Super Bowl Halftime Perspective – Symbolism And Hidden Messages

Before I begin, I just wanna say that this podcast is my opinion and for entertainment purposes only. These aren’t hard facts. Do your own research to connect the dots.

It’s funny. If you know me, you know I used to do all of my own reviews for every single music award show. Literally, I never missed a single one.

But nowadays, I barely can recognize who is nominated because I don’t even really listen to pop radio anymore. My Spotify list has, like, three out of my top artists as Christian artists, with Brandon Lake coming in at number one. Can’t say enough about him. Fantastic.

Also on that list, ironically enough, for this week’s podcast episode is Drake, but we’ll dive more into that in a bit.

Super Bowl Advertising Themes

First, I wanna touch on the overall theme I noticed throughout the Super Bowl, which was marketing to the viewership’s patriotism. It isn’t lost on these companies that going woke makes you go broke. With the shackles of DEI being released, the ads were back to their wholesome nature for the most part.

Whether it was the classic Budweiser ads with the Clydesdale horses, supporting girls in sports with the Dove commercial. Don’t get me started on Nike. They they’re talking out of both sides of the mouth there. You you’re having this woman empowerment ad, but you also were having Dylan Mulvaney on your social media.

So, anyway or other ads that were supporting the American dream. One I recall was that little girl planting her own potato spud and watching them grow into the potato to go into the Lay’s potato chips. But I did find it ironic that ads like that. Right? Like, we’re we’re doing American Dream, but we’re promoting potato chips with seed oils.

Or we have Hims and Hers. You know, they really laid into the whole Make America Healthy movement, but then they use their GLP ones as the solution to it. So we had commercials for Dunkin’ Donuts, which I thought were really strange, Doritos, etcetera.

I mean, we literally and Pringles. So we had flying eyebrows, flying mustaches. I feel like it was the same marketing teams on all of these. And then the solution was weight loss drugs. Okay.

So today is the day, just so you know, when I’m recording this, that let’s pray that the Senate confirms RFK Jr, and hopefully we can see changes on all of these fronts.

Let’s Dive Into The Halftime Show

All right, Moving on to the halftime show. So I discussed this on Super Bowl night on my Instagram stories because I knew people would be coming out of the woodwork either to ask me what I thought.

I mean, I literally received texts right afterwards from people or people the next day just reiterating what those of us had originally said, like, no original thought. And I always like being a leader and a thought provoking person.

Like, I wanna be one of the first. I don’t wanna seem like I’m just copying what people are saying. So I was like, I gotta get on here even in my pajamas and looking like a hot mess.

And the following day, I had people messaging me saying, oh my gosh. You were right. But let’s break it down because I do feel like a lot of people missed the messaging of Kendrick Lamar’s halftime Super Bowl performance.

And I get it. If you’re not into hip hop, then a lot of this definitely went right over your head.

Understanding the Context: A Clash of Titans

But it’s bigger than a rap beef between two hip hop artists. So first of all, who’s beefing? Drake and Kendrick Lamar. The two of them used to be collaborating on songs with one another, but then in 2013, this beef, quote, unquote, started.

And it’s definitely escalated specifically in the last year. I’m not gonna dive into that whole timeline. You can research it if you want. I wanna instead, like, focus on the present and this specific halftime performance.

So first of all, I need to say I commend Kendrick’s artistry. Whether you agree with it or not, you know, you have to applaud him because the symbolism he used, the little things that he weaved in, it it was fantastic.

Now my friends call me Nancy Drew, in case you didn’t know. Now you know.

And this whole performance to me felt like one big puzzle that I felt like I was putting together. I’ve watched it multiple times, including, again, this morning, my daughter was like, mama, I wanna watch this.

And now she’s watching church music, but balance. And I’ve done even more research on it. I’ve been listening to other people’s insights, and I wanna share a few schools of thought that I’ve pulled out from my own thinking and evaluation, and also, like, some other people who I was like, okay. Yeah. That’s that’s definitely spot on too.

