Kendrick Lamar delivered a performance at this year’s Super Bowl that left the world talking. From its impactful message, the powerful vocals of SZA, Serena Williams making a surprise appearance on stage, and the “Say Drake” that broke the internet, people are talking, and the reviews have been mixed, to say the least. 

According to Billboard, they felt like the show was lacking something. 

“Was it a perfect halftime performance? Perhaps not. Despite him seemingly rapping without a backing track, playing a few of his chart-topping hits, and bringing out a fellow chart-topper in SZA, the set would have benefited from a real and true surprise,” said Billboard. 

Although Billboard had some critical opinions, let’s see if Rowan students had any different opinions on this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. 

When it comes to the halftime show, it inherently is going to spark conversations on whether or not it lived up to the expectations of a Super Bowl performance. This year was no different. 

Freshman Kayla Nogueira did not enjoy Lamar’s performance and gave it a low score, and only really enjoyed the special guests. 

“I rate it a two. It was awful. It was terrible. I hated it so much. The only good part was SZA came out, and Serena Williams was doing a crip walk up on a stage. That was the only good part,” said Nogueira. 

Lamar has a long track record of global hits, with five number-one songs and 20 Grammy awards. It couldn’t have been easy to create a setlist of all the hits with just 13 minutes of airtime. Although Lamar leaned into the songs off his most recent body of work, “GNX.” 

Junior exercise science major Alexa Ronning felt Lamar was good for fans but felt it didn’t really resonate with the general public. 

“I think Kendrick’s set list was decent. I like the songs he played because he is a trending artist in today’s generation, so they are all songs that I listen to. I know adults weren’t a huge fan because they didn’t know any of his songs except for a verse in one of his most popular songs,” said Ronning. 

At the Super Bowl, performers are known for putting on a show-stopping performance with big lights, bright fireworks, and neatly coordinated choreography. Katy Perry had dancing sharks, and Lady Gaga dropped in from the roof of NRG stadium. For this year’s performance, Lamar decided to take a symbolic route, with his dancers donned in red, white, and blue, at times dancing to take the shape of the American flag in a very chill fashion. 

Freshman engineering entrepreneurship major Ryan Stutzenburg believed the choreography didn’t really match the energy of some of Lamar’s hits. 

“The choreography was a little odd for some of his songs that were supposed to have a kick to them. For example, the dancers were just nodding their heads for the first part of ‘Humble.’ It felt a little off. Overall performance didn’t match Kendrick’s fast-paced music and remained relatively chill,” said Stutzenburg. 

Serena Williams and Samuel L. Jackson were two special guests seen on stage with Lamar during the big game, yet the special guest that everyone was talking about was New Jersey native SZA.

SZA joined Lamar to sing shortened versions of their two hit songs, “Luther” and “All The Stars.” 

Freshman Sairis Jimenez felt SZA stole the show from Lamar. 

“I’d argue that her vocals outshone Kendrick’s during that performance. There was something hypnotic about the way she commanded the stage, drawing me in even though I don’t know much of her music. It almost felt like she should have had the spotlight instead her voice, her aura, and the way she carried herself made it feel like she was the true star of the moment,” said Jimenez.  

Overall, it seems as if Rowan students are just as mixed as the rest of the world in their opinions of this year’s halftime performance.

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