To be read as a direct continuation of; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/02/its-time-to-renegotiate-social-contract_25.html
As the performers/dancers started to march along the Freeway Kendrick Lamar started performing; "DNA." An album track from his 2017 album; "Damn" from which Humble was the lead single. Despite not being released as a single the popularity amongst fans on Streaming sites led to a high budget video being made for DNA, featuring Hollywood actor Don Cheadle.
Again the song is about everything that Kendrick Lamar has achieved despite his ghetto upbringing in Compton where drugs and violence is a way of life. How that is so much a part of his life its almost encoded in his DNA. The full version of the song features audio that sounds like a TV news commentator commenting on the song and what it represents. Stating that it is why the commentator thinks Hip-Hop/Rap has done so much damage to America's Black communities. Perhaps reflecting Kendrick Lamar's own views on the post-Tupac/Biggie fake gangsters and the damage they're doing to the Black community.
Kendrick Lamar is only referencing DNA in casual, everyday sort of way. Rather than a scientific way. It's pretty common for even medical Doctors to talk about things being in their DNA when they don't actually mean that it's encoded in their DNA.
In doing this Kendrick Lamar touches on "Transgenerational Trauma" or; "Intergenerational Trauma." How it's been rather misappropriated by Black Lives Matter (BLM).
Transgenerational Trauma is a relatively new and not widely accepted theory within Psychology. It is something I have both academic and practical experience of. Experience I would no doubt be drawing on in discussions with Kim Kardashian over Kanye West's much publicised mental health challenges. If only the CIA would accept the gift of me talking directly with my little network of 'Facebook Friends.'
Transgenerational Trauma Theory holds that traumatic events have negative psychological effects on the people who experience them. At its most extreme what is diagnosed as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The symptoms of PTSD are themselves traumatic, both for the person experiencing them and the people around them. A child whose war veteran Father keeps waking up in the night screaming from nightmares is going to find that experience traumatic. That traumatic experience will have a negative effect on the child's own psychology. If it's a very serious effect then it might result in them waking up their own children with their own screams from the nightmare. So the trauma of the war is passed down to generations who weren't even alive when the war happened.
Another such example would be of a child who witness their Father being gunned down in the family home during a civil war. Perhaps on an island somewhere near the British mainland. That child might grow up to be a Father who copes with that trauma by abusing alcohol and Heroin. His drunken and drug fuelled rampages within the family home would then traumatise his own children. Leading to them growing up with their own insecurities and foibles around drugs and alcohol.
Arguably this isn't one trauma being passed down through generations. It is each generation experiencing a new individual trauma. The child isn’t being traumatised by the war but by the Father’s screams. Taken in that way there is some validity to Transgenerational Trauma Theory.
However what the likes of Black Lives Matter have done is completely misunderstand the science and then widely misappropriated and extrapolated the theory to suit their own agenda. They argue that the trauma of Slavery and the Segregation must affect all Black people in America. Even Black people who had absolutely no enslaved ancestors so absolutely no traumatised Parents and Grandparents as they were growing up in the lap of luxury in somewhere like Nigeria. It's all being made up in order to support Critical Race Theory (CRT), the notion that every social and individual problem can only be viewed as a race issue.
Some have even gone so far as to claim that trauma can be passed down between generations through DNA. Effectively saying that you have to be traumatised for exactly the same reason that your skin is Black. While it is possible that environmental factors can cause DNA mutations which can be passed on all the people making those claims are telling me is that they really don't understand those processes.
Referencing DNA and DNA mutation also touches on a very fashionable topic in the US at the moment; Transgenderism. Gender is something which is determined by DNA. Specifically the DNA provided by the Father. However in a very small number of people something goes a bit wrong in how that DNA blueprint is built into the finished product. So some people are both Male and Female, at the same time. They transcend both genders.
What exactly goes wrong is not something which is currently well understood. It's unlikely to be just one thing. However the astonishingly high number of people who are currently claiming to be Transgender in America at the moment suggests that you are looking for some sort of environmental pollution factor which is causing widespread Endocrinlogical mutations. Either that or most of the people claiming to be Transgender aren't Transgender at all. Instead suffering from a very gender focused version of that Psychological disorder Munchausen's Syndrome.
In DNA Kendrick Lamar correctly uses the Latin word; "Diem" meaning; "Day." In the previous song he correctly uses the Latin phrase; "Quid Pro Quo" meaning; "Something For Something." Particularly the legal profession uses Latin as a way to confuse people, particularly lower forms of animal life like Black people. Kendrick Lamar's correct use of Latin here, twice, further subverts that negative stereotype of Black people as some sort of lower form of animal life. Unable to escape the Sate of Nature and elevate themselves to the Rule of Law and Natural Justice.
Latin played rather a large part in South Africa's apparent protest at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). As I've shown a succession of British Judges, if you're looking to baffle and befuddle Catholics then Latin really isn't the language you choose.
As the performers/dancers continued their seemingly never ending march along the Freeway DNA blended into; "Euphoria." Now that is one of Kendrick Lamar's diss tracks against Drake. However it's not the famous one. So there's a chance that the censors at the NFL and FOX wouldn't recognised it, particularly with it seeming to be camouflaged by another song.
Specifically Euphoria is a quick witted response to the diss track Drake put out; "Taylor Made Freestyle." That's the one in which Drake used AI versions of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar's friend from Compton.
The song reminded me of; "Ghetto Gospel" the 2004 song that Eminem produced using recordings of Tupac and new vocals from Elton John. Really it was Elton John trying to muscle in on my, Jay Z, Kanye West, Nelson Mandela et al's efforts to bring Charles Taylor to justice. Along with something to do with all that debt resource rich African nations accrued during all the civil wars of the Neo-Colonial Era. Back when we thought we would be able to move from the Neo-Colonial Era into the Globalised Era.
