that was a huge dumpster fire, you couldn’t even understand a word he wasn’t saying lmao
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Watch the Apple Music Halftime Show With Kendrick Lamar — Full Video
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Ok, then...instead of empty broadsides and performative reactions, explain why the NFL should disassociate with Jay-Z.
Explain what about the Kendrick performance was "complete garbage"—an assessment you made from only fractional exposure at that!—and why you think that all hip-hop and r&b halftime shows are "garbage" from a musical perspective, then.
Hip-Hop and R&B share an obvious common, foundational cultural/community denominator, and if all you can muster up for your blanket condemnation is "I don't like it—just because" and maybe an emoji reaction well...then there's obviously something else going on there you don't want to mention, just deny.
Since you rolled your eyes so hard and the other poster is so incredibly off-base, I'm sure you'll have no problem whatsoever fleshing out your criticism with constructive points, right?
Please, take your time—we don't want to paint you with too broad a brush, after all!
You make it sound like Hip Hop just came out. It's been out for decades. Age has nothing to do with disliking monotonic droning over a short beat loop. The music presented at the half-time show was nothing compared to the likes of the legendary Public Enemy.
I appreciated almost everything else about the half-time show, though.
Are you usually able to understand words that people aren't saying? If so, that's quite impressive lmao
Most millennials? Speaking as one, I had only heard his name in passing, never heard one of his songs, until I looked up the super bowl half time show. Getting excited for what might be in store, I went to Youtube and checked out some of his most popular songs. I had heard none of them before and I liked none of what I heard. Looking for more info on what brought this artist to super bowl level status, I turned to my kids who also had no idea who he was. I turned to my fellow millennials who again gave me blank stares when I inquired. It was only when I turned to my teen and early 20s nieces that I found someone familiar with Lamar. So it seems a very narrow age niche and definitely millennials are not part of that age group. GOAT seems an extreme exaggeration in general, but when talking about my age group, the word doesn't even seem to apply at all unless in a mocking manner.
While the artist wasn't for me, I can respect different taste than my own, music is not a formula and there are no correct answers. But as far as popularity and demographics, those things are real and numerical data. Lamar isn't there. He isn't a household name.
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What was the message? I guess it was lost on me?
Drake is a household name. Yes everyone is aware of Drake. I don't listen to him.
His last 5 albums debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart dating back to 2015. He's won 22 Grammys, including 5 at this year's awards earlier this month. These are fairly mainstream metrics of success. He's not quite Taylor Swift or Beyonce level, but is definitely one of the more successful artists of the last 15 years, and is about as household a name (maybe not your household in particular) as you'll find given the relatively fractured state of the music industry these days.
I love rock. It was the first genre that sparked my love of music. My favorite bands/artists of all time are majority rock acts.
All that said, rock is NOT culturally relevant right now.
No. Chris Martin sang a Coldplay song, but it was with a string section, so I don't count it.
Exactly.
No.
It is.
I had no problem understanding the lyrics. Were you listing through your TV speakers? On cable or satellite? I have to believe this was an audio calibrating/compression issue, along with the fact that you may not have been familiar with the songs and not know what what lyrics to expect. The brain will perceive familiar lyrics to be clearer-sounding.
Weird. You must all live in your own little world.
He's in the top ten most streamed artists on Spotify, you're talking like the NFL booked a Hungarian folk singer for the halftime show.
For context Usher and Alicia Keys did last year and they aren't in the top 50
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Most boring half time! Don't care about his beef with Drake!
Being a "major star" means you are a household name. He is not. Using an award show that is no longer relevant to point out how relevant an artist is weird. The Grammys for decades averaged 30 million views. Most of the views at the time came from inside one country (USA) and at a time when that country was 1/3 smaller than it is now. It was water cooler talk back then. Being featured at the Grammys in that era actually meant something for relevance. Take that data into context today, where the Grammys are globally viewable, the USA has a larger population and the global population has doubled... and the Grammys in the last 5 years have had viewership between 9 and 15 million. The Grammys are irrelevant in regards to artist relevancy. In 2021 the ratings dropped to 2.1. Rated so low they no longer even track is these days. The Grammys themselves are irrelevant now, let alone boosting anyone featured.
