rattenmann

[rattenmann]

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.

[rattenmann]

𝓇Δđ𝒾𝒶ᵗᶤ𝐨𝓝

He cums WHAT?

[rattenmann]

Doing this to all of you

[rattenmann]

i barely even remember the dream anymore and this post just feels goofy to me now

just imagining chris begrudgingly opening garage band, then recording an episode and for those entire six minutes he's like "OKAY ? YOU HAVBE YOUR EPISODE NOW !! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW ?? :("

[rattenmann]

while we're talking about it i'm so mad that my litwtc lesbian gif got approved on tenor yet still won't appear in the tags nor does it show up in gif search on twitter or discord. this is the lesbophobia will wood was warning us about

[rattenmann]

the there is a part of the light on top of the image that kinda makes it look like the post is in a text box and will and chris are saying that

this thingy

while we're talking about it i'm so mad that my litwtc lesbian gif got approved on tenor yet still won't appear in the tags nor does it show up in gif search on twitter or discord. this is the lesbophobia will wood was warning us about

[rattenmann]

we love straight cis icon will wood

I'm such a good ally to straight ppl i even listen to will wood

[rattenmann]

Will Wood songs are so crazy the way you don't just get a favorite and that's it. You listen and you gotta wait for the song to Get You. and it will eventually.

You'll have songs that don't click but when they do.. oughh. You're done. This happened to me with Thermodynamic Lawyer, where I just.. didn't like it at first. It was one of the ones i'd skip if I had my phone on when it came on, but if I was just listening I'd let it play. and one day I let it play. and it pried my brain from my skull and slapped it on a pottery wheel. changed the shape, and then put it back in my head, distinct fingerprints now embedded into its wrinkly surface. and I will never be the same.

anyway, I really like Thermodynamic Lawyer now. and I think Will Wood is very cool and everyone should listen to him.

[rattenmann]

HEY YOU!!!

I’m assuming you’re a will wood obsessed teenager like me and are constantly searching for more ww content.

WELL GUESS WHAT????? @peachvomit1207 has granted you and me that content you were searching for!!!

Check it out NOW!!! I swear to god it is so fun and it makes me giggle and kick my feet. You can tell how much passion and work was put into it just by the looking at it alone. Go play it and spread the word about it!! :3

[rattenmann]

i thought the line was "i hate poetry?" i could be wrong but thats what i always heard

I��m holding back so hard guys

[rattenmann]

[rattenmann]

man, i love hit will wood song "med bad??? med good?? depression?????" makes me have an existential crisis every single time i listen to it

I swear I fucking love will wood

[rattenmann]

listening to 222 while painting normal, peaceful landscapes is a great experience

[rattenmann]

taste in fictional characters so bad it belongs on a wanted poster

[rattenmann]

don’t leave oranges around me cause i will eat them. i don’t even peel them sometimes, ill just eat them like an apple

[rattenmann]

Regarding the discussion around the whole "aros can still date" phrase, I feel like I need to say something because I think some of the posts floating around on here are missing the point.

"Aros can still date" is a phrase we are spreading around to keep cupioromantics/romance-favourable aromantics from having their aromantic identity invalidated. Nothing more, nothing less.

While that phrase is something that protects cupioromantic and romance-favourable, it can also be used to invalidate other aromantic people. So, rather than discussing whether or not the phrase should be used, I think we should focus more on the context/situation it is used in. Because the way I see it, there are only very few situations where aromantics actually benefit from it.

Situations where you should remind yourself of "Aros can still date":

An aromantic person tells you they have a romantic partner

An aromantic person tells you they'd like to be in a romantic relationship

Situations where you should NOT say "Aromantics can still date":

Someone comes out to you as aromantic

Someone says they aren't interested in romantic relationships and don't want to date

Using it to justify your expectations on an aromantic person's love live despite them never mentioning any interest in dating

An aromantic person tells you that they are grieving their lack of romantic attraction

An aromantic person complains to you about amatonormativity/singlism

An aromantic person viewing their lack of interest in dating as a central part of their aromanticism

Literally any other discussion on aromanticism that isn't specifically about participation in or a desire for romance

Maybe this post is trivial, and everyone knows this already, but these discussions here on tumblr make it seem like some people aren't aware of this.

[rattenmann]

wild how we have a medication that is super effective at treating a debilitating disability but its controlled to hell and back because What If Someone Takes It For Fun like i have an idea who gives a shit