The Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Reaction
What they talkin' bout? They ain't talkin' 'bout nothin'
“The revolution ‘bout to be televised; you picked the right time, but the wrong guy” - Kendrick Lamar
Watching the Super Bowl Halftime Show with my parents was quite the experience. They, in their 50s at this point, sat there confused while I, an avid Kendrick fan, was losing my mind over every little easter egg. In this quote that comes right after the opening song (one Hip Hop fans will recognize as an extended version of the unreleased backing track to the GNX album trailer1), Kendrick immediately acknowledges this cultural divide I experienced that Sunday night. Kendrick isn’t the guy who’s gonna make a widely appealing pop concert with fireworks that everyone sings along with. Nah, he’s gonna do his own thing. This performance, and every move he’s made in the past year leading up to this moment, was for the culture, as he has plainly stated in the few public interviews he’s done since the whole thing began. The halftime show (and, by extension, this article) was aptly timed for Black History Month, during one of the most tumultuous times for racial relations in recent history. It is crucial to have these conversations, now more than ever.
I could do a deep dive analysis of this generational production stuffed to the brim with symbolism, but this isn’t my turf. I’m not a part of the culture; I’m just an outside observer. I’m not trying to be invited to the cookout, so to speak. Anyway, there are veterans of the Hip Hop scene who are doing incredible journalism on YouTube and have put out their analysis videos that do Kendrick way more justice than I ever could. Here’s probably my favorite breakdown that I’ve seen by Rob Markman, who has been reporting on Hip Hop news and doing interviews with some of the culture’s most prominent figures for over a decade. (Also, credit to Rob Markman for being the one to help me understand the quote that opened up this article)
My intent here is to look at the cultural divide between the younger crowd and the older (and overwhelmingly white) crowd, along with some concerning reactions to the show, even from significant figures in the band community, “music educators.” If you just didn’t get it, that’s perfectly fine. This was a performance for the fans and the culture. It wasn’t written to have broad appeal. I’d encourage you to dig into the symbolism and Kendrick’s body of work, but I can’t force you to do anything.
Dr. Brandon Houghtalen2, the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Texas at El Paso, was once my professor when I was a student at Abilene Christian University. He is also one of the founding members of the On the List Project, an initiative to get music by composers from underrepresented demographics on repertoire lists such as UIL’s Prescribed Music List (PML). One time in class, the day after the Grammys, he asked us about the awards and if we kept up with the mainstream, something he tries to do every year. He emphasized the importance of listening to and keeping up with what was going on in the music industry because, as a music educator, not only do you wave a baton around in front of children, but you are an authority figure on music as a whole to them.
There’s an attitude rampant in the band world among students and educators alike that puts "respectable" genres of music (band/orchestra music, jazz, etc.) over other "lower" genres (pop, Hip Hop, etc.). One can even look at the term "Western Art Music," which has been used on and off instead of Classical. Even if this attitude doesn’t start with the educators at the end of the day, they indeed can perpetuate it. Then, it trickles down to the students, so the people who should be focused on fixing this systemic issue should be the educators.
Dr. Houghtalen also emphasized the educator's role in getting the kids to care about the music they are playing in class. Often, the students may not like the literature picked out for them until they know the composer's history and the story behind the piece. In the same way that band directors should know about the music they are playing in class to connect with the students, they should also learn about the music the kids are listening to.
Now, for me, these are my confessions. I used to be one of those band kids in high school. To me, there was no artistic merit in popular music. “ESPECIALLY Hip Hop, cause all they talk about is drugs and sex, right? There’s not even any melody. How could you even think about calling it music!?!” a young and close-minded Aaron said, totally not plagued by the Dunning-Kruger effect (also, who’s “they”? Much to reflect on, young Aaron). Luckily, the summer before college, I started doing a lot of self-reflection.
I still remember the first Hip Hop album I listened to - Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator. I was blown away by the vast soundscapes bringing together jazzy and soulful sounds on "See You Again"3 with the aggressive and incredibly characteristic synths on the following track, “Who Dat Boy”4. Though most of the more profound messages went over my head (something I still find challenging), such as Garden Shed’s5 vulnerable discussion of shame and sexuality, the first time hearing this album was life-changing in hindsight. Now, what did I play after that?
