Super Bowl LIX

February 9, 2025, the stage is set where the Philadelphia Eagles met the 2x back-to-back defending champs the Kansas City Chiefs. This was an amazing matchup, with both teams being equally skilled on both sides of the football. The Eagles met the Chiefs a couple of years back in the Super Bowl and lost that game, and now was their chance to avenge their loss. This was also a chance for the Chiefs to make NFL history by being the first team to ever three-peat, meaning win three Super Bowls consecutively. From the opening whistle, the Eagles came out strong, literally achieving a shutout in the first half. The second half got a little more competitive, but the Eagles were so ahead by that point that the game was over! Jalen Hurts went on to win the MVP of the game, but it was a true team effort from the Birds to pull it off. I am not an Eagles fan, but I was happy for my hometown to have won another Super Bowl.

Now let’s get to the moment the world has been waiting for and many people have been waiting for me to speak on: the Super Bowl halftime show. Personally, I’m a Drake fan, but I will be super non-biased in my article. Kendrick Lamar, who is a talented artist from Compton known as one of the best three rappers out right now along with Drake and J. Cole, was selected to perform for the Super Bowl. What made this a lot more interesting is his back-and-forth rap battle that he and Drake have been having over the previous year. The crowd was excited to see if he would perform his hit diss, "Not Like Us," and he did! He had to take some lyrics out due to it being a nationally televised show, but nonetheless, he was speaking directly to Aubrey Graham. As far as the show, a lot of people have mixed reviews on it. Kendrick Lamar, by far, is not a dancer, nor is he the most entertaining artist like the Super Bowl is used to seeing, so I don’t hold that against him. I think he’s a phenomenal rapper and performer; he’s just not that entertaining. So when people say it was boring, I understand that, but I can’t hold that against him since that’s not his art style.

I’ll start by saying what I loved about his performance: I love that he actually performed the diss song and wasn’t scared to get sued. I also love the symbolic meaning behind a lot of his performance. I love that he decided to do the Super Bowl; it adds to the overall beef. That’s really about it. My only cons of his performance are that I’m okay with him performing the diss—the country was awaiting for that—but I don’t like that he performed the majority of songs off his latest album, GNX, which is a pure rap album. I think his setlist was horrible; he has songs that are hits that would have resonated more with the masses that night. I don’t think he should have gone rap mode Kendrick for the Super Bowl. Many people couldn’t understand him nor would have cared if they could; it's like reading poetry in the club. We aren’t here for poetic lyrics; we are here to dance, move, and be entertained, not put our thinking hats on. My OVO hat off, I gave this halftime show a solid 7.5.

- Samuel

@samuelshouseofart