2/10/2025 Update: Thoughts on Kendrick’s Halftime Performance:
Listen on Youtube, Spotify, and Apple!
Super Bowl 59 is coming up on Sunday, February 9, 2025 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana! The Kansas City Chiefs and The Philadelphia Eagles will be playing against each other, but as a music and pop culture lover I am more excited about the half-time show! This year’s halftime performer is Kendrick Lamar (playlist here), so this should be exciting! It got me thinking about previous halftime performances and here are my Top 8.
Prince’s 2007 Halftime performance! He was literally playing “Purple Rain” as it just so happened to literally be raining! Click here to watch the performance.
Michael Jackson’s Halftime performance back in 1993 circa the Dangerous album era. It really was a mini concert from the King of Pop. People were passing out at the sight of MJ! Click here to watch on YouTube.
Photo from Google Images
Janet Jackson’s Halftime performance back in 2004. Despite the infamous wardrobe malfunction Ms. Jackson and her dancers hit every 8-count. Click here to watch on YouTube.
Photo from Google Images
Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, and Coldplay got in “formation” during the 2016 halftime show. Click here to watch.
From Google Images
Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child reunited for the 2013 halftime show and literally shut it down! The lights in the arena went out after the epic performance causing a 33 minute blackout. Click here to watch!
From Google Images
The Super Bowl 2022 halftime show was epic! I enjoyed it and the set design was awesome as well as the performances! It was a nice surprise to see Anderson.Paak on the drums and 50 cent make an appearance. Mary J.’s thigh high boots were everything and Kendrick and Eminem, Dr.Dre, and Snoop Dogg were great too! Click here to watch!
From Google Images
Last but certainly not least Rihanna’s 2023 Halftime Performance. She came down from the ceiling pregnant belly and all and still performed! Click here to watch.
In 2024, Usher literally rolled out in skates and performed a medley of his hits. Click here to watch.
From Getty Images/Kevin Mazur
I am excited about the 2025 Halftime Show where Kendrick Lamar will perform! I know it’s gonna be everything!!!! I can’t wait. Also, Kendrick and SZA are going on a tour this Spring. Will you be going?
Beyoncé won album of the tart at the 2025 Grammys for her album “Cowboy Carter.”
🐝 What are your favorite albums/eras so far?
My favorite #Beyoncé songs are NOT usually on mainstream radio. The album cuts are where the gems are!
I did this Beyoncé Bracket from a few years ago before “Cowboy Carter” and “Renaissance” albums . I didn’t create this game. I just found it on social media and filled it out. As a member of The Beyhive, 🐝 I found this bracket’s song selections were kind of difficult to choose from, and certain songs on the bracket are better performed live in concert versus just listening to in your headphones.
There is also different energy on stage when Beyoncè is performing on tour alone versus performing with Jay-Z. I’ve also provided a blank copy of the bracket, so you all can play too. Click the link below to listen to my favorite songs on my Beyoncé Playlist on Spotify and click here for the Beyoncé Playlist on Apple Music and here for the playlist on Tidal.
This bracket game is similar to the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament bracket instead of teams it’s songs. Out of the categories given you pick the song out of the two that you like more and that song advances to another round with other songs. Kind of like 2 basketball teams play a game and the winner moves on to the next level game and competes with other teams. It’s fun! Let’s play!
I share a birthday with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so, to celebrate back in 2017 over the MLK holiday weekend my family and I traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit Dr. King’s Monument and tour the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visiting Dr. King’s monument was free and is within walking distance to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
On November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law, designating the third Monday in January a federal holiday in observance of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The legislation to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first introduced just four days after his assassination on April 4, 1968. Still, it would take 15 years of persistence by civil rights activists for the holiday to be approved by the federal government and an additional 17 years for it to be recognized in all 50 states.
On 1964 Independence Way is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Memorial. The address for the memorial references the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The 30-foot statue of Dr. King emerges from two stone boulders as his arms are folded and he looks out. When I saw the statue towering above me in my mind I thought of Dr. King’s words from the “I Have a Dream” speech. On the side of the statue is a quote from the speech that says, “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” I felt such an array of emotions visiting the museum and seeing Dr. King’s monument. We have come a very long way in the United States, however, we still have some ways to go.