You'll notice how I don't claim to have worked with Tupac. He'd already been dead for seven years by that point. However that does seem to be how Elton John loves 'em - unable to consent.
Kendrick Lamar started his Rap Battle with Drake at around the time the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest should have taken place. Around that time I wrote a lot about the 2023 track "Heart On My Sleeve" which included similar AI versions of Drake and The Weeknd. So by invoking my history with digital versions of Tupac with Taylor Made Freestyle it sounded to me like Drake was trying to drag me into his battle with Kendrick Lamar. Trying to get me to help him out. Another clear sign he was already losing the Rap Battle.
The title of Kendrick Lamar track Euphoria is a direct reference to the TV show; "Euphoria." Which Drake Executive Produced. I also have a bit of a history with the TV show.
Euphoria takes great pleasure in its attempts to shock. With its very graphic portrayals of teenage sex and drug abuse. The credits for the first season even displays the show's Title 18 USC§ 2257 certificate. Certifying that it is free from child pornography. As if we were supposed to believe any of the actors in the show were really teenagers, let alone actually having sex on camera.
Euphoria is actually a remake of an Israeli TV show. I can't say I've seen the Israeli version however I gather that in remaking it for US cable TV they had to really tone it down. Highlighting just how open-minded, tolerant, left-wing and liberal Israeli society actually is. Far removed from the religious zealots Hamas fanboys like to portray it as.
A depressingly long time ago now I was briefly involved in a throuple. Made up of a bisexual Israeli Jewish woman and her gay Black British girlfriend. The fact that the Israeli version of Euphoria isn't supposed to be particularly shocking and the intentionally shocking US version is a toned down copy of the Israeli version should tell you all you need to know about how shocked Israel was by this throuple. The fact she was avoiding her compulsory military service - that though was a national scandal!
Rather proving that it is something of a global secret society I later became friends with a guy who also had a bisexual girlfriend. Not only did we live in the same neighbourhood we lived on the same street. So it was one of those friendships where you're all round each other's houses all of the time. So when the girlfriend's teenage daughter decided the family should get a Dog I got roped into helping train the Dog.
This was more post-trauma rehabilitation than training. As it was a rescue Dog her exact origins were unknown. However it looked like an amateur attempt at Domestication which had failed. It looked as though someone that thought that Staffordshire Bull Terriers are quite an aggressive breed, good at fighting. While Lurchers are a very fast breed of Dog. So if you bred a Staffie with a Lurcher the result would be a very fast, aggressive Dog capable of hunting all the Rabbits.
That turned out not to be the case. So the entire litter was tied up in a garbage bag and chucked in the nearest river. Eventually one of that litter ended up with us, via a rescue shelter.
So we were presented with this very odd looking cross-breed dog that was so traumatised she wouldn't bark, let alone bite. The rescue shelter had given her the name; "Ruby." We all decided she looked more; "Screwby" than Ruby. Meaning; "A bit screwed-up, not quite right." So we quickly renamed her; "Screwby-Ru." A play on that famous cartoon Dog; "Scooby-Doo."
Although we didn't know it at the time "screwby" is actually US Marine Corp slang for something which is a bit screwed-up, not quite right. So we'd inadvertently, yet correctly used US Marine Corp slang to name this Dog.
One of the most acclaimed TV shows about the problems facing, predominately Black neighbourhoods, US inner-cities or ghettos is; "The Wire." Over the course of five seasons it examines all of the interconnected causes for those problems. Not just the only one that Critical Race Theory will permit you to consider.
The Wire was written by David Simon who actually served as an elite Special Reconnaissance US Marine during the Vietnam War. The next TV show David Simon made was; "Generation Kill" which tackled the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. It is a notably realistic portrayal of war. To the point the cast is made up of a mix of professional actors and Reconnaissance Marines playing themselves, doing what they did during the invasion of Iraq.
With me be quite heavily involved in opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, on top of my involvement in pre-9/11 warnings about the threat of Al Qaeda. Along with the fact I'd inadvertently, yet correctly, used US Marine Corp slang to name a Dog. There's quite a bit of me involved in Generation Kill. Particularly Episode 3; "Screwby" and Episode 5; "A Burning Dog."
In Euphoria Zendaya's character is a screwed-up, not quite right drug addict. The character's full name is; "Ruby Bennett" although everyone shortens that to just; "Rue." Almost exactly like how we shortened the Ruby part of that Dog's name to; "Ru." So Zendaya's character's name is a little joke about that. A common slang term for the drug Ecstasy is; "E." I'm certainly of the opinion that Ruby Bennett wouldn't be so screwed-up without that entirely superfluous E.
It was certainly a depressing realisation to come to, particularly when you've got Covid. That this brief throuple of mine was so long ago that if it had produced children then those children would now be as old as the characters in Euphoria. Just in case you were wondering what could make that Season 2, Episode 5 scene where Rue is in the throes of withdrawal in the bathtub even more depressing.
Given my connection to Israeli Jews and throuples the TV show Euphoria played a significant role in firmly shoving Miley Cyrus in my direction back in 2021. They even laid out a blueprint of how the relationship would work. The Season 2 relationship between Maude Apatow's "Lexi Howard" and Angus Cloud's "Fez." Although at one point they must have been introduced by mutual friends for the entirety of their relationship Lexi and Fez never meet in person. The entire relationship is conducted with them talking, directly, to each other on the phone. Particularly about their mutal love for the 1986 movie; "Stand By Me."
Although I can’t vouch for it myself the title of the song is also said to be inspired by the 2004 movie; “Kill Bill Vol.2.” The one with all the Samurai swords in it. In 2022 SZA, the other Half-Time Show headliner, released a song called; “Kill Bill” with a video inspired by the movie. Apparently SZA used to date Drake. Although she’s now, clearly, shifted her allegiances to Kendrick Lamar.
