The NFL gave Kendrick Lamar the most important platform in sports activities to stage a creative protest. Like many Black Individuals who took to social media to say they had been disillusioned that Ok-Dot didn’t touch upon Trump, Roger Goodell and his crew might have missed it. However the critique of the administration was there. And the league paid straight money, homie for him to kneel on the sphere throughout the half time present…nicely, artistically.
Let’s get this straight. Mr. Duckworth could also be from Compton. Monsieur Dot might have avenue cred. However at his core, that dude is an artiste. (I’ve to make use of that spelling and put it in italics as a result of that what you do when describing folks like him.)
Each in his lyrics and the visuals that he chooses to spotlight in his movies, he’s by no means direct. Sure, he referred to as Drake a pedophile in “Not Like Us,” however he selected to be subliminal within the video for the track by merely hopscotching to make his level about Mr. “I-lost-a-rap-beef-so-I’m-going-to-lean-into-my-whiteness-and-sue-because-that’s-what-rich-white-people-do-when-someone-offends-them.”
Due to this fact, to anticipate Lamar to make an overt, blatant political assertion about Trump is to overlook who he has all the time been. As an alternative, he used symbolism and imagery to make his level. From the Black Uncle Sam to the disjointed American flag embodied by Black performers, he critiqued America. It could take a couple of viewings to completely get it, however watch it sufficient, and you will notice that he’s not simply taking photographs at a person who makes questionable decisions about his footwear, but additionally the Commander in Chief.
However right here’s the factor. He made the NFL pay for it. The identical league that was in a tizzy as a result of Kaepernick had the audacity to kneel throughout the Star Spangled Banner. The identical (principally) white those that exit of their strategy to be excessive of their patriotism. They paid for him to be unapologetically Black and artistically essential of the person who sits within the Oval Workplace. And if folks haven’t figured it out but, they may ultimately.
In keeping with the NFL, 133 million folks watched Lamar reside. That’s a 3% improve over Usher’s efficiency final yr. To this point, it has greater than 42 million views on the NFL’s YouTube web page. Folks watched and are rewatching that efficiency. And given the quantity of writers which have put pen to paper to try to clarify what was happening in that efficiency, folks will get the message loud and clear: Kendrick Lamar gave an enormous inventive center finger to the Trump administration and he made the NFL pay for it.