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\n\u201cThe revolution\u2019s about to be televised,\u201d Lamar announced early on. But, he added, \u201cYou picked the right time but the wrong guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
FEBRUARY 10, 2025 (TheAtlantic.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Super Bowl halftime show is an opportunity for big, dumb fun: explosions, laser shows, left sharks<\/a>. But big<\/em>, dumb<\/em> fun<\/em> isn\u2019t Kendrick Lamar\u2019s thing. The 37-year-old Los Angeles rapper and Pulitzer Prize winner<\/a> prefers subtlety, smarts, and fun that\u2019s tinged by danger and unease. Amid tough, tense circumstances, he put on a tough, tense\u2014and quite satisfying\u2014show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event framed itself in self conscious terms. \u201cThis is the great American game,\u201d Samuel L. Jackson, dressed as Uncle Sam, announced at the start. He probably wasn\u2019t just referring to football. Lamar himself was about to run a familiar artistic gauntlet: the struggle to keep one\u2019s integrity intact while entertaining the masses. The stage was set up in a tic-tac-toe design, and Jackson popped up at various other times to score the proceedings. Lamar rapped with intense focus, nailing every bit of elegantly herky-jerky choreography. But his face also conveyed anxiety, even fear. We knew that he knew he was being watched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the people watching was Donald Trump, in attendance in New Orleans as a brief break from upending the federal government<\/a>. Lamar is widely seen as the social conscience<\/a> of his generation of rappers, and he knew he was expected to make a statement of some sort. \u201cThe revolution\u2019s about to be televised,\u201d Lamar announced early on. But, he added, \u201cYou picked the right time but the wrong guy.\u201d One possible meaning: I\u2019m not your revolutionary<\/em>. It\u2019s the same message he\u2019s repeatedly conveyed on his albums over the years<\/a>, replying to onlookers who want him to be more of a messiah than a musician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Spencer Kornhaber<\/a>Follow<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spencer Kornhaber<\/a> is a staff writer at The Atlantic<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The rapper insists he\u2019s a musician, not a messiah\u2014a message reinforced by his Super Bowl performance. By Spencer Kornhaber \u201cThe revolution\u2019s about to be televised,\u201d Lamar announced early on. But, he added, \u201cYou picked the right time but the wrong guy.\u201d FEBRUARY 10, 2025 (TheAtlantic.com) The Super Bowl halftime show is… Continue reading