Finally, A Real Rap Show Is Coming to the Super Bowl Halftime Show
After years of limited inclusion of hip-hop in one of music’s most anticipated concerts, the NFL is letting five of the greatest ever take center stage.
Remember when we said we need to have a rapper headline a solo show at the Super Bowl? Well, it looks like we got our wish…and then some…and then some more.
For anyone not aware, the Halftime Show performers for Super Bowl LVI will be Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar. Why so many people? Truthfully, we can only speculate. We know Dr. Dre has produced for all of them, and based on the F. Gary Gray-directed commercial promoting it, Dre seems more of a curator than a performer for the show — but he’ll likely get his verses in, too.
Multiple people from the same genre is a very surprising and rare decision. The Super Bowl has prided itself on bringing unexpected artists together to collaborate, just as the Grammys and other entertainment spectacles have done. Rap as a genre is more popular — and honestly more accepted — than ever thanks to platforms that make it accessible to new audiences, such as TikTok. The NFL is likely trying to tap into a cross section of their viewers as well.
