OK, an explainer from Slate about the KL/Drake thing that I was only vaguely aware of in the first place ...
"...
The world was waiting with bated breath to see if Kendrick Lamar—who has been embroiled in a
months-long beef with rapper Drake—would perform “Not Like Us” during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. Why wouldn’t he perform the
five-time Grammy-winning blockbuster hit of his career on the country’s biggest televised stage? Well, because the Drake-targeted banger essentially accuses the Canadian rapper of being a pedophile, an attack so vicious that it led to Drake filing
a defamation suit against Universal Music Group—the label that has licensing agreements with
both Drake and Lamar—last month.
While some legal analysts
doubted that Lamar would perform the contentious song, and fans hoped that he would, the “Humble” rapper proved he was anything
but by taunting audiences on the matter on Sunday night. Instead of verbally burning a Drake effigy for 12 minutes straight, Lamar decided to do what he does best: use his stadium-sized platform to deliver a political message when America needs it most. During Black History Month, with Donald Trump of all people in the audience, Lamar called out the streak of anti-Blackness that pervades this country’s past and present. All while, yes, viewers were on the edge of their seats waiting to hear the infamous lyric “certified lover boy, certified pedophile.”
With actor Samuel L. Jackson acting as “Uncle Sam,” Lamar performed some of the hits from his most recent album
GNX—“gnx”; “Squabble Up”—alongside background dancers dressed in red, white, and blue. Between song transitions, he rattled off phrases like the “revolution [is] about to be televised,” and protested racism through defiance, continuing on as Jackson’s “Uncle Sam” interrupted his—in Jackson’s character’s words—“too ghetto” display. Instead of backing down, Lamar had his background dancers get into a color-coordinated formation that created an American flag as he launched into his hits “Humble” and “DNA.”
But Lamar was well aware of what we all
really wanted to see, an elephant in the room that he spoke to directly with a callout of Drake during his first tease of “Not Like Us”: “I wanna perform they favorite song but you know they love to sue.” He then pivoted, introducing his frequent collaborator SZA to perform the more melodic song “All the Stars.” It wasn’t until Uncle Sam’s next retort—“That’s what America wants: nice, calm”—that Lamar, characteristically defiant, turned it all the way up.
Because you know what America
actually wants? Feet on necks! A takedown so absolute, it’s awe-inspiring! Pure hateration
and holleration in this dancery! America wants rap, hip-hop, and alllllll the grade-A beef. Kendrick asserted that the political message he’s trying to imbue in his performance is bigger than Drake’s hurt feelings—stating, “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music”—before launching into, at long last, his actual performance of “Not Like Us.” At the end of the day, Lamar said Drake’s name and the famous “A minor” line, but refrained from saying the word “pedophile” at the most-watched event on TV. ..."
Lamar gave us “Not Like Us,” but also a much-needed dose of something else.
slate.com
As I noted before, I watched it with the sound down and got a dystopian vibe from just the visuals, but that kind of thing can be deceiving.