So by naming his response Euphoria Kendrick Lamar seemed to be acknowledging Drake's attempts to call on me and all of my achievements to help him. Then throwing that clear sign he was losing back in Drake's face.
The recorded version of Euphoria begins with a backwards clip from the 1978 movie; “The Wiz” – an all Black remake of 1939’s; “The Wizard of Oz.” The clip is the titular wizard saying; “Everything they say about me is true. I’m a phony.” A clear attack on Drake over his use of digital manipulation on Taylor Made Freestyle. It’s a further insult on Drake because The Wiz featured Michael Jackson, a well-known paedophile Drake has compared himself to. It’s seriously weird that Black America continues to celebrate a manipulative paedophile like Drake.
Used here the reference to The Wiz would allow you to talk about the 2024 prequel to The Wizard of Oz; “Wicked.” Within public policy you had what are known as; “Wicked Problems.” Those are problems with so many interconnected, conflicting causes they’re considered impossible to solve. The problems facing America’s inner-cities or ghettos, are examples of Wicked Problems. With enough interconnected, conflicting causes to fill five seasons of The Wire. Not just the only one Critical Race Theory will permit you to consider.
The Freeway part of the set is lined with street lamps. As a Freeway is. At the end of DNA/Euphoria the street lamps explode and go dark. Crime likes the dark. So when a municipal authority/city government is trying to cut crime one of the first things they do is increase the street lighting. The criminals then smash the street lighting. So the city government replaces them and the criminals smash them again. By which point the city government has run out of money to replace them a third time. Even with all the street lighting in the World you’re not going to see Critical Race Theory produce an analysis of that problem.
Next Kendrick Lamar performed; “Man At The Garden.” Another track from his, current, “GNX” album. Apart for allowing Kendrick Lamar to promote that album it only seems to have been included to allow it to be performed here in such a way that it included fragments which seem to closely resemble the rhythm pattern to the Kanye West song; “Jesus Walks.” That formally brings Kanye West and all on the Kanye West issues into the discussion.
This is actually a very Eurovision Song Contest style trick. Something where the Eurovision subculture differs from the music industry generally.
Hip-Hop/Rap is a genre built almost entirely around sampling. It began with someone playing records on twin turntables in a house or in a public space like a park. Someone would then rap over the song being played. DJ’s discovered they could mix the record on each turntable together. Using the rhythm from one song and the melody from the other, combined with the rapping to make a whole new song.
So pretty much every Hip-Hop/Rap song contains elements, samples and fragments of other songs. If a song becomes a hit this creates all sorts of arguments over plagiarism, copyright clearances and royalty payments. If the song is part of a rap feud it places all sorts of pressure on the copyright holder to pick a side or withhold the copyright clearance.
In the wake of the Super Bowl Kanye West’s ex-sister-in-law, Kourtney Kardashian’s teenage step-daughter, Alabama Barker has got into a Rap Battle with OnlyFans model Bhad Barbie (I can feel myself losing IQ points too). Bhad Barbie released a track which samples a Kanye West song and featured an AI version of Kanye West. No doubt prompting some tense phonecalls for Kanye West.
At the Eurovision Song Contest there is a strongly held social convention, rather than an actual rule, that you can only talk about Eurovision. So if you want to talk about something that’s happened in the World then it has to be referenced in a Song Contest entry.
The video Albania produced in support for what they hoped would be their 2024 entry contained sequences that closely resembled the video for Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night Away” from the; “Barbie” movie soundtrack. This was to allow the Eurovision community to discuss the Barbie phenomenon and Dua Lipa, who has got to be the World’s most famous Albanian at the moment.
The Republic of Ireland’s proposed entry began with the words; “I speak to destroy.” A clear reference to the 1999 album; “Speak & Destroy” by female-led heavy metal band “My Ruin.” Clearly a significant influence on Ireland’s proposed entry, Macroom, Co. Cork born; “Bambie Thug” and her perfidious demands that Israel be banned.
So when Eurovision entries resemble other songs it’s not an attempt at plagiarism, passing someone else’s work off as your own. It’s an attempt to acknowledge the other person’s work. The Eurovision community is supposed to recognise it as someone else’s work and be grateful for the opportunity to talk about that person's work.
The title of the Kanye West song feeds into the main theme of the Half-Time Show, how the Urban Geography of Los Angeles harms Social Cohesion and increased Ghettoisation. Jesus famously walked on water. Yet not even he could safely walk along the Freeways that connect LA’s patchwork of neighbourhoods.
Jesus Walks was used on the soundtrack for the 2005 movie; “Jarhead.” Set during the 1991 Gulf War, which did involve a limited US invasion of Iraq. Someone on YouTube has combined footage from Jarhead and Generation Kill to make an unofficial video for Jesus Walks. Probably without obtaining the appropriate copyright clearances. Although as Kanye West has, apparently, assured Kourtney Kardashian he approves every request.
Jesus Walks is not used on the soundtrack of Generation Kill, about the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Although the very final scene features the Johnny Cash song; “The Man Comes Around.” This is an interpretation of the passage from the Biblical Book of Revelations in which a White Horse is used to symbolise Just War, as opposed to Unjust War. At the time the song was written I, along with most of the city of Brighton, was having a debate with Johnny Cash over whether the 2003 invasion was a just or unjust war.
The final scene of Generation Kill features the song being played over the US Marines watching video they shot of their invasion of Iraq. Some of these are fictional scenes from the TV show. While some of them are actual footage of the invasion. Showing the actual brutality of actual war.
Aside from October 7th itself people who are familiar with the brutality of war, particularly wars in places like Sierra Leone, Liberia and Sudan are not shocked by the footage coming out of The Gaza Strip. Israel’s actions are actually extremely mild and tame by the standards of actual war.
