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Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kendrick Lamar's unlikely journey to Super Bowl halftime headliner
At the 2016 Grammy Awards, as the cry 'Black Lives Matter' was still reverberating across the world, hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar, who took home five Grammys that night, used a masterful performance to call out America's history of racial violence. He appeared chained outside a prison cell before leading a chain gang to the center of the stage. His performance of 'The Blacker the Berry,' where he was accompanied by Black warrior women dancing around him, was followed by 'Alright,' the unofficial anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement with its powerful mantra 'We gon' be alright!' It's not easy to put together a meaty stage performance that leaves people talking, but the Compton-born Kendrick has masterfully met the challenge throughout his career. Not only did he stand out at the 2016 Grammys, but he also shined in a performance with Beyoncé at the 2016 BET Awards and again at the 2018 Grammys with U2 and comedian Dave Chappelle. What's remarkable is that an artist whose work is so deeply political and who hasn't chased pop stardom was picked as the artist for Sunday night's Super Bowl. It would have been far easier to imagine Drake, the perennial hitmaker who's the subject of Kendrick's ubiquitous Grammy-winning diss track 'Not Like Us,' being picked for the Super Bowl halftime stage. But Kendrick comes from a particular tradition of MCs who have achieved commercial success while opposing America's racist machine. It's likely that Jay-Z, executive producer of the NFL halftime performances and entertainment strategist, intentionally chose Kendrick because of his opposition to anti-Blackness, a stance Jay-Z has consistently taken. In fact, Jay-Z joined forces with the NFL to contribute to the league's activism campaign called Inspire Change, which addresses criminal justice reform, educational outgrowth and police reform. 'Kendrick Lamar is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer,' Jay-Z said in a press release. 'Kendrick's work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come.' Kendrick appeared on the national scene in 2011 with his debut album, 'Section.80.' Much like Jay-Z's early music did, Kendrick's criticized Reaganomics for its role in institutional racism, and shaping the self-hate, nihilism and drug culture seen in his neighborhood. While 'Section.80' was regarded as a solid debut album, it was Kendrick's 2012 album 'good kid, m.A.A.d city' (GKMC) that cast him into the best-rapper-alive conversations. Subtitled 'A Short Film by Kendrick Lamar,' GKMC is one of the greatest conceptual albums. The events he raps about — witnessing a friend's murder, breaking into someone's home, being passed PCP-laced marijuana — take place in one day. The events on GKMC mirror actual events in Kendrick's life: witnessing two murders, being shot at, experiencing two raids by the Los Angeles Police Department and being beaten by a crew of teenagers in front of his mother. The commercial success continued with his 2015 album, 'To Pimp a Butterfly,' where he metaphorically tells the story of America pimping Black men for their artistic talent. His commercial success peaked with the 2017 release of 'DAMN.,' where he wrestles with faith in God and America. 'DAMN.,' which won the Pulitzer Prize for music, the first recording that was not jazz or classical to do so, solidified Kendrick's place in hip-hop as a lyricist and performer who can deliver politically charged messages in a digestible manner. Jay-Z choosing Kendrick to perform before millions of viewers speaks to Kendrick's ability to tell stories about racism, politics, religion and DEI for a mass audience. This is not an easy feat to accomplish. When asked by Apple Music commentators Ebro Darden and Nadeska Alexis in a Wednesday news conference what to expect during his Super Bowl LIX performance, Kendrick said, 'I think I've always been very open about storytelling throughout all of my catalog and my history of music. And I've always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage. I've always had a form of that sense of making people listen, but also see and think a little.' Kendrick's masterful storytelling put him at a distance from other hip-hop artists. The 37-year-old rapper's genius is his ability to use his experiences to critique — and negotiate — America's oppressive machine. Stories told on records like 'Keisha's Song,' 'Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst' and 'Black Boy Fly,' among others, bring to life the day-to-day experiences of mostly poor Black people living in neglected neighborhoods. Kendrick's storytelling isn't limited to songs and conceptual albums. As he's shown, his stage performances