On Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the Super Bowl halftime show will feature local rap heroes Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar show, putting hip-hop firmly at the center of the annual spectacle, routinely watched by more than 100 million people for the first time.
The show, which is produced in part by Jay-Z’s entertainment and sports company, Roc Nation, will also star Eminem and Mary J. Blige, but it won’t be the first to feature rap music. The genre has taken a rocky, circuitous road to Super Bowl headliner status, with this year’s event coming at an increasingly exciting time for the NFL in terms of racing.
That baggage is nothing new: At least since 2016, when quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police killings of black people, the league has faced questions about its commitment to diversity and social justice, on the field and beyond. More than 70 percent of the league’s players are black, but the NFL has no black owners and, until recently, only one black head coach. This month Brian Flores, the Miami Dolphins head coach who was fired last month, sued the league, alleging that he and others had been discriminated against during the hiring process.
Those debates have seeped into the entertainment business. In 2017, long before his company partnered with the NFL, Jay-Z turned down an offer to perform in the Super Bowl and reportedly urged others to do the same. In the ensuing years, with Jay-Z declaring “we’ve gone kneel by” to some backlash among players and fans, Roc Nation has booked pop extravaganzas with the Weeknd, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.
But dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg — though they’re among the most recognizable hip-hop veterans with decades of hits and pop culture cache between them — represent something different, and that might be the idea. “At one point, Dre was in a group banned by popular culture,” said Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, who headlined the show in 2011, citing the widespread controversy of Dr. Dre’s early gangster rap act NWA
That the NFL has now turned to these once-controversial figures with their own checkered pasts may seem a far cry from the days of pearling over Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction in 2004, MIA’s middle finger in 2012, and Beyoncé’s nods to the Black Panthers in 2016. But some do. saying it’s also indicative of the competition’s long, erratic journey to embrace black music and culture, especially rap, as well as the need to bolster community loyalty now.
“The NFL is positioning the halftime show as a meaningful event,” said Dr. Ketra Armstrong, a professor of sports management at the University of Michigan and the director of the Center for Race & Ethnicity in Sport, in an interview. “But to some, it seems like an NFL feat to showcase these artists. It feels like window dressing. You use black talent to entertain the masses, but what do you do to honor the essence of hip-hop, such as tackling racial injustices in the communities that have spawned this workforce of black talent?”
The Super Bowl halftime wasn’t always a place for hitmakers. In 1967, as popular music ventured in daring directions, a television audience of approximately 51 million watched the University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band perform a selection of tunes, including the Dixie anthem “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee.”
Other marching bands have been in the spotlight for years, as have avatars of safe, family-oriented entertainment, such as Andy Williams and Carol Channing. Not a single rock artist played the halftime show until 1988, nearly seven years into the MTV era, when the oldies act Chubby Checker did at Super Bowl XXII. Three years later, New Kids on the Block would become the first contemporary pop group to perform at the event, and the show remained dull middle-of-the-road until Michael Jackson’s powerful performance in 1993.
In the years that followed, established greats like Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder dominated, sometimes with more modern acts like Gloria Estefan and Boyz II Men as guests, although the nascent hip-hop of the 1990s was absent. When Queen Latifah took part in the Motown tribute in 1998, she performed “Paper,” one of her first songs not to feature rap.
The next modern MC to hit the Super Bowl stage was Nelly in 2001, as part of a larger ensemble of pop characters. He returned in 2004 and was joined by P. Diddy, who performed more contemporary rap than ever before. But that was also the year that changed everything: after a mishmash of performances by Diddy, Nelly and Kid Rock, Janet Jackson sang “Rhythm Nation” among others – an idealistic ode to unity and Black power (“Join voices in protest /To social injustice “) – before closing the show by doing a duet with Justin Timberlake on his hit song “Rock Your Body”. Just before the commercial break, Timberlake put his hand on Jackson’s suit, pulled on it and bared her right breast, causing a national outcry.
Years later, the Super Bowl halftime producers retreated to the safety of classic rock: Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and the Who all performed. It was during that period of careful conservatism that Will.i.am saw an opening.
“I flew to New Jersey, went to NFL headquarters and threw the Black Eyed Peas,” he said in an interview. “We weren’t like, ‘Yo, we’re family friendly!’ Or “We rated PG, bro.” My pitch was, ‘You know you’ve got to have pop again at halftime.’” It wouldn’t be long, he warned the NFL, before they ran out of classic rock bands.
In 2011, the Black Eyed Peas got the gig, bringing the NFL back into the modern mainstream. But the worries about putting on a show that was palatable to all audiences lingered. “There’s a girl in our group,” Will.i.am said, referring to singer Fergie. “They were nervous about that,” he said, “checking our wardrobes like we were going through goddamn security at the airport.”