In response to October 7th Israel had to call up all of its military reserves, all the people who had completed their compulsory military service. So everyone, basically. They then had to equip and refresh the training for all these people before they could take the war Hamas chose to Hamas in The Gaza Strip.
In order to fill the time Israel put on a big show for the World’s news media. Essentially acting out scenes from Generation Kill, only with added sexual innuendo. There are only about 5 million Israeli Jewish women. So if you date one of them, even as only part of a couple, then everybody gets to know about it. Everyone is in on the jokes about Generation Kill and Euphoria.
At this time the Biden-Harris Regime believed Israel to be a deeply traumatised nation, intent on bring vengeance upon poor, innocent Hamas. It was their duty to protect Hamas from the Devil Jews.
Meanwhile not only was Israel making jokes about the situation. Israel was making good jokes. That’s the sign of a professional military that is well within its comfort zone. Not a traumatised rabble intent on vengeance.
It’s worth pointing out that South Africa is also well in on the Generation Kill jokes. It was filmed there.
Man In The Garden was performed with a group of young Black men hanging around beneath a street-light in their neighbourhood. Being too young to have a driving license and too poor to own cars it's not as though they could go and be productive in another of LA's neighbourhoods. People who've watched The Wire would identify this sort of group as; "Corner Boys."
As the song ended the narrator returned and boomed; "Cultural cheat-code identified! Score-Keeper deduct one life!"
A huge insult to Drake. He hasn't seen Corner Boys in real life. He's just watched The Wire one too many times, while sitting in his wealthy Toronto suburb. Then decided to copy the culture he's only scene on TV.
At around 15:30 on 28/2/25 (UK date) this will have to wait until after Oscars weekend now. Then Oscars coverage will have to wait until this is finished.
Edited at around 18:00 on 3/3/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;
Then Kendrick Lamar performed; "Peekaboo" another track from his GNX album in the "X" neighbourhood of the stage setting. There didn't seem to be much significance to Peekaboo other than allowing Kendrick Lamar to promote his current album. Half-Time Show headliners don't get paid so they're expected to get a bit of a sales bump in return.
I can't say I'm complaining about there not being much substance to Peekaboo. It's a lot easier for me to write a paragraph than a chapter on a song. However if you were desperate to find some significance then you could turn it into a further talking point about how Streaming is changing the Music Industry. It used to be that artists were expected to put out an album around 45 minutes in length. That would lead to the inclusion of some songs which weren't up to the standard of the others. Something dubbed; "Filler." With Streaming we could be moving towards a future where artists don't release full albums. They just put out their best songs whenever they're ready.
As Peekaboo finished Kendrick Lamar walked up to a group of female dancers/performers and appeared to flirt with them. Telling them that he wanted to play them their favourite song but is worried he might get sued. They ask him which song. At which point a snippet of; "Not Like Us" was played. Kendrick Lamar's famous diss track against Drake. The one that finished Drake off, the one that topped the charts in the US. The one where there is huge suspense over whether Kendrick Lamar will be allowed to perform it or not.
As the snippet of Not Like Us ends the narrator, off-screen, can be heard exclaiming; "Have you lost your damn mind!" In response to what sounds like a massive breach of the rules of America's game.
Next Kendrick Lamar takes a long and winding walk over to the △ neighbourhood. To perform; "Luther" alongside SZA. Apparently SZA used to date Drake so her appearance here drove home the point that she has switched her alligiance to Kendrick Lamar. However I don't think that was supposed to be a shock. SZA and Kendrick Lamar have been working together for a number of years and it was already known that SZA will be supporting Kendrick Lamar on his upcoming tour. You'd assume giving people a glimpse of what to expect here would boost ticket sales for that upcoming tour.
Luther is another song from the GNX album. You could almost describe it as a ghetto love story. They're both miserable, living their hard lives in the ghetto however being together makes their lives slightly less miserable. It is named after legendary 1970/80's romantic Soul singer Luther Vandross while it samples the classic romantic Soul song; "If This World Were Mine" by equally legendary romantic Soul singer Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell from 1967. This harks back to a time before the Tupac/Biggie feud really narrowed what could be considered Hip-Hop/Rap or Black music. Begging the question of why it has to be a ghetto love song. What can't it just be a love song?
Some people have compared the stage setting to a Playstation Dual Shock video game controller. As two of those people are Kendrick Lamar and his art director Shelly Rodgers that's certainly not an invalid comparison. However even after being told about it I still needed to watch the Half-Time Show several times before I noticed it. So it feels like a bit of a stretch for me.
It looked more as though they needed separate neighbourhoods connected by a Freeway for the main theme of the Half-Time Show, LA's Urban Geography problems. For the Gridiron Football references one of those neighbourhoods needed to be an X, another needed to be an O and a third needed to be a gridsquare ⃞. They then needed a neighbourhood mini-stage for SZA to perform on. So they may as well make it an △ letting the stage setting resemble a Playstation controller. After all the Brutalist school of Urban Design sees the city as a machine, with individual parts working together for the collective good. A Playstation controller is certainly a type of machine.
Of course I'm much more familiar with Urban Geography than I am with video games. So I suspect that announcing the stage setting was a Playstation controller was a slight trolling of the gamer community. Encouraging them to stop distracting themselves with video games and pick up a book and educate themselves instead. It's worth noting that President Trump's son, Barron Trump, is said to be a keen gamer.
Next Kendrick Lamar and SZA performed; "All Of The Stars" from the soundtrack to the 2018 movie; "Black Panther." So the fact that SZA's shifted from her 2009 alliance with Drake towards Kendrick Lamar should hardly come as shock news in 2025.
