Kendrick Lamar Seemingly Omits "Popo" Bar In "Alright" During Halftime Show

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Fans noticed Kendrick Lamar omitted "popo" during his performance of "Alright" at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Hip-hop won at the Super Bowl on Sunday night. Dr. Dre popped out with an all-star line-up. Kendrick Lamar also popped out for one of his first televised performances in years. Of course, fans had high hopes that the Compton native would've debuted new music, though that never happened. Instead, Kendrick came through with a spectacular performance that opened with "m.A.A.d city" before transitioning into "Alright." 

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"Alright" became a protest anthem over the years for the Black Lives Matter movement and it doesn't seem to be a coincidence that Kendrick chose this record, in particular, to perform during the Super Bowl. The NFL continues to face backlash over Colin Kaepernick's dismissal from the league after he took a knee in protest against police brutality. Brian Flores also accused the league of racial discrimination in their hiring tactics. 

Kendrick breezed through the record but fans quickly noted that he omitted the term "popo" from the bar, "And we hate popo, wanna kill us dead in the streets, fo sho." Of course, some believed that the censored line was the work of the NFL to appease corporate sponsors and right-wing audiences who would've preferred to see Kid Rock on stage.


The interesting thing about the term being excluded from Kendrick's performance was that Dr. Dre later rapped the original bars from "Still D.R.E" where he raps, "Still not loving police." 

A previous report claimed that the NFL attempted to prevent Dr. Dre from rapping that bar in particular and tried to stop Eminem from taking a knee in honor of Colin Kaepernick. However, a rep for the NFL called those claims "erroneous," explaining that they already watched several rehearsals throughout the week.

"We watched every rehearsal this week and these elements were included," the statement read. "As you know, no player, coach, or personnel member has been sanctioned for taking a knee so there would be no reason for us to tell a performer he or she could not for whatever reason."

Check out a few reactions to Kendrick's performance below.  






About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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