By Christina L. Myers, Michigan State College
(THE CONVERSATION) Within the September 2024 NFL advert asserting Kendrick Lamar because the halftime performer at Tremendous Bowl 59, the 37-year-old rapper stands earlier than a colossal American flag, feeding footballs right into a machine that launches the balls to broad receivers.
“Will you be pulling up? I hope so,” he says, plugging his forthcoming look on one of many world’s largest phases, the place the cultural stakes could be as excessive because the athletic ones. “Put on your finest costume too, even should you’re watching from dwelling.”
The informal but evocative scene was basic Kendrick.
As a world-renowned Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist, Lamar stands in a league of his personal. His unflinching critiques of racial injustice, systemic inequality and the exploitation of Black tradition have made him a boundary-pushing artist and cultural visionary.
My work examines how race and racism are constructed, represented and challenged in mass media, notably in information, music and sports activities. I feel the NFL’s sophisticated historical past with social justice makes his participation much more vital.
With a discography expansive sufficient to eclipse the time constraints of Sunday’s sport, I’m desirous to see whether or not Lamar will weave his lyrical masterpieces right into a efficiency that entertains, educates and challenges viewers.
Sports activities, politics and backlash
Sports activities have all the time been political, regardless of persistent calls to maintain politics out of sports activities.
The custom of taking part in the nationwide anthem earlier than sporting occasions is however one instance: The track is rooted in wartime sorrow and serves as a name to patriotism.
Then there are unsanctioned acts of protests by gamers and followers. At any time when skilled athletes go on strike, it’s political. When followers unfurl banners in help of Palestinians, it’s political.
From Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ fist-raising on the 1968 Olympics in solidarity with Black communities throughout the Civil Rights Motion, to Muhammad Ali’s refusal to struggle within the Vietnam Battle, to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling to protest police brutality, athletes have lengthy used their platforms to confront injustice and problem norms.
But, acts of protest usually incite backlash, and the NFL has haphazardly tried to police political speech.
Kaepernick’s protests sparked a nationwide debate about concepts of patriotism and the appropriateness of protest on the taking part in subject. On the identical time, NFL house owners appeared to successfully blacklist him from the league.
Nick Bosa, a defensive finish with the 49ers, was fined for violating a rule forbidding gamers from sporting garments conveying “private messages” when he wore a MAGA hat throughout a postgame interview in 2024. In the meantime, NFL house owners have donated tens of millions to presidential campaigns, with most of these contributions given to Republican candidates.
An artist and activist
The Tremendous Bowl halftime present has lengthy been greater than only a musical interlude. It’s a stage the place cultural and political currents converge.
Throughout Beyoncé’s 2016 look alongside headliner Bruno Mars, she paid homage to the Black Panthers, Malcolm X and the Black Lives Matter motion. U2’s act throughout the 2002 Tremendous Bowl offered a second of collective mourning and hope for a rustic nonetheless reeling from the 9/11 terrorist assaults. Extra just lately, Dr. Dre’s 2022 efficiency celebrated hip-hop’s rise from a marginalized style to a dominant cultural drive. Eminem, who additionally participated in that efficiency, took a knee on stage to critique the NFL’s remedy of Black athletes and activists.
To me, Lamar’s Tremendous Bowl look symbolizes a broader reckoning with how the NFL handles the stress between politics and company leisure.
That’s as a result of Kendrick Lamar’s artistry is extra than simply music. It’s activism.
From his Grammy award-winning album “To Pimp a Butterfly” to the uncooked, introspective, Pulitzer Prize-winning album “DAMN.,” Lamar has constantly confronted themes of systemic oppression, racial injustice and Black life in America.
Tracks like “DNA.” are unapologetic celebrations of Blackness and generational resilience:
“I obtained loyalty, obtained royalty inside my DNA Quarter piece, obtained battle and peace inside my DNA. I obtained energy, poison, ache and pleasure inside my DNA. I obtained hustle, although, ambition movement inside my DNA.”
“The Blacker the Berry” delves into the complexities of Black identification and confronting systemic racism:
“I stated they deal with me like a slave, cah me Black Woi, we really feel entire heap of ache cah we Black And man a say they put me inna chains cah we Black.”
And “XXX.” confronts the greed, violence and hypocrisy on the core of American life:
“Hail Mary, Jesus and Joseph. The nice American flag is wrapped and dragged with explosives. Compulsive dysfunction, little children, barricaded blocks and borders, look what you taught us. It’s homicide on my road, your road, again streets, Wall Avenue.”
Not like many mainstream artists, Lamar appears to have mastered the fragile steadiness between industrial success and politically charged content material. His genius lies in his capacity to put in writing songs that transcend race, gender and sophistication.
At a time when the nation grapples with efforts to dismantle variety, fairness and inclusion practices, and as company energy continues to go unchecked, conversations about race and inequality stay on the fore.
Lamar has by no means hesitated to confront uncomfortable truths via his music. He has a singular alternative to merge artwork, activism and a critique of the nation. I count on this second shall be no exception.
Will you be pulling up? I’ll.
The Dialog is an unbiased and nonprofit supply of stories, evaluation and commentary from educational consultants.This text is republished from The Dialog beneath a Artistic Commons license. Learn the unique article right here: https://theconversation.com/kendrick-lamars-big-super-bowl-moment-247976.