You do sometimes get the impression that Black Lives Matter think that Black Panther is a documentary. The Wakanda of the movie is a real country within Mother Africa. Obviously it isn't. It's an entirely fictional place taken from the plot of a comic book. However it is vaguely inspired by actual African history.
The success of Black Panther inspired movies to be made about the African history which had, loosely, inspired it. This included 2022's "The Woman King" about the Agojie or Dahomey Amazons. An all female military regiment in the Dahomey Kingdom in what is now Benin in West Africa during the European Colonial Era. The movie met with a lot of controversy as it forgot to mention that the Dahomey and the Agojie specifically owned and traded Slaves.
The word; "Slave" actually has its origins in the word; "Slav." The Slavs are an exclusively White ethnic group from Eastern Europe. The name of the ethnic coming to mean Slave is due to the vast numbers of them who were owned as Slaves under both the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire.
Slavery is something which has been practiced by all Races against all Races across the World throughout history. It is something which is continued to be practiced, illegally, to this day. The Atlantic Slave Trade which Critical Race Theory driven Black Lives Matter will have you believe was the only form of Slavery is actually only a very small part of the history of Slavery. Under Black Lives Matter's bizarre rules against Cultural Appropriation Black people shouldn't be allowed to use the word Slave.
While it shouldn't be taken as a excuse for their actions. One of the things which allowed European Colonialists to think it was okay to own and trade Black people as Slaves is that when they first arrived in Africa they met with the rulers of the various African Kingdoms, such as the Dahomey. They told the European Colonialists that it was okay to keep Black people as Slaves while showing them and trying to sell them the Black people they owned as Slaves.
The video for All Of The Stars includes lots of images of Africa, the slightly fictional Africa of the movie and Black Lives Matter. Alongside the expected footage of poor people living in shacks, which is what a lot of Africa is still like, it also include the La Sape from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A French acronym for "Society of Ambience-Makers and Elegant People" this is a unique fashion subculture dedicate to elegance and sophistication. Very much inspired by the elegant Western fashion of the 1930s. So lots of double breasted suits, fedoras and walking canes. Which, incidentally, were always intended as weapons not walking aids.
The Congolese Sapeurs were the subject of a 2014 advertising campaign for Guinness. As with Guinness' 1999 Surfer campaign this won all of the awards at the time. I'm starting to wonder if there's a conspiracy to prevent Guinness from making Super Bowl commercials. Not that they've been able to keep up with the sales boost they received after the 2024 Election.
The very resource rich DRC has long suffered with many extreme examples of the type of brutal wars which have long affected resource rich African nations. African-led efforts to combat this type of conflict has often led to tension between African nations and the seemingly impotent International Criminal Court (ICC).
Although not broadcast towards the end of the Half-Time Show there was a staged Anti-War Protest. Very much in the style of the anti-Israel protests which caused the cancellation of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.
A performer/dancer held up a combined flag made up of the very similar Sudanese and Palestinian Flags with; "Sudan" and; "Gaza" written on it. A reminder that there is a long-running, extremely brutal war going on in a country on the Red Sea coast that no-one seems at all concerned about. You've also got another comparatively tame and mild war going on in a country on the Red Sea coast. One which involves Jews.
At around 18:15 on 3/3/25 (UK date) I won't be able to look at this again until Wednesday now.
Edited at around 17:55 on 5/3/25 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;
Although I'm not sure it was intentional. In my knowledge and experience I found this comparison between the current wars in Sudan and Gaza to be clumsy. Almost as clumsy as making the Philadelphi Corridor a main theme of the Super Bowl. Not least due to the similarities in the flags there has been a long history of comparing Sudan and Palestine. A torrid history which seems to have done nobody any good.
In their attempts to justify the October 7th Genocide Hamas fanboys such as Black Lives Matter have claimed that it was a legitimate response to Israel's occupation of The Gaza Strip. One of the huge problems with that is Israel doesn't occupy The Gaza Strip. Israel hasn't occupied The Gaza Strip since 2005.
The end of Israel's occupation of The Gaza Strip was immediately preceded by the Second Palestinian Intifada (2000-2005) this was a massive campaign of violence by Palestinians in both The Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. It was particularly marked by widespread suicide bomb attacks against Israeli civilians.
It was during the Second Intifada that I was dating this Israeli woman. I sometimes tell a story about how her sister came within moments of being killed in the suicide bombing of the Dolphinarium nightclub in Tel Aviv in June 2001. While it's true that her sister came within moments of being killed in a Hamas suicide bombing of a nightclub in Tel Aviv I'm not actually sure it was the Dolphinarium nightclub. If this ex-girlfriend wanted to talk to people about the Israel/Palestine Conflict she had plenty of people who were much more knowledgeable about it to talk to, in Hebrew. When she was talking to me and her girlfriend she wanted to be distracted from it.
So common were Palestinian suicide bomb attacks against Israeli civilians during the Second Palestinian Intifada that even for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) they started to blur into each other. As far as I can tell no-one has even been able to provide a complete list of all the Palestinian suicide bomb attacks against Israeli civilians. I just assume it was the Dolphinarium bombing as that's the one which seems to best fit the dates and locations, based on my memories of over 20 years ago.
As the slaughter of Israeli civilians increased, seemingly by the day, public pressure on the Israel government to stop the attacks increased. So the IDF increased its security operations against Palestinian terrorists in both The Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Although those security operations never escalated to the level of war they served to increase Palestinian aggression and terrorism. Which prompted ever harsher IDF operations. Creating this brutal spiral of ever increasing violence.
As now large parts of the so-called "International Community" its institutions, such as the United Nations (UN) became disgusted by the notion of Jews not being killed. So rallied against Israel's actions and demanded that the poor, innocent suicide bombers be protected from the Devil Jews.
