likely you won't ever see anything like this ever again, not because there's no more hatred in the industry-- no, there's plenty, it's because now everyone beefing is going to be horribly afraid that maybe the weird theater kid they're bullying for kicks is going to be singing in front of a packed stadium about how they like to touch kids instead of like, making unmarked tapes about their wealth differences or something more mundane.

Shooting Drake wouldn't have damaged him this much. Generational shit.

[jacuzziwaters]

this is also like the funniest super bowl for Kendrick Lamar to play at. Donald Trump is there for some fucking reason. the Chiefs are getting their ass kicked because they cheated their way through the other games. Taylor Swift is in the audience, probably, watching her boyfriend get his ass kicked.

[jacuzziwaters]

The revolution ‘bout to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy.

The balls for Kendrick to utter this in front of him along with dissing Drake? Cinema? No, modern protest that’s recapturing decades of protest culture within music, specifically black music. Major props to Kendrick and I hope more are to follow

[jacuzziwaters]

ok Kendrick Lamar rapping, with all Black dancers, with Samual L. Jackson playing Uncle Sam, mocking racist anti-rap rhetoric, with Lamar calling out racism in America all while trump is watching actually made me smile so much

also SZA and Not Like Us and actually all of it was amazing

this is the only part about the super bowl i like lmao

[jacuzziwaters]

[jacuzziwaters]

A Crash Course to Kendrick's Super Bowl Performance, from a Black Woman

Note: this does NOT go in depth into all of the song's lyrics. I don't have time to recount two decades of his discography. This is just a summary of the performance itself.

Let's start with the first visual we get:

UNCLE SAM - most notably recognized from WWII American wartime propaganda, Uncle Sam is the personification of American patriotism and freedom. The term "uncle" is also evocative of Uncle Tom from Uncle Tom's Cabin, an abolitionist book that aided in inciting the Civil War. Uncle is also a very common term (both endearment and derogatory) towards Black men (eg. "unc"). Samuel L Jackson was fantastic.

Uncle Sam also resembles a circus ringleader, notable for my next point:

THE GREAT AMERICAN GAME - no, not Super Bowl. The GAG is us the people being pitted against each other: through late-stage capitalism, through the culture war, through class warfare, through being built of the backs of slaves. We are all players in the GAG because none of us on this site were the oligarchs seated at the inauguration.

This is also seen as Kendrick's stage was a Play Station controller. Not only did it remind of circus rings visually, but it was a game battle stage. The Great American Game is a battle royale of the commoners for the amusement of the rich whites.

Remember the foods / Them color was tin and brown / But now they 100 and blue - For this I'll just say, look what the last election said about lowering the price of eggs... and look at the prices now.

The revolution about to be televised / You picked the right time / But the wrong guy - Election 2024 once more.

THE FLAG DANCERS - yes, the dancers formed the US flag... off of the backs of Black people. Not a single white person in sight, and that's true of the cotton pickers in the fields. Plantations are part of how the US came to economic prominence after being a "backwater" colony. Remember tobacco? Cotton? Our bloodlines do.

The red and blue dancers are also notable for representing the Crips and Bloods, two infamous street gangs. The dance in Not Like Us is the Crip Walk. I recommend researching more on your own time about them, but just know they are a large part of the stereotype of Black people being "ghetto."

TOO LOUD, TOO RECKLESS, TOO GHETTO. Do you really know how to play the game? - This is exactly what Black people, especially Black men, get told all the time. It's why we change our names on resumes if they sound "too Black." It's why we codeswitch in non-Black company. This is especially rich considering how non-Black people love our culture and love to make money off of us, as the latter part of the quote points to. And it's even more profound during the Super Bowl-- the NFL is majority Black players.

STREET LIGHT A CAPELLA -- "thug" stereotype dancers to counteract the a capella connotations, with Uncle Sam then saying that Kendrick figured out "bringing other street guys around being a culture cheat code." Yes, this is a direct hit at Drake (listen to "Not Like Us") but also politically. Look up "model minority". Notably I would point to Candace Owens, or the Miami Venezuelan political group that's been in the news recently, especially as this directly led to Kendrick being surrounded by...

DANCERS IN WHITE -- it's white America. That's... that's the allegory.

NOT LIKE US TEASER -- Kendrick says "Not Like Us" is "their favorite song." -> he means white people specifically here. It comes after he's surrounded by all white dancers, the women around him who are his call and response are also in white (my opinion, they represent the industry). He's saying "Not Like Us" is the favorite of yts because it is about BLACK MEN FIGHTING. This again is reflected in the video game stage and ringleader Uncle Sam.

SZA -- instead of giving what they want, we see SZA. She's one of Drake's exes and Kendrick has always supported her.

ALL THE STARS -- This was in the first Black Panther movie, which I recommend you watch. Rest in Power Chadwick. Notably, this movie was incredibly mainstream as a major Marvel movie, and then we have Uncle Sam say...

"THAT'S WHAT AMERICA WANTS: NICE AND CALM. DON'T MESS THIS UP" -- translation: Marvel (the industry, America, etc.) wanted a safe, semi-pop song because white American likes safe pop songs, not Kendrick's usual heavy rap style about his life as a Black man! Don't mess up what you've got going mainstream for having this "Black rap feud" with Drake, who is an R&B model minority to white people because he's safe.

So what does Kendrick say?

IT'S A CULTURAL DIVIDE / IMMA GET IT ON THE FLOOR -- He was warned not to be political or apologetically Black for this Super Bowl performance, but he is using this big stage opportunity to speak out.

40 ACRES AND A MULE / THIS IS BIGGER THAN THE MUSIC -- 40 acres and a mule are what the freed slaves were promised. Instead, this land went to white sharecroppers. Research Jim Crow laws.

THEY TRIED TO RIG THE GAME / BUT YOU CAN'T FAKE INFLUENCE -- rig the election, rig the industry like with model minority Drake, rig the Great American Game with culture war to distract from active class warfare.

NOT LIKE US -- the only thing I'll mention because it made me holler is Serena Williams crip walking on Drake's metaphorical grave. She's another one of his exes.

TURN THE TV OFF -- exactly like he said! The TV is a distraction, the Super Bowl is a distraction, the mainstream news is often a distraction. Turn it off and get with your people!

GAME OVER — could not see this on my stream but at the end of the performance, the lights in the stadium spelled this out. The world is watching, America…

In conclusion, Kendrick Lamar is a visionary and thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[jacuzziwaters]

SERENA WILLIAMS during Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show at Super Bowl LIX