Drake, Bruno Mars.. these are major stars. All demographics know of these people. Lamar however is known only to a niche set of people who obviously hold him highly and maybe are confused that their bubble doesn't reflect the world around them.
Couldn't care less about the super bowl, but I like Kendrick's music so I watched it. Thought it was great. Read an article on the symbolism (well probable symbolism, it's literally been less than a day) and watched it again. Personally I think it was genius.
EDIT: I should point out, I watched it after the fact on Youtube where, apparently, the sound issues were fixed. From what I've heard, if you saw it live on anything other than Tubi, the sound was terrible.
EDIT: I should point out, I watched it after the fact on Youtube where, apparently, the sound issues were fixed. From what I've heard, if you saw it live on anything other than Tubi, the sound was terrible.
Important clarifying question: are the people in your immediate family/circle people who listen to rap/hip-hop in general at all? Or any more than on an extremely casual, incidental basis? Beyond a few hit songs they might hear while on an algorithm playlist?
Would any of them know Jay-Z's catalog, or Dr. Dre, or Future, or De La Soul, or Black Star, or Wu-Tang, or Vince Staples, or Schoolboy Q, or Tyler the Creator, or Frank Ocean, or the aforementioned great Public Enemy?!? Could they name any 3 hip-hop albums released in the last 5 years?
I ask the question above because if your sample size is not familiar with the entire genre...then yeah, that's the explanation for why you got the answers you did in your small sample size. No disrespect intended, but that wouldn't be and isn't applicable to the greater whole of music listeners, it's just anecdotal.
I get that Lamar isn't a name in your household/social circle...but the dude had 6.91 billion streams in 2024 alone, good for #17th place ahead of "household names" like Rihanna, Bieber, Post Malone, Coldplay, Linking Park, Lady Gaga, and Ed Sheeran.
Kendrick Lamar is a household name for anyone who keeps up with musical relevancy in 2025, and the mass, aggregate numbers prove that out.
Because he isn't in your household?
85 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, most musicians would love to be that niche.
Okay, forget the Grammys completely—I didn't see this post of yours before writing my last one. Grammy's completely aside, my point stands.
Again, you are claiming that the 17th most streamed artist in the world is a "niche", "bubble" artist.
Edit: In addition to raw numbers of Kendrick's listenership, Lamar was the 3rd most searched for musician on Google in 2024, before his Super Bowl performance: https://trends.withgoogle.com/year-in-search/2024/us/share/9f6abf0d-f919-49aa-b56e-f8a8dcfc6124/
Who was ahead of him?
1. Usher (who did last year's SB)
2. Diddy (who wasn't being searched for music-related reasons)
Who was behind him?
4. Drake
5. Justin Timberlake
I mean...he obviously toils in obscurity with only a cult, insider following. That's a hell of a niche bubble! We'll agree to disagree.
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My own little world is back and forth on both coasts of the US living in a multinational all generation household, with kids who have no idea who he is, their friends don't know who he is, my peers don't know who he is (both locally and abroad). He is obviously big with a certain age group, but he also not as big as his fans or perhaps the age group he pertains to, think he is. Believe me I know what is going on, it happened to my generation too (and every generation before and since). People claiming artists in my generation were as big as Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, etc. When they were huge with my demographic, featured in awards shows and played non stop on the radio, but not known well with other age groups, only to fade to history as my group aged and new artists replaced the people we thought were so popular, but in reality were never household names. That is obviously what stage Lamar is in right now. The comments here are evidence and make that clear. Things could change in the future. The super bowl spot may have already made that change. But we shall see. As of right now he is a star, not a super star.