And before I continue, I wanna say that I’m very well aware that I will never know what it’s like to be a black American.

Many of the symbols, the subtleties, etcetera, alluded to blacks being oppressed and being used as pawns and entertainment for the elites, for white America. And I just wanna note that, like, I understand that I’m never going to understand.

I just wanna put that out there. And I’ve seen the entire spectrum in the last forty eight hours since the performance, from people saying it was awful, worst halftime show ever, to these, like, white privileged folks gaslighting themselves and being self self deprecating saying things like, I can’t believe I had to have this spelled out to me.

Like, you know, the ignorance that they’ve had. And then you also have people from the black community saying things like, if you feel so oppressed performing on the Super Bowl stage and then living in America, then leave.

And, you know, I guess that’s how I feel in a way too, not so much like, then leave, like, if it was only that easy. Right?

But I do question why we highlight oppression versus growth. And I always wonder that just in life. Like, I I have a very hard time surrounding myself with people who just constantly live in the past and don’t focus on the present or, you know, forget even the future, just like the present.

Like, these people who remember when or, you know, that friend you hang out with that, you know, still thinks you’re 21 years old or I just I’m very much a growth mindset person, so it’s very hard for me to relate in general.

And, obviously, something like this, I’m never going to be able to relate to as a white female. But let’s just move on from this. Right? Like so I wanna first and foremost say kudos to Kendrick for striking a chord with everyone in some way, whether you liked it, you didn’t, you didn’t understand it, your eyes are opening, whatever.

Drake vs. Kendrick – Their rivalry adds an extra layer of tension and intrigue to the performance.

Speaking of chords, the biggest line in the whole show was a minor. You could literally hear the whole stadium screaming.

Someone should probably check on Drake after that moment. The quote from the song is, why you trolling like a, b i t c h, ain’t you tired trying to strike a chord? It’s probably a minor. Okay. So let’s talk a minor.

It’s been alluded to that Drake is a I don’t even know if I can say this because Kendrick couldn’t even say it on the the Super Bowl, but maybe he was afraid of, like, getting sued again because he’s like, right now, there’s a a whole big lawsuit against this song, but it is very much well known at this point, specifically with the P. Diddy case, that a lot of Hollywood are pedophiles.

That’s a story for another conversation. But so you had the minor reference there, plus there were people flying flags that you didn’t really see too too much on on camera.

They they cut away from it. But they were flying flags and there were two a little boy and a little girl, and they were reaching up for that a minor key. So a minor is a piano key, you know, that you would be singing in, right, and writing music in.

So they were reaching up for it. Kendrick was wearing an iced out a minor chain, and this is very interesting. If you didn’t know this, A-minor is the simplest key to sing in, and Drake is known to sing a lot of his hit songs in this.

So, basically, by saying that too and and referencing that, so here’s two pieces to it. One is that’s like saying, Drake, you’re a beginner.

You’re a nobody. Like, you’re a wannabe singer. You’re not a true artist. Right? Because you choose the basic, the low level to sing your songs in.

On top of that, A-minor is all white keys. So once again, this is going back to the division. Right? White versus black. You have Kendrick Lamar, who is a symbol of black culture, comes from Compton, California, and then you have and Kendrick has no problem doing this and calling, Drake this.

You know, Drake’s legal name is Aubrey. And so he definitely calls him out and calls him Aubrey a lot. He’s half black, and he’s half white and Jewish, comes from an affluent family, all things.

So there’s a lot of references just within that A-minor. And I will say one of my favorite parts of the performance was when Kendrick calls out Drake in this song, They Not Like Us, and he in the beginning, he they dropped the beat, and he says that he wants to perform it.

He doesn’t name the title, and he says, quote, they like to sue. I mean, he does ultimately end up performing the song, though. Now first of all okay.