Poet Langston Hughes’ “I, too am America” quote is written on the walls of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The quote is an excellent example of the well-known and unsung Black people who have contributed to American society. The museum’s grand opening was in September 2016 and various celebrities and philanthropists such as: Oprah Winfrey, Bill and Melinda Gates, Denzel Washington, and Robert Wright financially contributed to the building of the museum. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga), spent years fighting Congress to make the museum a reality. In 2003, former President George W. Bush signed the legislation authorizing the National Museum of African American History and Culture to be built.
The three-tier bronze aluminum building, which was designed by Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye, sits on the National Mall near the Washington Monument. Admission to the museum is free, but you have to pre-order the timed entry e-tickets by going to the museum’s website at www.nmaahc.si.edu. It takes several hours to tour the entire museum, and if you get hungry from all the walking there is a restaurant located in the museum. The self-guided tour is such an emotional journey, but I recommend all ages and races of people to visit. The basement of the museum starts at The Slave Trade and each level ascends to another time period. These other time periods range from: The Civil War, The Signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, The Era of Legal Segregation, The Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party, African-American Achievements, and music, sports, and pop culture of previous decades, up until The 44th President Barack Obama’s presidency and present day. Overall, the museum is very nice and detailed. My family and I stayed for several hours and still did not absorb everything the building has to offer! I’m pretty sure if I were to visit again I would see things that I didn’t notice the first time.
Even if you don’t have an opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. my hope is that all people will take time out of their schedules to read and educate themselves on Black history. I’m so appreciative of my ancestors and everything they endured for me to have the privileges I have today as a Black woman in America.
Today is my Birthday! I feel blessed to share a birthday with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated’s Founders’ Day. I’m grateful to God for another year of life and for the lessons I’ve learned and am continuing to learn.
Check out www.anchor.fm/asiamber and other platforms to listen to the “As-I-Amber” podcast “30 on 30” episode from four years ago where I went more in depth about the life lessons I’ve learned so far and still learning. I never would’ve imagined back in 2020-2021 entering my 30’s still in a global pandemic.
Listen on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
I wanted to be on a beach chillin’ with my toes in the sand listening to the ocean waves crash. Instead of being on an island for my winter birthday I chilled at home. The pandemic and life in general, have taught me that things don’t always go our way and that sometimes we make plans, but God laughs.
It seems like yesterday I was a 16-year-old who just got her driver’s license and was on MySpace listening to the girl group, Danity Kane. Now, I’m an official adult that pays bills, yet still watches Disney Plus, needs a snack, and a nap to function. The young people on Tik-Tok would call me “old” and older adults call me “young.” I feel in between.
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.- Edith Wharton✨🪞💫
In my twenties, I had lots of adventures as well as ups and downs. I gained weight, lost friends, gained friends, and lost weight. I studied abroad and graduated from college, moved back home with my parents, then moved out of state to a city where I knew no one. I worked in photography, applied for numerous jobs, worked in Corporate America, and now behind the scenes in TV. I traveled the world visiting New York City, Italy, Greece, London, Paris, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. I’ve also gone to numerous concerts seeing Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Janet Jackson, Solange, Jazmine Sullivan, Drake, Future, Migos, OutKast, Monica, Erykah Badu, and JoJo perform. I guess you can say I like music and live my life to the fullest.
My travels to Paris, Greece, London, & Italy.The Pyramids of Giza in EgyptAl-Kheznah (The Treasury) Petra, JordanAt Beyoncé & Jay Z’s #OnTheRunII Concert in 2018.
I know it is 2025 and this is not an episode of Netflix’s “Bridgerton” set in the 1800s. Yet, depending on your culture or environment in some places when a woman hits her 20’s and early 30’s the majority of her peers in her age bracket have children and are getting married and if you’re not a mommy, fiancé, or wife by a certain age you’re looked at differently.
Currently as an unmarried 34-year-old woman with no children I enjoy my freedom to pick up and go without having to consider anyone else, yet sometimes some people peculiarly look at me because of that. There is an unspoken, yet loud sound of the tick-tock of an accomplishment timer and biological clock. We are bombarded with various messages about getting older and what that means regarding fertility or relationship status.
Society tells us what we “should” be doing or accomplishing by a certain time frame. Then in this digital age, it is so easy to compare our lives to what others choose to display on social media and we think that we “should” have accomplished certain milestones by a certain age, and if not you’re somehow “behind” or a failure in life.
But, I’m here to remind you all and myself that God made you a unique individual. Everyone is displaying their highlight reel on social media, but you don’t always know their behind the scenes. Everyone’s life path is different and it does not make you better than or less than if you have achieved or experienced certain things more or less quickly on this journey of life.
