It’s Not About Us: Reflections on Kendrick Lamar’s Tremendous Bowl Halftime Present

Yearly, the Tremendous Bowl halftime present sparks conversations, debates, and polarizing reactions. This yr was no completely different with Kendrick Lamar taking the stage. I braced myself for the inevitable wave of criticism, significantly from older audiences who wrestle to attach with fashionable artists. And sadly, a lot of this criticism appears disproportionately aimed toward Black artists like Lamar—and rap music generally.

Wanting previous Lamar’s efficiency for a second, it’s value noting that such criticism truly reveals a major difficulty in our tradition: we see so many issues, music included, by way of a consumerist lens. As a substitute of seeing music as an artwork type that invitations us into one other individual’s expertise, we decide it based mostly on what it does for us. We ask, “Does it entertain us? Can we get pleasure from it? Can we agree with its message?” This mindset isn’t distinctive to music, however reasonably, is deeply embedded in how we work together with all the things, even the church. Folks typically consider sermons and worship experiences based mostly on how a lot they “acquired out” of them reasonably than in the event that they have been challenged or formed by God’s Phrase.

Music, like all artwork, asks us to withstand this consumerist strategy. It asks us to step exterior of ourselves and have interaction with one other individual’s actuality. It’s not nearly being entertained, but in addition about seeing the world by way of another person’s eyes. Music, in its essence, is a deeply communal and relational expertise, and after we cut back it to mere private enjoyment, we strip it of a lot depth and that means. Which brings us again to Lamar’s efficiency.

Judging with Equal Measure

A typical motive individuals reject rap music is the language or imagery utilized in its lyrics. And sure, it’s true—some rap lyrics are dehumanizing and comprise language that I wouldn’t need my kids repeating. Nonetheless, dismissing a complete style due to this implies lacking the deeper context of its songs. Music is commonly an expression of lived expertise, wrestle, ache, and typically lament. It tells tales that may in any other case go unheard. 

With books, we frequently learn narratives about troublesome, even brutal realities. In terms of music, nonetheless, we’re fast to dismiss songs that make us uncomfortable. Discomfort, nonetheless, generally is a highly effective instructor. As a substitute of asking, “Do I wish to repeat this music to my youngsters?,” maybe we must always ask, “What is that this music attempting to say? What expertise is it highlighting? What story does it inform?”

Music has typically served as a automobile for social commentary and alter. People songs advised tales of hardship and triumph. Gospel music emerged from the depths of struggling whereas carrying the hope of deliverance. Protest songs from the Civil Rights period turned anthems of change. Rap continues this custom, serving as a modern-day storytelling medium that sheds mild on social injustice, financial disparity, and the realities of city life. Rap has at all times been a style that calls for consideration. It forces listeners to confront troublesome truths and have interaction with views they could in any other case ignore. 

Many who critique rap music don’t apply the identical commonplace to different genres. There are rock, pop, and nation songs with themes and lyrics that I wouldn’t need my youngsters listening to, but these songs are usually extra extensively accepted. Willie Nelson and Kacey Musgraves brazenly rejoice marijuana and extreme alcoholism. KISS constructed their whole model on intercourse, partying, and cash, with Gene Simmons boasting about sleeping with over 4,000 ladies. These musicians have glorified intercourse, medicine, and cash for many years, however they’re celebrated as rebellious artists and cultural icons. When rappers inform comparable tales—typically from real-life experiences reasonably than simply fantasy—they’re accused of being unhealthy influences, selling crime, and missing creative worth. This proves the bias isn’t about content material—it’s about who’s telling the story and which tradition is being represented.

Even the Bible comprises elements that I wouldn’t learn to my youngsters at a younger age. The Apostle Paul typically used sturdy language in his letters to drive his factors house (Philippians 3:8). David wrote psalms that referred to as for justice, even asking that his enemies’ kids be left fatherless and their wives grow to be widows (Psalm 109). The prophet Jeremiah condemned the wickedness of Israel and Judah, likening their unfaithfulness to that of a prostitute (Jeremiah 3:2). Lastly, Isaiah used the hanging imagery of a garment stained with menstrual blood to explain human righteousness (Isaiah 64:6).

Language may be highly effective, and in some circumstances, even cursing may be much less about dehumanizing others and extra about expressing deep lament and grief. Such surprising language and imagery doesn’t robotically connote a scarcity of worth. Slightly, it may imply that maturity is required to completely grasp their that means.

The expectation, due to this fact, that sure artists should current their work in a means that’s “palatable” to mainstream audiences can result in the elimination of cultural authenticity and aesthetic energy. Rap, specifically, is a uncooked and unfiltered type of expression, capturing the realities of life in ways in which extra polished and sanitized artwork varieties can’t. To dismiss it solely is to silence voices that must be heard.

Rap’s Energy as Artwork

Kendrick Lamar’s halftime present exemplified the facility of rap as an artwork type. His music selections, the inclusion of Samuel L. Jackson as a commentator, and the very nature of his efficiency highlighted how rap is commonly met with resistance in mainstream America. Satirically, the backlash to his efficiency solely proves his level. The controversy wasn’t nearly his efficiency; it was a mirrored image of the precise cultural rigidity that he uncovered. Folks’s criticism revealed that even when rap is on the heart of mainstream tradition, it’s nonetheless handled as an outsider that should conform or be silenced.

Rap, at its greatest, is poetry. It’s storytelling. It’s social commentary. Many individuals don’t even notice that Lamar gained a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for his lyrical and creative excellence, an acknowledgment that his work isn’t just music however literature, as effectively. To see him take the Tremendous Bowl stage was not nearly leisure; it was a cultural second that must be acknowledged for its significance. 

Kendrick Lamar’s efficiency is a reminder that we should acknowledge the broader societal impression of rap. Not solely has it formed vogue, language, and even politics, however rap has performed a pivotal position in social justice actions, activism, and cultural id. From Tupac Shakur’s prophetic reflections on systemic oppression to Lamar’s personal modern-day critiques of racial injustice, rap has constantly held up a mirror to society, demanding accountability, amplifying long-ignored voices, and offering a way of unity amongst those that resonate with its messages.

A New Technique to Hear

Clearly, not everybody must get pleasure from rap music. Musical choice is private. However we do have to discover ways to respect artwork past our preferences. We should always hear not only for a catchy beat however for the message behind the lyrics, as effectively.

After I watched Kendrick Lamar’s halftime present, I noticed an artist who was unafraid to make use of his platform to problem narratives and specific his expertise. He turned the world’s greatest stage right into a daring assertion about race, creative freedom, and business politics. By addressing societal opposition to rap, calling out business feuds, and that includes Serena Williams as a logo of empowerment, he redefined what a halftime present may very well be. Extra than simply leisure, Lamar’s efficiency pressured a dialog that nobody had ever dared to carry to this stage.

And although not everybody will get pleasure from his music, all of us have the chance to strategy it with an open thoughts, to hear deeply, and to hunt to glimpse the world by way of the lens of another person’s actuality. That is the invitation supplied by all nice artwork—not simply to be entertained, however to have our views expanded. The query is, will we settle for that invitation?

Might we take to coronary heart the phrases of James, the brother of Jesus, as we attempt to replicate Christ in these divisive instances: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let each individual be fast to listen to, sluggish to talk, sluggish to anger” (James 1:19).