On 14 February, the world witnessed arguably one of the top Super Bowl halftime shows featuring stars Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J Blige. Three weeks before, the NFL released a four-minute trailer of the show, which was due to happen on February 14. The show hit differently as it was directionally and musically more inventive than the normal tropes of marching bands and fake fans on the pitch. Before the show began, the NBC hosts whispered it might become the greatest Super Bowl halftime show ever.
The show started with Snoop Dogg, donning a regal ultramarine blue tracksuit, and Dr Dre, atop a look-alike Compton Street set. The set had a replica of the MLK Memorial outside of the Compton Civic Centre. The show also featured a troupe of dancers freestyling across an aerial map of Compton’s Streets, and inside the set’s houses, more dancers and bands were playing on couches. The emergence of 50 Cent from the roof of one of the houses, in a hanging position from the ceiling recreating his classic 2003 video for In Da Club took place. Before fans could take a breath, Mary J Blige stood atop the set and sang Family Affair and No More Drama.
After her, Kendrick Lamar appeared with an army of zombie dancers from a series of cardboard boxes to perform Maad City and Alright. Then came Eminem, with his set-piece performance on ‘Lose Yourself’. The rapper gave an astounding performance recalling all the classic memories his track gained and is well famous for. The show finished off with Dre with a small tribute to 2Pac, where Dre played the piano riff of I Ain’t Mad At Cha.
NFL came under some criticism for failing to back players who took the knee. Several big-name artists refused to perform earlier. The joined performance from acclaimed artists Jennifer Lopez and Shakira gave returned their prestige to the slot. In simple words, it must be said that Super Bowl regained some credibility among fans after featuring five of the defining artists of 90s Hip-hop and R&B on the stage and led Dr Dre. There were several rumors regarding restrictions of Dre’s lyrics, Eminem’s request to take the knee at the ceremony, yet both these powerful moments did happen, and it was worth remembering for all the fans present in the stands.
