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Kendrick Lamar Is Not Your Savior
His Super Bowl halftime show was too subtle to rattle anyone but Drake.
It looked like Kendrick was more interested in the aesthetics of the cover art of To Pimp a Butterfly than the acrimonious complaints of songs like “The Blacker the Berry.” Flanked by dancers in red, white, and blue, he teased an air of Americana from the optics of street life, marrying “The Stars and Stripes Forever” to “We’re All in the Same Gang.” The gentle reminder that gang culture is just as American as the flag wasn’t loud enough to rattle anyone in attendance demolishing legislation and programs crafted with the betterment of these communities in mind. It put an exclamation point on the squabble with Drake, taking the “A minor” (but not the “certified pedophiles”) line all the way to music’s biggest stage with a crip-walking Serena Williams, an Aubs ex whose husband Alexis Ohanian was dissed on the “Family Matters” rapper’s Her Loss album in 2022. While it’s nice to have Kendrick Lamar back outside more often — as Drake noted in “The Heart Part 6,”: “At least your fans are getting some raps out of you” — the sense that this was won by turning the old fire down a few degrees itches as much as getting the GNX clunker “Peekaboo” but no Black Hippy or songs from the front half of the catalog.
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