Leadoff: A Study In 2025 Performance Contrasts: The Kendrick Bowl Vs. The Presidential Inauguration

Monday Jan 6, 2025: TV is On.

Many of us were watching a mundane show that we surely thought would be cancelled. The female lead calmly presided over the proceedings of this episode of a seemingly unremarkable show that many of us watched, assuming it would be cancelled. The episode ends without incident. This is in stark contrast from the January 6, 2021 pilot episode.There were no police barricades being destroyed. There were no walls being climbed by “Patriots”. There was no screaming. No yelling. There were no people in cosplay running through the hallways looking for anyone. No Zip Ties. No destruction. No dramatic ending. The transition of power was peaceful, the American experiment and Constitution survived another day. The 2025 reboot of the show, which was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 and a flawed and compromised Script Supervisor, has been renewed for another four years.

Jan 20, 2025 (Inauguration Day): The iPhone is On. Good 

Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, Mad City plays quietly from the bluetooth speaker.

“I am a sinner, Who’s probably gonna sin again Lord, forgive me, Lord, forgive me, things I don’t understand, Sometimes, I need to be alone Bitch, don’t kill my vibe, bitch, don’t kill my vibe I can feel your energy from two planets away I got my drink, I got my music, I would share it, but, today, I’m yellin’ Bitch, don’t kill my vibe, bitch, don’t kill my vibe Bitch, don’t kill my vibe, bitch, don’t kill my vibe.”

I scroll through my Instagram. It looks frigid inside the U.S. Capitol as a few billionaires and politicians sit closely amongst the approximate 700 other guests seated inside the Rotunda in Washington D.C.

Carrie Underwood, who will be performing America the Beautiful, is escorted down a long walkway onto  the makeshift platform stage. She walks past the podium, microphone in hand. 

25 seconds pass by in silence….(backing track starts and abruptly ends after 3 seconds.)

An awkward silence sweeps over the room. Attendees look to their left and to their right at each other. 

My immediate thought, as I sip my scalding Hazelnut & French Blend Coffee from world renowned coffee shop, 7-11: 

“Who in the hell is handling the inauguration audio production and sound board?”

Carrie is standing there, awkwardly. “I wonder what she is thinking?”

60 seconds pass by….

It’s intriguing to observe a room full of professional speakers standing there perplexed.

90 seconds pass by….

I am looking at the faces of American leadership over the last 40+ years looking around at each other with zero clue what to do next. 

The Camera pans to former Presidents….

45/47 he looks annoyed and very upset, ready to fire anyone who he catches eyes with. 

46, he looks relieved, very rested actually. 

44, calm and collected, the usual vibes, looks ready to step in and lead a two part harmony if necessary. (Go to YouTube search him singing  Al Green)

42 looks healthy, eyes straight forward, for obvious reasons. 

43, has the usual smirk on his face. 

A quarter of a century ago, I would have never figured that I would like to crack a cold cerveza with that guy, but now I kind of do. I should text his team to see if he wants to take in a Sports event with me, maybe a Clipper Game at the Intuit Dome the next time he is in Los Angeles.

 (Flashback: December 7, 2024, Dallas Texas. My nephew who plays basketball for University of Virginia (Founded by 3 in 1819) was preparing to play a game against Southern Methodist University.  An older couple,  standing courtside, is watching him warm up. 

My nephew is focused, it’s a big road game. An athlete’s focus on the road has to be that much acute.

The couple repeatedly glances at my nephew and beckons him over, hoping to make his acquaintance. He jogs over and extends his hand to the elder gentleman. 

The gentleman says: “Hello, my Name is George Bush and this is my wife Laura, nice to meet you, good luck tonight.” My Nephew responds:

 “Mr. & Mrs Bush, nice to meet you too, thank you.” – and he jogs back to the warm up line. 

43 is a very random person—in retirement—I like him much more out of the oval office. 

Back to the failing Live Show inside the Rotunda:

“Capitol Hill” is more like “Silent Hill,”  a record from Kendricks’ Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. 

 Any good tour production manager worth their salt (see Rebekah Foster) would have handled that situation with ease.

What could Carrie be thinking at this moment? Maybe it’s Kendrick’s verse: 

“Why Oh… Why Oh…. Why Oh….Why you keep fucking with me….You gon’ make me jump out my skin, believe me…..”

120 seconds have now passed by….

She finally breaks the silence: 

Carrie: “If you know the words, help me out here”,  she says to the 700 guests in attendance (one of the smallest inaugurations in American Presidential History).