In 2003 a war broke out in the Darfur region in North-West Sudan. The Landcruiser War (2003-2020). The exact causes of the Landcruiser War are not easy to quickly summaries. So you'll excuse me if I make some crass generalisations.
Around 300 million years ago there was only one landmass on planet Earth. The Super Continent of Pangaea. All of the nations and continents were the same country. Eventually Pangaea broke apart and became separated by the ocean, there is still only one. You can still see how the modern nation of Brazil fits together with the West Coast of Africa, the modern nations of Nigeria and Cameroon etc.
Humans only emerged on planet Earth around 3 million years ago. They first emerged in the area between the modern nations of Ethiopia. They then spread out across the World forming all of the different races.
Although it might come as a shock to Black Lives Matter Mother Africa is actually divided in two by the Sahara - Arabic for; "Desert" - which runs through Sudan. As, even with a Toyota Landcruiser, it is incredibly difficult to cross the Sahara this is where one of the first Racial division emerged. People living below the Sahara are what most Americans would recognise as Black. While people living above the Sahara are lighter-skinned. Living on the Southern coast Mediterranean Sea these Arab more closely resemble the Europeans living on the Northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The further North you get from theMediterranean Sea the lighter-skinned European's get. Until you get to the Arctic Circle where six months of constant sunlight means skin starts getting darker again.
Certainly since the time of the Colonial Turkish Ottoman Empire (1481-1922) Arabs have been the dominant ethnic group in Sudan. Since, at least, 1991 Sudan's Black population has accused the Arab population of practicing a formal government policy of Apartheid. Exactly like the Apartheid system carried out by the White population against the Black population in South Africa.
The Landcruiser War began when a coalition of Black Muslims in Darfur - the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and quasi-Ottoman Justice & Equality Movement (JEM) - took up arms against the Arab Muslim Sudanese government. In response the Sudanese government raised an Arab Muslim militia which became known as the; "Devil's On Horseback" or; "Janjaweed."
The Janjaweed's moniker comes from the brutality with which they oppressed Sudan's Black population. Something the ICC would later describe as the Crimes Against Humanity of; Murder, contrary Article 7.1(a), Extermination, contrary to Article 7.1(b)(h), Forcible Transfer (Ethnic Cleansing), contrary to Article 7.1(d), Torture, contrary to Article 7.1(f) and Rape, contrary to Article 7.1(g). All of the Rome Statute (1998). While the quasi-Ottoman JEM's actions were merely described by the ICC as; Murder, contrary to Article 7.1(a), Attacks against civilians, contrary to Article 8.2(e)(i) and Pillage, contrary to Article 8.2(e)(v). All of the Rome Statute (1998).
Faced with growing and, frankly, anti-Semitic criticism of its attempts to stop the Crime Against Humanity of Murder being carried out against its civilian population Israel pointed to The Landcruiser War. Asking why the UN and others were not at all outraged by Muslims killing other Muslims in far great numbers and far more gruesome ways than any side was doing during the Second Palestinian Intifada.
Very Passive-Aggressively the UN then started to turn its attention to The Landcruiser War. It then became something of a cause celebre for Hollywood Progressives, natural Black Lives Matter supporters. George Clooney narrated the 2007 documentary about it; "Sand And Sorrow." In 2010 George Clooney used his own money to establish the Satellite Sentinel Project to use satellites to monitor The Landcruiser War.
The Second Palestinian Intifada ended in February 2005. It wasn't until March 2005 that the ICC took any interest in, what itself describes as, the Crimes Against Humanity being committed by Arab Muslims against Black Africans in Darfur. Not that the UN or the ICC ever seemed to develop any interest in stopping The Landcruiser War. It continued for another 15 years.
Once The Landcruiser War had become a cause celebre for Hollywood Progressives Israel pointed out that it wasn't even the biggest, worst war going on in Sudan. That was The Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005). That began when the Apartheid Arab Muslim central government tried to impose Sharia Law on non-Muslim Black Africans in the Oil Rich South of the Country.
After not being at all bothered by this for 20 years the UN responded to Israel pointing it out in a very Passive-Aggressive Manner. The UN decided that it was going to impose a; "Two State Solution." Just like the Two State Solution they've been trying to impose on Israel since the Arab Aggression of 1967.
In 2011 Sudan was separated into the Arab-Muslim Sudan and the non-Muslim Black African South Sudan. This marked the start of the South Sudan Civil War (2011-Present). Again the UN, the ICC and the Western media seem to be completely missing in action. However the South Sudan Civil War has produced many documented instances of violence every bit as widespread and gruesome as those seen in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Darfur and many other resource rich African nations. Particular lowlights include not just Cannibalism but Forced Cannibalism in which civilians are murdered and their relatives are then forced to eat their bodyparts in order to further terrorise them.
In 2019 Sudan's government went against the Muslim Brotherhood so was overthrown. In 2023 the Transitional Sovereignty Council which replaced the Sudanese government also went against the Muslim Brotherhood. Triggering The Third Sudanese Civil War (2023-Present). With the Janjaweed resuming its Genocide of Black African Muslims. Only this time under the name; "Rapid Support Forces (RSF)."
Despite all the money he's spent on it George Clooney's Satellite Sentinel Project must be broken. It hasn't seemed able to see any of that. Instead George Clooney spent 2024 demanding that Joe Biden take action to protect poor, innocent Hamas from those Devil Jews. Then, when that failed, forcing the Democrat Party to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris as their candidate for the 2024 Election.
All of which has given me the impression that George Clooney is a really nasty piece of work. No wonder he's dedicated much of his career to protesting Anti-American Activities 'witchhunts.'