I remember my second Hip Hop album even more than the first, right down to where I was. Take me to the library on ACU’s campus, and I could probably point out the chair I was sitting in the first time I listened to Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN (assuming the tables haven’t been rearranged in the last 7 years). I mean, where do I start? It won a Pulitzer Prize for a reason. From the driving and determined “DNA”6, to the laid-back yet menacing “ELEMENT”7, the musical journey Kendrick takes us on is one of a kind. As with Flower Boy, most of the deeper meaning went right over my head, but once again, I was stunned by the sonic artistry on display. While it would still be a few years before I considered myself a Hip Hop fan, these two albums completely shifted my outlook on music as an art form.
Another thing that I’ve been able to realize as I learn more about Hip Hop's history and observe the genre's criticisms is that we’ve done this song and dance before. Jazz, notoriously, was put down and written off as nothing more than noise encouraging promiscuity. Even looking at classical music, Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring was famously despised by the critics, but now it’s considered essential literature. Point is, this could be something that will go down in history as some of the most important and influential art of this time.
Music is pretty great, y’all. I think it’s time we stop gatekeeping what kinds are “good” and what kinds are “bad.” You don’t need to be a fan of every genre; I don’t particularly enjoy heavy metal, for example (unless you’re talking about one of my favorite albums from 2024, Cameron Winter’s intimate and gut-wrenching acoustic singer-songwriter project, Heavy Metal8). Hell, I still haven’t come around to Travis Scott’s particular take on trap, even as a Hip Hop fan. But just because you don’t care for a particular sound doesn’t mean you should diminish it on an artistic level.
When Kendrick Lamar accepted the Grammy for Song of the Year for “Not Like Us”9 (his 5th of the night for the same song10), he said, “Nothing is more powerful than rap music,” and if you look at its history it’s hard to argue with him. What started in the streets of New York City as block parties defined by MCing, DJing, beatboxing, and breakdancing led to the first rap “rock star” LL COOL J11 in the early 1980s (who is still releasing quality music all these years later! THE FORCE12 is one of the most criminally underrated Hip Hop albums of 2024). The late ‘80s and early ‘90s saw more emphasis on the revolutionary side of Hip Hop, with iconic albums being dropped by household names such as Public Enemy13, N.W.A.14, and Wu-Tang Clan15. Figures such as Nas16, 2Pac, and Dr. Dre17 helped pave the way throughout the rest of the 90s for artists like Jay-Z18, Eminem19, and Kanye West20 (I wonder what he’s up to these days; it sucks that he stopped releasing music after 2018 and has been radio silent since then as well21) to bring Hip Hop even more into the mainstream in the 2000s. The 2010s saw the rise of the SoundCloud generation of rappers22 as the internet made distributing music to an audience more accessible and streaming continued to push Hip Hop further into the zeitgeist.
And just as it seems Hip Hop is starting to fall off in the 2020s, as even the industry’s biggest money-maker experiences a dramatic dropoff in quality, Kendrick Lamar comes along at the beginning of 2024 on Future and Metro Boomin’s album We Don’t Trust You to drop one of the most impactful verses in all of Hip Hop history on “Like That”23, kicking off the rap beef that ultimately led us to Sunday night’s performance. He brought back rap in its rawest form, embracing the competitive aspect of the culture and delivering “straight rap and hard beats” at the end of the year on his surprise album GNX24 to create one of the biggest cultural moments ever. I remember last summer when my high school-aged cousins who live in rural Georgia constantly chanted, “They not like us.” That was the moment I realized just how big this all was.
So why am I here on my soapbox? What do I want the takeaway to be now that I’ve rambled for this long about a genre of music that has little overlap with the marching arts (except for HBCU25, which is a worthy conversation for another day)? This is my plea to music educators to set aside your biases and engage with artforms you were taught to see as lesser. You don’t have to be a superfan and have a spreadsheet listing over 1500 Hip Hop albums you want to listen to; you don’t even have to enjoy it. All I’m saying is that you, as an authority figure in music, have the responsibility to have a baseline understanding and respect towards genres outside of your general wheelhouse. Be extra careful what you post on social media; your words are more powerful than you think.
