Chance The Rapper praises Super Bowl protester during Kendrick Lamar’s performance
Chance The Rapper has praised the protestor who disrupted Kendrick Lamar’s performance at the Super Bowl. During the halftime show earlier this month, one of the performers broke out from his routine to run across the field while waving around a Sudanese and Palestinian flag.
While appearing on TNT’s NBA Tip-Off, Chance shared his thoughts on Kendrick headlining the show. He also chatted with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith about the protest act, giving the man credit for speaking up.
“I thought it was awesome,” he said. “First of all, it was the first time a rapper headlined the Super Bowl. It’s long overdue. But I think it was an incredibly impactful performance. It was a great time to see and hear what’s culturally relevant right now. And I think one of the coolest things that I saw was, you know, it was a moment of protest and a moment of us getting to see what’s going on in the world.”
He continued, “So shout out to Sudan, shout out to Gaza, shout out to Goma, and the people that are just suffering around the world. It was an opportunity for the world and for, you know, I’m saying the President of the United States to see what’s going on out there.”
The protestor was 41-year-old Zül-Qarnaįn Nantambu, who made his pro-Gaza act during Kendrick’s performance of ‘Not Like Us’. Speaking to Dazed, he said, “I was inspired to use this opportunity to shed light on our Muslim brothers and sisters who are suffering, oppressed and going through hardships,” he said.
“As Muslims, we’re one body, so if one part of the body hurts, we all hurt. I just felt like I had to do my part and trusted God would do the rest. I just had to mentally get over the anxiety: this could happen or that could happen, what if nobody sees it, what if law enforcement does this or that.”
He added, “I had myriad thoughts that I just had to block out my mind and not put any energy into. Once I was out there running with the flag, I just felt like I was just in motion. It wasn’t an out-of-body experience, but I was in the moment.”