I'm tempted to say that if Black Lives Matter actually cared about Black Lives then they'd be protesting against the Arabs flying variations of the Palestinian flag who are committing Genocide against Black Africans. Rather than protesting the Devil Jews. Although my entire complaint is that this whole talking point was clumsy. The Sudanese people have clearly suffered enough from Westerners with no idea what they're talking about treating the country as some sort of political football.
George Clooney is an internal US problem though. They can solve him any time they like.
Throughout the Second Palestinian Intifada the International Community argued that it was legitimate resistance against the Israeli Occupation. So in June 2005 Israel decided to give this much vaunted Two State Solution a trial run. Unilaterally ending its occupation of The Gaza Strip.
What Israel got in response was not an end to violence but more violence. Throughout the withdrawal process Israeli civilians continued to suffer indiscriminate rockets attacks from The Gaza Strip. Within hours of the completion of the Israel withdrawal two rockets were fired at civilians in Israel. An apparent declaration of victory by the Palestinians. 11 days after the withdrawal a Hamas rocket launcher prematurely exploded in Jabaliya, killing 16 Palestinian civilians. The following day a barrage of 30 Hamas rockets were fired against civilians in Israel.
In June 2006 Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from The Gaza Strip in a raid which kidnapped Gilad Shalit. That kidnapping along with continuing and increasing rocket fire forced Israel to return to The Gaza Strip, fighting a small skirmish. Operation: Summer Rains. In 2014 Hamas reached an agreement with Fatah. Returning The Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority.
For many the October 7th Genocide marked the bloody end of this experiment. The final straw. It proved that there can be no Two State Solution with the Palestinian Authority. The only way that Israel can protect its citizens and prevent Crimes Against Humanity is by fully militarily occupying both the West Bank and The Gaza Strip. As permitted under actual International Law. The 1907 Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949).
In 2022 a sequel to Black Panther was released; "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." The lead single from its soundtrack was; "Lift Me Up" by Rihanna. The song went on to be nominated at The 2023 Oscars. While Rihanna would have performed the 2023 Super Bowl Half-Time Show. If only Miley Cyrus hadn't caused it to be cancelled. Kendrick Lamar and SZA performing their song from a Black Panther soundtrack officially brings those topics into the discussion.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA performed All Of The Stars across the △ and O neighbourhoods. SZA was finally able to escape her ghetto, cross the Freeway and join Kendrick Lamar in the O neighbourhood. During the song performers/dancers were slowly marching round and round and round the O neighbourhood. Making it look as though they were working a Capstan Wheel.
In the European Colonial Era, the era of the Atlantic Slave Trade, a Capstan Wheel was used to raise the anchor of a sailing ship. During that time White British Criminals were often forced onto sailing ships and taken across the Atlantic to the American Colonies where they were forced to work. Another form of Slavery. So not only wasn't the Atlantic Slave Trade only a small part of the history of Slavery, White Europeans along with Black Africans were also victims of it. Although the scale hardly compares.
When the Atlantic Slave Trade ended Britain simply adapted the Capstan Wheel as a form of Penal Servitude or Hard Labour. Rather than turning the Capstan Wheel to raise a ship's anchor prisoners were forced to turn a Capstan Wheel which was attached to nothing but paddles digging into the earth. Not work to make anyone rich. Just work to make the prisoners suffer, for the sake of suffering.
Included here as a separate neighbourhood in an Urban Design this was a clever little reference to Brutalism. Its efforts to crush the individual in order to get them to serve the Marxist collective with absolute obedience.
As the song ends the narrator reappears. To congratulate Kendrick Lamar on learning how to play America's game, playing a nice and calm song. Uncle Sam's face then drops as the first few bars of Not Like Us Starts to play.
At around 18:30 on 5/3/25 (UK date) I really want to be finished with this tomorrow.
Edited at around 18:20 on 6/3/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;
This is it. The moment all the suspense has been building to. Would Kendrick Lamar play the song? Would the NFL and the broadcaster FOX let him play the song? The song which is so clearly a violation of the rules of America's Game.
Kendrick Lamar played the song!
Earlier Kendrick Lamar sneaked Euphoria into the performance. Camouflaging it from the censors in DNA. Four days after Euphoria Kendrick Lamar released, on Instagram; "6:16 in LA." Another diss track against Drake which mocked the time and date theme Drake has used as titles for many of his releases. It particularly mocks Drake's ability as a Rapper, how he's really not been able to keep up during this Rap Battle.
A few hours later Drake released; "Family Matters," also on Instagram. An effort to show off how quickly he can think on his feet. That core skill that Rappers would be judged on if Rap Battles had a formal scoring system. The speed of Drake's delivery is also much faster than usual. An attempt to show off his skill in that other core ability Rappers would be judged on. If Rap Battles had a formal scoring system.
The track is really aggressive with Drake seeming to threaten to pay people to, literally, kill Kendrick Lamar and a long list of people Kendrick Lamar is associated with.
It particularly goes after A$AP Rocky who is the Father of Rihanna's children while citing Chris Brown as one of the people who are on Drake's side in this Rap Battle. Chris Brown and Rihanna, infamously, used to date. After Chris Brown and Rihanna broke up Drake and Rihanna dated for a bit. In June 2012 Drake and Chris Brown got into a fight over Rihanna. Then in September 2012 Rihanna and I had our Arranged/Forced Marriage. Both Chris Brown and Drake quickly fell by the wayside. Drake clearly still isn't over Rihanna. In the song Drake accuses Kendrick Lamar of domestic violence, beating up his girlfriend. The same way that Chris Brown beat up Rihanna. A really classy move that to me again sounds like Drake invoking me, in the hope I'll come and bail him out in the Rap Battle he's clearly losing.