On a final note, I want to thank my boss here at GEM, Daniel Montoya Jr., for being one of the few designers out there who is willing to go all in on Hip Hop in the marching arts. He wrote for Guardians in 2017 and 2018, both shows based almost entirely on rap music. Before I even got to know Daniel, the mashup of Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble”26 and Gustav Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony from their 2018 production, Damned27, was one of my favorite DCI moments ever. Not surprisingly, Dr. Houghtalen does not shy away from it, as the UTEP band played Eminem’s “Not Afraid” for one of their halftime shows in 2023. On that note, I want to leave y’all with a quote from what Dr. Houghtalen shared while writing this article because I don’t think I could phrase it any better.
“Ultimately, when folks reject music outright, they are rejecting people and cultures outright. I don’t think great teachers do that. Whether or not a certain genre or piece of music is your favorite, finding a way to appreciate it is the same as finding a way to affirm the value in all your students (from the all-staters to the bottom of the fourth band). To quote a song I sang in church growing up— ‘All God’s Children Got a Place in the Choir.’”
P.S. I also had fun compiling videos to sprinkle throughout this article (those can all be found in the footnotes, so here are a few more recommendations!
More Kendrick
Kendrick Lamar - “Swimming Pools” is off of his first album and instant classic good kid, m.A.A.d city, an album that chronicles life growing up in Compton in intense detail.
Kendrick Lamar - “Alright” is off of his sophomore album, To Pimp A Butterfly, an album many (including myself) consider to be the best album of all time. It’s a must-listen for anybody, whether they are a Hip Hop fan or not.
Kendrick Lamar - “Count Me Out” is from his crushingly vulnerable “therapy” double album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
Some More Essentials
Doechii - Tiny Desk Concert is something that fans of jazz will be able to appreciate. Doechii is one of the fastest-rising Hip Hop artists, winning the Grammy for Best Hip Hop Album, only the third woman to do so since the award was introduced in 1989.
Lauryn Hill - “Doo Wop (That Thing)” is off of her first and only solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the first woman to win the Grammy mentioned above.
Some (slightly) Deeper Cuts
Little Simz - “Gorilla” continuing with the theme of women in Hip Hop, Simz from across the pond is one of my favorite Hip Hop artists in the game right now. Also it’s got loud horns, and us band nerds love horns (just try not to pay too close attention to how the dancers are holding them in the video).
Ghais Guevara - “The Old Guard Is Dead” is a smaller East Coast artist with an experimental and abstract approach to the genre. You may recognize it as the music playing on the broadcast just before and after the halftime show. This song is off Guevara’s album, Goyard Ibn Said, which was released less than a month ago. It is a listen I would not recommend to those new to the genre due to its abstract nature, but it is a rewarding one nonetheless.
OG Keemo - “Malik” is off of Mann Beißt Hund (Man Bites Dog), one of my favorite finds from this past year. Even as someone who studied abroad in Leipzig, I did not know that German rap could sound so good.
Not Hip-Hop (sorta)
New Jazz Underground - Dying of Thirst for the jazz enjoyers out there. I came across this jazz suite inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s work. It's an incredible display of musicianship that band nerds and Hip Hop heads alike can appreciate.
Benjamin Booker - “SAME KIND OF LONELY” is another departure from the Hip Hop genre, but like Ghais Guevara, he released one of my favorite albums of the year so far in LOWER. Benjamin Booker made his name in blues/garage rock in the mid-2010s before more or less disappearing after 2017 until now. But this isn’t a true escape from Hip Hop. Booker teams up with underground producer Kenny Segal to combine his gritty garage rock sounds with Kenny’s more electronic style for a unique listening experience.
P.S.S. No, I will not be sharing the song where Jacob Collier raps. Respectfully, that song just isn’t my thing, but if you love it that’s great!
Aaron Blackley is one of the original contributors for General Effect Media. He has a vast knowledge and passion for the marching arts and has worked alongside the likes of HornRank as a ranker and moderator as well as the TxBands.com liveblog team since summer 2021. Aaron currently works front of house at Interstellar BBQ in North Austin and spends a concerning amount of his free time listening to music from a wide variety of genres.
Music Video for “Who Dat Boy” by Tyler, The Creator off of Flower Boy (CW: light gore)