Kendrick Lamar and his company, pgLang, have shared a behind the scenes video from the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show. The video shows Lamar preparing with Samuel L. Jackson, who played Uncle Sam in the performance. The legendary actor goes through several of his lines as the group rehearses. Fans on social media have been loving the inside look.
"The inflections and the pauses in his delivery at the show? he nailed that so well! Especially at the 'too…..ghetto' so much emphasis! He is Him indeed," one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Another wrote: "Samuel L Jackson is incredible! Seeing his rehearsal and how he perfected his delivery of the lines for the performance is amazing!" Check out the behind the scenes video below.
Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl Halftime Show Setlist
At the event, Lamar performed songs from his latest album GNX and his previous effort Damn without going too far back in his catalog. The decision proved controversial as fans wanted more of his hits. Lamar's pgLang partner, Dave Free, explained to The Wall Street Journal the following day that the their idea was never about "playing the hits." “We wanted this performance to have a cinematic and theatrical element to it. We can confidently say that there’s no Super Bowl performance that’s quite like this one,” he said. He added: “The feel of it is Black America. What does Black America look like, and how to control that narrative of what it means to be Black in America versus what the world’s perspective of that is."
TDE Punch also defended the performance against backlash on Thursday. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he wrote: "Seeing all of the commentary surrounding the Super Bowl performance, it’s showing that we lost sight of what we’ve always fought for… to be who WE ARE as artist of Hip Hop Culture. Since when did we want to fit in with the mainstream?? lol. Sure we want the mainstream platforms, but only to do US. Authentically us. That’s what always made Hip Hop so appealing."
[Via]