She belts out an a capella version of America the Beautiful: “O beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plains…America…America………” 

The song “America the Beautiful” always takes me back to October 8, 2001, in New York City at Yankee Stadium. The soulful and improvised rendition of this song by Ray Charles, a blind black man who grew up amidst the racist bigotry of the Jim Crow Era in Albany, GA, is a poignant reminder of his and his dear friend the late Quincy Jones’ incredible talents.Those black men left an indelible mark on America.  The stark contrast between October 8, 2001, and January 20, 2025, highlights a shift in national unity. In the wake of the tragic terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, America stood united under the leadership of 43, President George W. Bush. The current climate lacks such leadership and unity, underscoring a longing for the sense of togetherness that prevailed in the past. The administration and performance of 47 has begun terribly; we could utilize the Damn Production team from that night to improve the situation.

The only way for live entertainment is up from that debacle. 

Now are we ready to discuss achieving flawless showmanship and execution?

February 9, 2025 The Kendrick Bowl aka The Apple Music Halftime Show: TV ON. 

Kendrick stands atop his throne for the evening, a black grand national aka a GNX car door opens, an endless amount of performers dressed in red white & blue begin to exit the vehicle. 

Kendrick: “The revolution is about to be televised. You picked the right time but the wrong guy!”

The stage design for Kendrick’s Super Bowl Halftime show was symbolic on multiple levels. Uncle Sam Jackson’s opening line, “This is the great American game,” alluded not only to football but also to the manipulative systems in American society. The layout of the PlayStation controller buttons made me wonder if we are living in a simulation, or if it was based on the game of a black man living and thriving in America. 

The “Squabble Up”  record blares through the New Orleans Superdome as my flatscreen vibrates in sonic perfection. The performers movements are flawless in their timing, Charm La’ Donna who is behind the choreography is a visionary.

Uncle Sam Jackson jumps back into my TV screen with the proclamation  about the performance. “No, No No, No, too loud, too ghetto. Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up!” 

The performers have now formed the American Flag with Kendrick standing in the middle. 

He breaks into “Humble” which in itself is a genius choice after Uncle Sam’s proclamation

“Nobody pray for me, its been a bad day for me….yeaaaaaaaaah!”

“Be humble, Sit down, Be Humble” Kendrick is doing nothing of the sort as he is surrounded by the American Flag, he is indeed standing up in the face of everything America has done to its marginalized communities of color, and its demonization of Native Americans, immigrants and undocumented brown people, women and the LGBTQ+ community in an attempt to strip the rights away protected under the Amendments of the Constitution. 

Kendrick Lamar’s transition into “DNA.” is seamless. He embodies a revolutionary Bobby Fischer, playing chess at the world’s biggest live show. While most of the audience is still playing checkers, the messaging transcends the misinformed and uneducated. This performance is for the revolutionary music fans; a Bob Dylan-level masterclass in songwriting and lyrical protest.

Uncle Sam accuses K Dot of using a “culture cheat code” to win over the Black community with his show,  after Lamar’s performance of “Man at The Garden.” He implies that Kendrick is  exploiting Black culture to gain support.  As I sit there mesmerized glued to the TV Set, I concur not in the latter, but in the former.  

He is a thoughtful and calculated artist. He makes you think and listen while entertaining you. He raps in the social commentary way that Chuck D & Public Enemy on “Fight the Power” did in the 1980s and 90s. He raps with the pride of Brother J from X Clan on Funkin’ Lesson, he is an incarnation of Big Daddy Kane on Young Gifted and Black. He is Martin Luther, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B Dubois rolled into one. 

He is Ice Cube, The D.O.C, Dr. Dre, Boogie Down Productions, Souls of Mischief, Hieroglyphics, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Roberta Flack, Luther Vandross and SZA. 

He is All the Stars. 

He is a visionary cut from the cloth of Spike Lee, so when he stated  “40 acres and a mule this bigger than the music” he is alluding to his past lyrics and suggests that the performance transcends personal achievements or individual songs. 

He implies that America expects the Black community to be content with what they have been given, but K Dot challenges this notion, urging all marginalized communities not to settle. He is indeed  a “culture cheat code”, and the algorithm cannot box him in. 

He can certainly execute his vision without a faulty backing track or a horrible production team. 

He is elite and he is singular and he has mastered the game and the simulation of the Matrix. 

He is the one. 

Feb 28, 2025:  It’s Black History Month so give a helping hand to your fellow man and woman, the ones who treat each other with respect and dignity. 

I wonder what the billionaires, politicians and first buddies from the Capitol Hill Rotunda are talking about this morning to unite America?

Kendrick & AZ CHIKE have already answered that for us: 

“What they talkin’ about, they ain’t talkin’ about nothin,What they talkin’ about, they talkin’ about nothin’ Huh? They ain’t talkin’ about nothin…..Peek A Boo. 

I See You 47.  

I will now turn the TV OFF.