Drake tried the same thing with the previous diss track he released "Taylor Made Freestyle." In which he used an AI version of Tupac Shakur, in the style of the posthumous Tupac song Ghetto Gospel. Tupac's estate objected to Drake using the AI version and forced him to delete the song. In Family Matters Drake accuses Kendrick Lamar of pressuring Tupac's estate filing that objection, implying that Drake had managed to hurt Kendrick Lamar's feelings that badly.
What I found interesting is that Kendrick Lamar is Black while Drake is mixed-race. His Father is Black while his Mother is White. It's ironic then that it's Drake who is accusing Kendrick Lamar of not being Black enough. Claiming that he cheats on the Mother of his children with White women, appeals to a White audience and secretly wants to be White like Michael Jackson wanted to be White. He does this while using really violent gangster language, despite being a nice Jewish boy from a wealthy Canadian suburb. It's really Drake equating Blackness with criminality. The big shift that happened in Hip-Hop/Rap after the famous Tupac/Biggie feud.
20 hours after Drake released Family Matters Kendrick Lamar responded with Not Like Us. It starts with that famous quote from the 1999 movie; "The Sixth Sense" - "I See Dead People!" Making it clear that the Rap Battle's now over. Drake's dead, Drake's finished. However where Drake seemed to be literally threatening to kill Kendrick Lamar in Family Matters it's clear that Kendrick Lamar is speaking metaphorically. If Drake had actually been killed we would have heard about it.
Kendrick Lamar is speaking equally metaphorically when he calls Drake a paedophile. On Taylor Made Freestyle Drake used an AI version of Tupac, a dead man who couldn't consent. He did it without even bothering to seek the consent of Tupac's estate. Exactly like a paedophile Drake's only interested in those who are unable to consent. Drake's Statutory Rape. Kendrick Lamar really invests in that metaphor while warning Drake not to go to Tupac's hometown of Oakland which, like Compton, is an area of California with a real reputation for violence. Not the fake, made-up violence of Toronto's wealthy suburbs. A putdown made all the more brutal by the fact it's wrapped in a clever metaphor.
Alongside a rhythm pattern provided by DJ Mustard Not Like Us is really just a sample of Monk Hill's 1968 version of; "I Believe In My Soul." The original being done by Ray Charles in 1961. Again this harks back to a time before the Tupac/Biggie feud when what's considered Black Music was so much more than just Gangster Rap. The use of the 1968 version is telling because that's when the George Wallace faction of the Democrat South was defeated by the Hubert Humphrey faction of the Democrat South.
Early in the song Kendrick Lamar claims he's going to be like John Stockton. That certainly could be interpreted as a reference to John Stockton, the Basketball player who is considered one of the greatest Point Guards of all time. Rather like a Quarter-Back in American Football a Point Guard is considered one of the most important players, it's their job to run the offence. Kendrick Lamar's running the game so well everyone can dunk on Drake now.
However it could also be interpreted as a mash-up of John C. Fremont and Robert F. Stockton. The US Army officers who expelled the Mexican Colonisers from what became Los Angeles. Two of Los Angeles' neighbourhoods are still named Stockton and Fremont Place.
Coming from a wealthy suburb of Toronto Drake has tried to boost his ghetto credentials by working with a lot of Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia. Such as Future, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Quavo and 2 Chainz.
As we've learnt from this main theme of this Half-Time Show, the Urban Geography of Los Angeles, the area was a small, yet very violent, town until it was connected to the Southern Pacific Railroad. Atlanta was established in 1836 as the start of the Western and Atlantic Railroad to connect Georgia to the Midwest. Its original name was; "Terminus." One of the first big businesses established in Atlanta was the Atlanta Rolling Mill Steelworks. Later renamed the Confederate Rolling Mill this provided all of the cannons for the Democrat South Army in US Civil War (1861-1865) along with the chains the Democrat South used to keep its Slaves in.
In one verse of Not Like Us Kendrick Lamar uses this to really go after Drake. Comparing him to a Coloniser who visits Atlanta to employ the local townspeople to make the chains of fake Gangster Rap which are keeping Black people enslaved. It's an insult so complex it's hardly a surprise Drake hasn't responded yet. He's probably been on Wikipedia ever since.
Kendrick Lamar and his record company Interscope went on to formally release Not Like Us. Producing a video for it which showed off Kendrick Lamar's home neighbourhood of Los Angeles, Compton. Showing how it's clearly not like where Drake grew up. The song was a massive hit debuting at #1 in the Billboard chart and staying there for 21 weeks. Breaking the record set by "Old Town Road" by Lil' Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus. Which I thought was a nice touch.
The Democrat South then tried to latch itself on to the success of Not Like Us as part of their 2024 Election campaign. With it being referenced by numerous Democrat candidates like Jasmine Crockett, Brandon Scott and Kwame Raoul. However the big one was Kamala Harris who used it as the anthem of her campaign. It was even used to announce California when the State cast its votes to make Kamala Harris the official nominee at the Democrat National Convention (DNC).
The thing is that Not Like Us is an attack on a mixed-race Canadian who fakes their Black credentials in order to keep America's Black population enslaved like the Colonisers of the Democrat South. Part of the insult is that it references the 1968 Democrat National Convention (DNC).
Kamala Harris is mixed-race. Her Father is Black while her Mother is Indian. Although she likes to tell people she grew up in Oakland, California the family moved to the Midwest when she was 2 years old. When she was 12 years old her family moved to Quebec. Which is in, oh yeah, Canada! Also.She was the Presidential Candidate for the Democrat South.
So Not Like Us is as much of an insult to Kamala Harris at it is to Drake. Yet she is paying money to be insulted and have voters see her being insulted as part of her Election campaign!
Clearly, Kamala Harris is an idiot. If she and the Democrats can't work out they're insulting themselves by adopting Not Like Us. Imagine what all the other countries are going to be able to do to America with them running it!
At around 18:40 on 6/3/25 (UK date) this is going to have to drag on into another week now.
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