are just as evocative. During the 2016 BET Awards performance with Beyoncé, he again called out America's wrongdoing. While running through the lyrics to their collaboration, 'Freedom,' a song from Beyoncé's album 'Lemonade,' the stage methodically flooded with water, fire and smoke, alluding to the residue of war. In the 2018 Grammys performance, he called out America's hypocrisy for its conflicting ideals of freedom and violence while performing his song 'ELEMENT.' We see on that video an American flag flying in the background, and after he raps the first verse, the song abruptly ends with a gunshot. We see dancers dressed in army fatigues as Kendrick raps through the second verse, which also ends abruptly with a gunshot. Chappelle appears onstage to say that an honest Black man can be frightening to America. By the end of the performance, dancers, dressed in blood-red bodysuits, all fall down at the sound of gunshots. With each gunshot sound, Kendrick called out a term: integrity, job, children, land, preacher, brother, feelings, morals, comfort, culture, neighbor and equality. Kendrick isn't the same performer he was in 2018. He's much better. During his 2023 'Big Steppers' tour, promoting his fifth studio album, 'Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,' the 20-time Grammy winner used a piano, a white silhouette, beams of light and the voice of British actress Helen Mirren to tell the story of someone working through addictions, distractions and fruitless passions. Kendrick cannot separate his experiences with incarceration, violence, murder and racial exploitation from his craft as a rapper and performer. Each performance is like one piece of a puzzle that, when complete, will tell a full story: Hip-hop is spiritual for Kendrick and has been the medium to help him face and quell his addictions and everyday distractions, and to critique America's racist machine. In Kendrick's world, hip-hop saves lives. A week ago, Kendrick Lamar took home five Grammys. He won song of the year, best rap performance, best rap video, best rap song and record of the year, all for 'Not Like Us.' Whether he performs the song — which Drake has claimed in a lawsuit amounts to character assassination — remains to be seen. But I'm guessing that Kendrick, with what will likely be his only time performing for a Super Bowl audience, doesn't want to be remembered as the 'Not Like Us' rapper and won't perform that song. This article was originally published on
The Independent
09-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Kendrick Lamar albums ranked in order of greatness as he headlines Super Bowl 2025
It's been fourteen years since Compton -born Kendrick Lamar first grabbed the music world's attention, and he's held it firmly in his grasp ever since. Now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he has collected a staggering array of accolades that range from 17 Grammys to becoming the first artist outside of classical or jazz to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for 2017's Damn. On February 9, Lamar will take to one of America's biggest stages as he headlines the Super Bowl for the first time. In anticipation, we're taking the opportunity to look back at how each of his six studio albums to date have shaped his staggering artistic legacy. 6. Section.80 (2011) Lamar's debut studio album captured the sound of a young man with potential to burn finding his voice. The rapper, just 24 when the record was released, was already a flawless vocalist whose percussive flow delivered his deceptively simple and expressive rhymes straight to the listener's ear. 'I know some rappers using big words / To make their similes curve,' Lamar explained on 'Poe Mans Dreams (His Vice)'. 'My simplest s*** be more pivotal.' As well as proving Lamar's talent as a performer and lyricist, Section.80 showed off his burgeoning talent for telling stories that work simultaneously on multiple levels. The album weaves together the tales of characters Tammy and Keisha, two young women mistreated by men who eventually find solace and comfort in each other, while also finding space for pointed political commentary. 'You know why we crack babies? / Because we born in the Eighties / That ADHD crazy,' Lamar raps on standout track 'A.D.H.D', one of several songs – including 'Ronald Reagan Era' – which he uses to paint a picture of the impact President Reagan's policy of allowing crack cocaine to flood into Los Angeles' Compton neighbourhood had on the children, like Lamar, who were growing up there. Potent and visceral, Section.80 marked out Kendrick Lamar as an artist impossible to ignore. 