: …and the best singer at the SUPERBOWL is…🎤

Watch the Superbowl on Sunday?

I love a good angry game. I’m a Seahawks fan, no surprise, right?🏈

The Eagles were on fire in the first half. I love when a team shows up to dominate. It’s just the best.

What about Kendrick Lamar?

How do you think he did for the halftime show? If you haven’t watched it yet, you can here.

The show was designed as a video game. Each separate set/stage he performed in was a different video game controller button. Cool concept.

I wondered as I watched Lamar perform about the lawsuit with Drake. (In case you haven’t heard, Drake has sued his own music distributor and Lamar for defamation.)

How have we gotten to a place where we can sue people for disliking us? That’s wild. 

I haven’t followed the issue deeply enough to have a position, but I think Lamar nailed his performance. Even the moments aimed directly at Drake. The fact that Lamar made that artistic choice doesn’t bother me at all. 

Here’s why - music allows me to feel things I don’t give myself permission to feel otherwise. Anger, disappointment, disgust, joy, ecstasy, you name it. 

I was raised in the 90s; the only emotions appropriate for a girl to feel are anger and triumph. The struggle can’t be too real; otherwise you aren’t strong enough.

Can you relate?

Strong thoughts and feelings must have a place in music. Because if they don’t, where else can we get them out? So if Lamar wants to express himself aimed directly at a peer, no biggie.

Besides all that, the last time rap dominated a Superbowl half-time show was in ‘22 when Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar performed together with additional guest performances. The fact that Lamar did the show this year as a headliner all by himself was amazing.

Think about how many words he sang on Sunday…Nuts.

I’m here for it, he did a great job. Even though there weren’t fireworks (like Rihanna) or weird lifts (Lady Gaga) or incredible collaborations (Coldplay with Beyoncé and Bruno Mars or Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers), he owned the show. It left me wondering, is this what underground shows are for rap and hip hop artists? Because if so, I wanna go.

A weak artist simply can’t do that. So, way to go, Kendrick.

But, something else I really enjoyed was Lauren Daigle’s performance of “America the Beautiful.”

If you didn’t already know, artists sing “America the Beautiful” before the Presentation of Colors preceding the National Anthem. My personal favorite was when the originating artists of the three female leads in Hamilton sang together. 

That was until Sunday Night 

Lauren Daigle (and Trombone Shorty) nailed it - it was fabulous! Upbeat, positive, open, just how these performances should be. 

The music industry is so divided, but their performance pulled the audience back together. 🎶

I usually hesitate when students want to sing Lauren Daigle tunes in lessons because her voice is a mess. There is some media attention on her lack of vocal health, but she really did quite well on Sunday.

Hope you watch these performances, let me know what you think.📺

To your singing,

Megan

P.S. Lamar won four Grammy’s earlier this month for the song that “disparages Drake.”

P.P.S. Jon Batiste was…meh