Looks like a statement on white supremacy to me- notice how the men in red and blue are corpses on the ground, while (most) of the men in white aren't.
My interpretation was that its symbolic of the dead bodies that lie in the street and get reported on and talked about and treated in such a dismissive, throw away manner (oftentimes because they are black).
The distorted figures represent dead American bodies with the subtext that dead black people are also American too. At the angle and the attire you can't see faces or races just the colors they wear. Red white and blue.
Some of Kendrick's music and the themes he explores are around the struggles of the inner city. Those are American stories just as important as anything occurring in the heartland or suburbs.
Precisely!
The density of references to his own work was impressive! It was palatable to all his new Drake-hating fans, showed how varied his talents are, & maintained the actually subversive character of his voice in a way that is honestly remarkable for the Superbowl stage.
I'm going to watch this now. Rescinding my previous stance, considering it was all built around the hyping of a diss track. It feels good to be stood up & corrected.
Damn. Thanks for this.
Me too, I was too caught up in the culture of diss than the cultural moment. Which was a teachable moment- where else am I being curmudgeonly, when this is the absolutely not the right time to wig waggle.
We all have blind spots sometimes, I just try to remember Art has always been a form of resistance. Music, images, movies, tv shows, paintings, graffiti, books, writings have always been the groundswell in a movement.
Comments
Katrina was the wake up call a lot of y’all missed.
The density of references to his own work was impressive! It was palatable to all his new Drake-hating fans, showed how varied his talents are, & maintained the actually subversive character of his voice in a way that is honestly remarkable for the Superbowl stage.
Damn. Thanks for this.