5. Damn (2017) For his fourth album, Damn, Lamar brought in a couple of high-profile guests: Rihanna, who raps her way through the radio-friendly single 'Loyalty', and perhaps more surprisingly, venerable Irish rockers U2, who turn up in unconventional fashion on 'XXX'. Nevertheless, the spotlight never really leaves Lamar, who delivers an expansive record that combines a timeless old school rap sound with frequent nods to the future. By this point in his career, Lamar could confidently say he was the greatest rapper alive, a fact he alludes to on the outstanding autobiographical closing track 'Duckworth': 'It was always me versus the world / Until I found it's me versus me.' The album produced his single biggest hit, the enormous 'Humble', as well as making history by winning the Pulitzer Prize for Music. The Pulitzer committee used plenty of their own big words to describe the album, calling it 'a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.' 4. GNX (2024) When Lamar dropped his sixth studio album out of the blue last November, it made headlines around the world. Not only was the release itself a surprise, but so was the rapper's willingness to take shots not just at his old sparring partner Drake but also the likes of Snoop Dogg (for posting a link to one of Drake's tracks) and Lil Wayne (who was apparently upset not to land the Super Bowl set himself). There was also time for romance, helped along by a pair of duets with SZA. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members) Following the success of 'Not Like Us', his chart-topping diss track aimed at Drake, GNX captured Lamar in feisty form as he took aim at all comers over a sound indebted to classic West Coast rap. Arguably not as complex or ambitious as his previous albums, GNX nevertheless lands every single punch. 3. Mr Morale & the Big Steppers (2022) A deeply introspective album good enough to top most artists' discographies, Mr Morale & the Big Steppers cemented Lamar's status as the defining poet of his generation. In a five-star review for The Independent, Ben Bryant praised the record as 'a surprising meditation on fatherhood, family and friendship.' 'Mr Morale & The Big Steppers is a sheaf of songs delving into conflict and reconciliation,' Bryant added. 'It is anchored in Lamar's own life, right down to a cover that features the first confirmation of the birth of his second child, Enoch. He has earned this moment of reflection.' 2. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012) The record that made the whole world sit up and take notice. 2012's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City marked Lamar's major label debut and had the features to match, with guest appearances from the likes of Jay-Z, Drake and Dr Dre as well as Dre, Pharrell and Hit-Boy on production duties. It spawned hit singles 'Swimming Pools (Drank)' and the irresistible 'B****, Don't Kill My Vibe' and earned four Grammy nominations, including for Album of the Year. But really all of that was incidental to the power of the record's central story. Billed as a 'Short film by Kendrick Lamar' on the album cover, the deeply autobiographical record told the tale of Lamar's teenage years on the gang-controlled streets of Compton with profound clarity. Lamar's storytelling is so finely wrought that it came as no surprise when a university in Georgia added the work to its curriculum alongside other coming-of-age tales such as Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. 'I think Kendrick Lamar is the James Joyce of hip-hop,' said Professor Adam Diehl. 'In the complexity of his storytelling, in his knowledge of the canon, and in his continuing focus on the city of his upbringing – Compton." 1. To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) Lamar's politically charged masterpiece. While it's still primarily a staggeringly great rap album, musically Lamar expanded his sonic palette to encompass a broad spectrum of African-American music from jazz and funk to soul – including an introductory appearance from Parliament and Funkadelic visionary George Clinton. Lyrically, the record was partly inspired by Lamar's tour of South Africa, during which he visited Nelson Mandela's jail cell on Robben Island, as well as by the United States' own re-energised Black rights movement. The album addresses itself to the African-American experience with nuance and deep, existential analysis, but it's as personal as it is political. In an essay published in medical journal The Lancet Psychiatry, Cambridge professors Akeem Sule and Becky Inkster described Lamar as the 'street poet of mental health', noting that the record deeply explores topics of addiction, anxiety, depression, and resilience. In December 2019, The Independent named To Pimp a Butterfly as the best album of the preceding decade. 'Centrepiece 'Alright' is now a civil rights anthem, but To Pimp a Butterfly plays less like a statement than a bad dream,' wrote critic Jazz Monroe. 'Conflicted introspection, vexed empathy and political irreverence meet pitch-black humour that jolts you awake, with the sense that without this music, we'd be lost.'