“You have to understand the circumstances and the walls,” Will.i.am added. “We’ve broken open the door to take the NFL out of that fear of pop and urban music after a seven-year hiatus with nothing but legacy. Now to get everyone from Bruno to Beyoncé to Dre to Snoop talking about a total change from perspective on the importance of diversity and inclusion,” he said, referring to Bruno Mars, who headlined in 2014 and returned as a guest two years later.
But even as rap slowly regained its place on the Super Bowl stage—with Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliott, Travis Scott, and Big Boi all making cameos over the past decade—questions linger as to whether the music and the messages 12 minute show as the genre gains importance.
“The NFL is trying to look better by celebrating hip-hop, but they have to to do better,” said Dr. Armstrong, the professor. “I hope the artists will use their own power and influence to get them to do this.”
A brief history of hip-hop during halftime
Super Bowl XXXII (1998)
When in doubt, it’s always safe to program something nostalgic, like a greeting to Motown’s 40th birthday (the label was founded in 1959). The featured acts were the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and Martha and the Vandellas. To balance the appeal of the generation, they were joined by the label’s then-top act — throwback harmony group Boyz II Men — and Motown rapper Queen Latifah, who performed a new-jack swing-inspired version of “I Heard.” It” sang. Through the vine.”
Super Bowl XXXV (2001)
St. Louis rapper Nelly, who released the breakthrough Top 20 pop hit “EI” in 2000, was an afterthought on this bill, featuring the rock band Aerosmith, then in its fourth decade, and the peppy pop phenomenon ‘N Sync. The two groups alternated songs, then reunited for the grand finale, “Walk This Way,” joined by Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly, whose “EI”/”Walk This Way” mash-up is only half of his first verse. Total camera time for rap: 18 seconds.
Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004)
Three years later, Nelly returned and released his No. 1 hit “Hot in Herre,” which urged listeners to “take off all your clothes.” Coupled with Kid Rock and P. Diddy, there was a lot more rap in it than in any previous Super Bowl show. But this infamous halftime show is mostly remembered for the Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake incident that left her chest mostly exposed. Not long after, Jawed Karim, a computer science and engineering student, became frustrated with how difficult it was to find a clip of that moment online, and discovering a market niche for a video-sharing site quickly helped YouTube to find.
Super Bowl XLV (2011)
The NFL let pop music disappear from the halftime show for several years, eager to avoid bad publicity or criticism from Congress. But the range of much-loved rock stars was limited, and Ricky Kirshner, in his debut as producer on the show, brought in the pop-rap group Black Eyed Peas. The group raced through their many hits as they hopped around a set that looked like a “Tron” reboot. And in the Super Bowl’s attempt at wider appeal, Slash of the rock band Guns N’ Roses played guitar while Fergie, of the Black Eyed Peas, sang the band’s ferocious “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” .
Super Bowl XLVI (2012)
Madonna headlined the show in a gladiator cingulum — with ample help from the short-lived massive party-rap duo LMFAO; the rapper and singer Cee Lo Green; and Nicki Minaj and MIA, two inventive rap talents who recently recorded “Give Me All Your Luvin'” with Madonna. MIA’s verse had a few expletives beeping out, and instead she held up her left middle finger at the camera. The FCC reportedly received more than 200 complaints, about one in every 450,000 viewers. The NFL apologized to the public and filed arbitration claims demanding $16.6 million from MIA, which they believe violated a contract obliging it to abide by anti-blasphemy. This prompted MIA to tweet at Madonna, “Can I borrow 16 million?” The dispute was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Super Bowl XLIX (2015)
In the most-watched halftime show ever, with nearly 115 million viewers, headliner Katy Perry was joined by Lenny Kravitz for a rocking rendition of her hit “I Kissed a Girl,” but the real second banana was Missy Elliott, who played parts of three of her songs: “Get Ur Freak On”, “Work It” and “Lose Control”. The combination of Perry and Elliott seemed more natural than other shotgun marriages, as both are pop surrealists. More than two years later, Elliott tweeted that she’d been in the hospital the night before the Super Bowl, and when her first song started, “I was SO SHOOK. I said Lord, I can’t go back now.”
Out of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, a number of black artists are rumored to have turned down offers to perform in 2019. Instead, Maroon headlined 5 with guest spots from Travis Scott and Big Boi from Outkast. “It is what it is,” said Maroon 5 vocalist Adam Levine after people criticized the band, accusing it of violating a boycott. “We would like to get rid of it.”
Super Bowl LIV (2020)
Knowing it needed to mend its relationship with hip-hop, the NFL teamed up with Jay-Z and Roc Nation to produce the Super Bowl halftime show. Kaepernick “was done wrong,” Jay-Z told DailyExpertNews. “But it was three years ago and someone has to say, ‘What are we doing now — because people are still dying?'” The headliners were Shakira, a management client of Roc Nation, and Jennifer Lopez: Two Latina Women Who Released Albums in Spanish and English. They were joined by Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican rapper and singer; and J Balvin, a Colombian who brought reggaeton, the younger Spanish-speaking cousin of rap from the Caribbean, to the Super Bowl stage.