Super Bowl Performance Context

So I know a lot of people were questioning, like, why was Kendrick Lamar chosen and not Lil Wayne, aka Weezy? Because Lil Wayne is from New Orleans, which is where the Super Bowl was played, and he also has a new album dropping, June 6. Happy birthday to me.

And, you know, Jay Z and his company, Roc Nation, they are the ones who ultimately choose who performs at the Super Bowl. And he puts together a list of prospects, and then the committee will choose who they want to perform from there.

And, supposedly, Weezy was said to be on that list, but Kendrick ended up winning out. Now I do think it was nice to have someone who is already having a hot year perform. I mean, so many years in the past, it’s like wannabes. Right? Like, the has beens.

Like, just so outdated with their songs. I mean, yeah. Like, Usher was great in the day, but, like, how relevant is he today? You know? So it’s great for, I guess, you could say the target audience, if you will.

Like, they knew more of Usher songs versus Kendrick. But, I mean, Kendrick won five Grammys this year alone. So I just I thought that was nice to switch it up to. Now, like I said, the traditional, if you will, audience who watches the Super Bowl, they I don’t believe that they listen to his music.

But I did speak to lots of people who don’t really know Kendrick and his music, and they actually enjoyed the performance.

Like, I did a poll on my Instagram to ask people, and majority said they either liked it or they didn’t even mind it. You know, they didn’t care either way. Now I want you to also think about how challenging the Super Bowl performance is. There are a lot of moving parts.

And a fun fact about Weezy, Lil Wayne, is that he never writes down his lyrics for a song. So, like, when he records a song, he is just going in the booth and freestyling. He doesn’t write down his lyrics. So even before a concert or a performance, let’s say, like, whatever, a Grammys or whatever, he will have his team print out the lyrics to his song, and he memorizes them again like he has, like, that crazy didactic memory that I truly believe my daughter has, and then he performs.

So now, though, I want you to imagine how difficult that would be when you’re on TV’s largest stage. Like I said, there’s so many moving parts. They they put this together, like, a year in advance and start putting it in in place. Like, I just think that that would have probably been too difficult. I don’t know. That could have played a factor. I don’t know. I’m just speculating.

More Hidden Clues and Symbolism

Okay. So let’s talk about some more hidden clues. So a big one was that the stage was set up like a PlayStation game controller. I saw many, quote unquote, truthers out there, which whatever. They’re entitled to their interpretation. I’m entitled to mine.

They’re like, oh, so those were 5G towers that they were sitting on, or he had a triangle like the Illuminati symbol. It’s like people.

No. The stage was set up to look like a prison yard, like where they do their rec time. Once again, that is leading back to the black Americans as slaves and then also currently being enslaved to the system.

Then, like, when you panned out, you could see the bigger picture of the game controller. And Kendrick, he took it next level, though. Okay. So not only did he have the game controller, right, with the buttons. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. But he performed in them in a particular order, which I think is wild. Like and he also he had them light up in a in this particular order. Right? So he had the code, stay with me now.

This I this, I wouldn’t know except I saw someone talk about this because I’m not a gamer, but I did definitely recognize it was a game controller. I’m not that, you know, naive. I did have those game systems and consoles when I grew up.

He had the the code “square, x, circle, square, triangle, x, circle, square, circle, square” which in the game GTA is typically used to activate the cheat for “full health and armor”; essentially making your character fully realed and with maximum armor. Meaning, Drake, you can’t touch me.

So essentially, it makes your character fully healed and with maximum armor. So to me, like, that’s saying, Drake, you can’t touch me. At one point, he also had Drake’s supposed former ex girlfriend, Serena Williams. This was during They Not Like Us. She was crip walking in the x camera view, so where the x symbol was.

Few things on that. Serena is from Compton herself. So, you know, paying homage to where they’re from. And I did think it was savage that Kendrick had her out there. He’s, like, wicked petty. But, you know, having her also, like, in the X symbol, right, as Drake’s ex. But I do agree with the likes of Stephen A. Smith who commented, like, Serena, homie, like, you’re married. You have a child. Like, why are you still giving attention to your ex?

