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Serena Williams, the tennis legend, stole the spotlight during the electrifying Super Bowl Halftime show of rapper Kendrick Lamar. She did it with the culturally charged dance.
The unexpected cameo of Williams featured crip walk, a storied dance that originated in Los Angeles in the 1970s. It sparked both renewed debate and celebrations. Moreover, the moment highlighted Williams’s ties to the cultural fabric of L.A. while revisiting some past controversies, underscoring the complex interplay between public perception, identity and art.
Serena Williams Center Stage Crip Walk Evolution
The C-walk or Crip walk emerged from the South Central Los Angeles Crips gang. It was a form of coded communication. By the 1990s, the dance transcended its origins and became a staple within hip-hop, as the artists started reclaiming it as the symbol of local pride and resilience.
Williams, who grew up in Compton, through her performance, paid homage to her roots during the performance by Lamar. She aligned it with the rapper’s L.A. heritage. Of course, it was not the 1st time when Williams ignited discourse with her moves. In the 2012 Olympics, a celebratory dance by Williams after she defeated Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon drew the accusations of “glorifying gang culture.” The critics labeled it to be inappropriate. The supporters, though, argued this backlash carried the racial undertones, policing the Black expression. Later, Williams shrugged it, calling it “just a dance.”
Serena Williams Old Controversy Revisited
Art, race, and double standards- the Super Bowl moment reignited the discussions on the 2012 controversy. In the playful video that was posted post-show, she did laugh off the comparisons, saying, “Man I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon.” “Oh, I would’ve been fined,” she added. Williams further underscored the refusal to let the criticism dim the authenticity. Moreover, the performance subtext further extended beyond her dance.
Lamar’s performance included some songs like Not Like Us, the diss track that targeted track, with the lyric warning rapper for “now speaking on Serena,” a nod to the rumored past romance with Drake. While Williams, who’s now married to Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder since 2017, stayed above the fray, the line did highlight how her persona interacts with the broad cultural narratives.
Ultimately, the cameo of Serena Williams celebrated her roots, but it did expose the lingering societal tensions. With debates ongoing over artistic freedom vs. respectability persisting, Williams’s unapologetic embrace of her identity continues to challenge the norms, thereby proving that her influence extends far beyond the tennis court.
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