Remember you are fearfully and wonderfully made. According to Galatians 6:4-5 (MSG) “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”
I feel like a butterfly that has gone through metamorphosis during my 20s and is now breaking from the cocoon to take flight. I’m continuing to live my life like it’s golden and am excited for all the things that God has in store for me. Cheers to this new chapter of life!
January 15th is my Birthday! I feel blessed to share a birthday with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated’s Founders’ Day. I’m grateful to God for another year of life and for the lessons I’ve learned and am continuing to learn.
I never would’ve imagined back in 2020-2021 entering my 30’s still in a global pandemic.
Listen to the episode from 2021 on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
When you have a birthday right before or after Christmas you’re usually mindful of the fact that people just spent all their money on the holidays, barely have PTO days, are on a “New Year, New Me” diet or fast.
I wanted to be on a beach chillin’ with my toes in the sand listening to the ocean waves crash. Instead of being on an island for my winter birthday I chilled at home and went to one of my favorite Hibachi restaurants.
The pandemic years and life in general, have taught me that things don’t always go our way and that sometimes we make plans, but God laughs.
It seems like yesterday I was a 16-year-old who just got her driver’s license and was on MySpace listening to the girl group, Danity Kane. Now, I’m an official adult that pays bills, yet still watches Disney Plus, needs a snack, and a nap to function. The young people on Tik-Tok would call me “old” and older adults call me “young.” I feel in between.
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” – Edith Wharton✨🪞💫
In my twenties, I had lots of adventures as well as ups and downs. I gained weight, lost friends, gained friends, and lost weight. I studied abroad and graduated from college, moved back home with my parents, then moved out of state to a city where I knew no one. I worked in photography, applied for numerous jobs, worked in Corporate America, and now behind the scenes in TV. I traveled the world visiting New York City, Italy, Greece, London, Paris, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. I’ve also gone to numerous concerts seeing Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Janet Jackson, Solange, Jazmine Sullivan, Drake, Future, Migos, OutKast, Monica, Erykah Badu, and JoJo perform. I guess you can say I like music and live my life to the fullest.
My travels to Paris, Greece, London, & Italy.The Pyramids of Giza in EgyptAl-Kheznah (The Treasury) Petra, JordanAt Beyoncé & Jay Z’s #OnTheRunII Concert in 2018.
I know it is 2025 and this is not an episode of Netflix’s “Bridgerton” set in the 1800s. Yet, depending on your culture or environment in some places when a woman hits her 20’s and early 30’s the majority of her peers in her age bracket have children and are getting married and if you’re not a mommy, fiancé, or wife by a certain age you’re looked at differently.
Currently as an unmarried 34-year-old woman with no children I enjoy my freedom to pick up and go without having to consider anyone else, yet sometimes some people peculiarly look at me because of that. There is an unspoken, yet loud sound of the tick-tock of an accomplishment timer and biological clock. We are bombarded with various messages about getting older and what that means regarding fertility or relationship status.
Society tells us what we “should” be doing or accomplishing by a certain time frame. Then in this digital age, it is so easy to compare our lives to what others choose to display on social media and we think that we “should” have accomplished certain milestones by a certain age, and if not you’re somehow “behind” or a failure in life.
But, I’m here to remind you all and myself that God made you a unique individual. Everyone is displaying their highlight reel on social media, but you don’t always know their behind the scenes. Everyone’s life path is different and it does not make you better than or less than if you have achieved or experienced certain things more or less quickly on this journey of life.
Remember you are fearfully and wonderfully made. According to Galatians 6:4-5 (MSG) “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”
I feel like a butterfly that has gone through metamorphosis during my 20s and is now breaking from the cocoon to take flight. I’m continuing to live my life like it’s golden and am excited for all the things that God has in store for me. Cheers to this new chapter of life!
I love all genres of music and have created a playlist of rock-influenced songs from and inspired by Black artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, Willow Smith, Prince, and more.
Playlist available below on Spotify. Click here for Apple Music and click here for Tidal.
Many secular rappers have sampled Gospel music in their songs. Here’s a playlist I curated of some of those featured songs. See below for Spotify and click here for Apple Music and here for Tidal Music.
**November 4, 2024 Update: Rest in Peace Mr. Quincy Jones***
Amber and radio legend, Ms. Queen Rasheeda Ali, discuss legendary music producer Mr. Quincy Jones. Click here to listen to the podcast episode. Click here for the Apple Music Playlist and below for Spotify.