Not only that, but Venus and Serena’s half sister was killed in a drive by shooting in 02/2003. So, like, why are we continuously glorifying gang culture? Right?

The X reference also alluded to the rumors that Drake was involved with the murder of the rapper XXXtentacions.

Kendrick sings the song Peekaboo while on the X – the lines are:

“Peekaboo, how’d you put them boogers in my chain? Peekaboo, 80 pointers, like a Kobe game Peekaboo, 7.62s I’ll make ’em plank Peekaboo, poppin’ out, you better not smoke my name Peekaboo, put two foreigns on the 405”

Now, okay. So in that song, the Kobe reference is put 81 points on Toronto, so Kobe Bryant playing against the Toronto Raptors.

Drake’s from Toronto. The murder site of X was near the Florida State Road 405, so he says put two foreigns on the 405. And he also says, you better not smoke my name, meaning, like, you killed him, you didn’t kill me. I’m telling you, the the the symbolism was everywhere.

And, you know, like I said, I’m seeing so many different opinions and I heard a lot of people saying like, oh, I appreciate the patriotism with the American flag and all the red, white, and blue. But folks, like, as much as you want to believe it was a positive thing, which at the end of this episode, I’ll give you a quote from someone that I did agree with.

But, like, I really do believe a lot of it was a big middle finger to America.

First of all, you have Samuel L Jackson as Uncle Sam. So Uncle Sam, you know, same initials United States. Right? He is a common national personification, if you will, of The United States.

So he depicts the federal government and the country as a whole. So here you have Samuel L. Jackson, who politically has endorsed Obama and Kamala Harris. In a 2008 interview he did with Ebony magazine, he fully admitted that he voted for Obama because he’s black, and not necessarily because he agreed with his political beliefs. Like, enough said. Right? Okay? Just gives you an idea of, like, why he was chosen.

The red, white, and blue also signified gang culture. So you have Bloods versus Crips. And also, when they went on stage, if you notice, so when they formed the American flag, Kendrick stood in the middle and and the flag was divided multiple times.

Like, it was split down the middle. Once again, that’s leaning into the division of America specifically with this piece, like, like, with race. And like I said, there’s a lot of different posts out there, and I really believe that perspective is everything.

And there are a lot of different viewpoints circulating, whether it’s on TikTok, Instagram, heck, this podcast. And I think, like anything, like, what you see is what you believe.

And so, therefore, you have people putting this perspective out there, and it’s really based upon, like, what they think, you know, like, on what they’re feeling. So that’s how they’re going to interpret it. Right?

So, for example, you had some people saying, like, okay. They’re showing the American flag and it’s, you know, all black dancers that’s symbolizing that the American flag America was built on the backs of black people. You have Samuel L. Jackson as his Uncle Sam saying things like, Kendrick, you’re too loud, too reckless, too ghetto. Do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up.

And those words, right, loud, reckless, ghetto, like, those are things that the black community are constantly accused of, quote, unquote, being or, you know, that’s how they’re described.

Right? And that’s why Samuel was saying, like, don’t you know how to play the game? Like, basically, like, you know and I do believe this in my heart of hearts. Like, I do believe as a culture, the black community is used for entertainment purposes by the elites.

And I did see one post that I agreed with that said the performance was not about white people. It was about the people who control the media and the labels who create divide. But, ultimately, if you look at the root of that, who’s controlling the media? Who’s controlling these record labels? Right?

Like, it’s not people from India. It’s not people from China. Right? There’s a specific group that is.

Now there was also mention of the Squid Games, which I don’t personally watch.

Freaks me out. I understand the concept of the show, so it’s a game that’s literally a matter of life or death. And I will say two things we do know. Like, many rappers have been killed, and we also know, if you know, you know, that there are also many stories about how elites will literally hunt for people for sport.