He is niche. He is a star. With the bubble comment I was saying in a bubble he is a super star to those inside the bubble. To the world he is not a super star and isn't that well known. Getting hyped up by 17th most streamed artist, is a bubble. Most people globally have no idea about what goes on in the most streamed artist lists. This isn't stuff most age groups are following. Just like back in my generation, the world didn't care who was topping the radio charts (a lot of forgotten artists most people can't name today). There were a select few artists from my generation that carried on their name and are household names. That happened every generation. Those are super stars. Bruno Mars is a super star of today. Lamar is not yet at that status. He is a star. He is relevant to people who follow the pop charts, the teens and early 20s. Being 17th on that list is actually a dead give away he is not a household name.
Interesting. UMG did a really good job, and I guess that makes it more obvious as to why he is suing them.
Of course hip hop is a valid genre. But that performance was sleeeeeeeepy.
Your kids and their friends must hardly follow modern music or they don't follow hip hop at all (either way it's annecdata).
Kendrick Lamar is by any measure one of the biggest artists in the world and has been for probably a decade. He is absolutely a superstar.
Take any metric you like, he's top 20 of the last decade. Out sold Beyonce and Kanye West, was narrowly behind Lady Gaga for the 2010's.
You cannot say people don't care about those numbers, they are user generated they aren't based on radio airplay they are based on people buying or streaming their music.
Even my 70+ year old dad knows who Kendrick Lamar is. My wife wanted to watch the halftime show BECAUSE Lamar was performing. I am not particularly a fan of his music, but claiming he's "niche" and he's not a "household name" is ridiculous. Is he going to be as big as Michael Jackson or Elvis? Probably not, but that doesn't mean right now, in 2025, he isn't one of the hottest musicians on the planet.
Speaking as a middle aged dude, there seem to be a bunch of middle aged (and older) dudes in this thread desperately dismissing one of the biggest musicians on the planet right now because they think they're still young and cool and don't want to admit that they're not.
Speaking as a middle aged dude, there seem to be a bunch of middle aged (and older) dudes in this thread desperately dismissing one of the biggest musicians on the planet right now because they think they're still young and cool and don't want to admit that they're not.
Thank you, you are making my point for all those that say how it was to draw in a new audience to the Super Bowl. Nope. those that might have tuned in because of the music likely tuned out the rest (I know that wasnt your point, just... thank you ), the rest found it on YouTube. A marketing fail if it was to draw in new viewers for the whole game (for the NFL, not for Kendrick, pure win for him, and okay maybe negative publicity is better than none..)
The rest is only marginally inspired by your post, sorry. Don't want you to think I am singling you out. Just finding my voice.
Yes the sound was terrible and I have a high end sound system with voice detection, wasn't that. I have no doubt the symbolism was genius. Truly. And if I chose to go to his concert or any other venue to seek that out, then yep, genius. I may even rewatch on YouTube when in the right frame of mind. Good or bad, Football is my escape from the anger in this country and I just didn't appreciate it being shoved down my throat at a time I was watching my team fail miserably (smiles). Arguably, the exposure might do us some good. Sort of the theory I had that if someone yells at me, just yell back louder and they will stop. Never worked, but I kept on trying until I got wiser.
But I think the SuperBowl is a read your audience moment, and I am just not convinced people that watch football wanted this for entertainment. Demographics wise, 73% of the most diehard fans are the age group that is being criticized here, over 50 males. Wouldn't it make sense to have a show with more appeal to that demographic? Shrugs. Again, I get it, culture, important message, but it was a football game, not a protest. And as I said, I don't think it drew in a new audience (for the game). Maybe whoever advertised during the half time appreciated the gesture.
I am not debating the man's talents, cred, or genius, just debating the read your crowd moment that led to thinking that was the choice for that venue.
chuckles. Sorry, but if your AV is current, or even if its made up, you aint an older middle aged dude...unless um...you think petting your cat is young and cool.. ducks..
just trying to lighten the moment. but yeah. not middle aged.