This past Sunday was the Super Bowl, and it was an interesting game to say the least–at least the Halftime Show was. As someone who’s not interested in sports, I sat lazily on my couch wearing my “go sports!” shirt and trying to decipher the different calls the referee was making. Was the player hurt? Banned from football forever? All was lost on me. But what wasn’t lost on me was the Halftime Show.
Kendrick Lamar, coupled with SZA, gave a mesmerizing 13 minute and 25 second performance that contained beautiful imagery with patriotic influences. I have watched many Halftime Shows, but this one stuck with me. It felt more like an art display than a Halftime Show.
Lamar began his performance with a teaser from an unreleased song before moving to “Squabble Up.” He then sang one of his highest-charting songs, “Humble,” with “DNA” following that. “Euphoria,” “Man at the Garden” and “Peekaboo” followed before SZA came out and joined Lamar. Together they sang “Luther” and “All the Stars,” the latter of which was nominated for best original song from “Black Panther” at the 2019 Oscars.
Then, at the height of his performance, Lamar broke out in “Not Like Us” which took the world by storm last year as it was one of the diss tracks towards Drake that Lamar released. The stadium erupted in cheers once the opening notes played, and the crowd even joined in at some of the most infamous lines. “Not Like Us” recently won Kendrick Lamar five Grammys including Song and Record of the Year.
I was on my 12th hot honey wing when the Halftime Show came on and a throng of red, white and blue graced my TV. I dropped the wing in my hand, closed my Instagram and sat up in my seat. I was mesmerized as I witnessed a sea of background dancers take the stage and swarm around Lamar as he began his performance.
Aside from his poetic lyrics, Lamar’s performance was an art piece in and of itself. Samuel L. Jackson narrated the show as he portrayed Uncle Sam, donning a star-spangled top hat that was reminiscent of the iconic “I Want You” army recruitment posters. I’m someone who appreciates the underlying message and artistic composition of a performance, which is what this year’s Halftime Show exemplified.
On her thoughts on the performance, Demi Totah ’25 shared, “I think that Kendrick definitely ended the beef. It was so cool of him to smile at the camera when he addressed Drake in “Not Like Us.” My only critique would be that the show felt more like it was meant for TV than for a live performance. I overall thought that the dancing and music was really good.”
Vanessa Galicia, mom of Royal Reporter’s very own Adreanna Esquivias ’25, had thoughts on Lamar’s performance: “It was interesting to me because it had a political message. I also think it is admirable that he does what he needs to do for the sake of his art.”
I have since lost count of the number of times I have watched this halftime performance. No other Halftime Show has captivated me this much.