And so the symbolism of the Squid Games throughout this performance is kinda putting the two together. Like, rappers beefing, then they get killed, and then the media benefits from their deaths. Like, think about Biggie. Right? I mean, Biggie was a great rapper, but at the end of the day, he shot to fame even more so and who profited off of his death.

Right? Other rappers did. The music industry did. It it’s crazy. And so, like I said, it won’t take you too long to do your research on who really owns the music industry and profits off of it.

And so I can definitely side with what this person was saying.

You may not know some of these artists I am talking about but the “system” allows Drake to push the Sexxxy Redd to taint the culture and empowers him, but hurts the value of the Black Woman. Sexxxy Redd has songs like Pound Town, Hood Rats and Looking for the Hoes. Need I say more?

So Kendrick brought out SZA and, you know, as a black woman, she didn’t have to be half naked on display for the whole world, and she was able to just let her voice shine. And as a parent, I will say, like, I was super appreciative of that.

I can’t tell you how many Super Bowls I’ve had to shield the eyes of my daughter or I’ve felt, like, super awkward around my parents, like, just people shaking it, like, wearing no clothes.

Like, it’s gross. Now leading up to that so he he went he was calm and cool, and, like, Samuel Jackson was like, yes. That’s what the American people want. You know? Meaning, like, they don’t they don’t want the ghetto.

They don’t want the loud. They don’t want the ratchet. But then, then he flips it, and then he goes into two of his, like, two of my favorite songs of his, honestly. They go he goes into They Not Like Us and Turn the TV Off.

And but before he goes into it, Kendrick says, quote, it’s a cultural divide. I’m a get in on the floor. 40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than music. Yeah. They tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence.

So I love how we mentioned about rigging the game, but that like I said, that’s a whole another topic there too. Now in case you don’t know what the 40 acres and a mule is, it’s a phrase that refers to the promise made to formally enslaved African Americans after the civil war.

So it’s the promise of providing land and resources to help freed people become economically self sufficient. So once again, making reference to this division and and race.

Then he ended his set with his song TV Off, which is what I believe we all need to do. And I did see I wanna share this.

This is a quote I saw from Derek Harper senior, who is an influential black entrepreneur and coach.

And he said, quote,

“Okay, America. He was showing patriotism. How about instead of wanting to leave the country, we have the same patriotism and treat it like it’s ours? We, meaning the black people, did build it. Why not celebrate what you built? Now, let’s kill the system that has all of us fighting. And instead of loving and uniting to see what’s being done, take pride in what we built. It’s ours too. I mean, the system knew if they could get you hating it, you won’t stand for it, creating more division from those who do stand for it.”

So, I mean, that’s like a mic drop moment right there.

Like and I couldn’t agree with him more. Like I said, I believe all of us as a country need to come together, no matter what the race, the creed, because I’ve always said it’s us versus them. And, yeah, they not like us.

Like the elites, they’ve made it very clear that we’re not like them, but there’s more of us versus them, and I believe that we need to stand up together.

So at the end of the performance, the screen popped up like a typical game and said, game over.

Listen, the fact that we continue to perpetuate this divide truly is preventing us from moving forward together as a country. You could say the fact that a lot of people thought this halftime show was boring, awful, etcetera, or straight up missed the mark is the exact reason why we are where we are too. I see both sides of it.

You know, some people just continue to put their heads in the sand. You know, we need to get our heads out. We’re not ostriches. Right? And we need to move forward in unity because truly we are more alike than not.

I saw another I think it was an Instagram reel of this black woman. She she pops up on my feed quite a lot. And she was saying, like, the oppression is about the working class. Right? It’s the elites are trying to destroy us.

And like Kendrick says, yeah, they not like us, but the truth is it’s not about race. It’s about power and money and influence. It’s the elites versus us. And we we, the people, need to say game over. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode.

I hope I know there’s so many other nuances to it, but I hope I gave you a a broader stroke and but also gave you some of those details of the imagery that was put on display in the Super Bowl.

I know I probably missed a few things, but I really did appreciate his performance, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode.