The “Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show,” the traditional halftime show at the NFL championship game, took place in Inglewood, a city in Los Angeles County, California. The location couldn’t have been more appropriate than the idea of bringing together a team of artists associated with the great producer Dr. Dre, one of the figures responsible for popularizing East Coast rap.
There were three major challenges for this performance: delivering a visually rich spectacle on par with previous editions, providing enough space for all the selected artists, and adhering to the NFL’s depoliticizing ritual with a genre that is inherently political.
The first two items were successful. The stage featuring icons from Compton (such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial) and the typical structures were not dependent on projections or screens, being realistically and theatrically constructed.
The selected artists were relevant, as was the setlist. The surprise appearance of 50 Cent not only evoked nostalgia from the 2000s but also, together with Mary J. Blige – responsible for the show’s dramatic peak – represented the union with New York hip-hop. Kendrick Lamar made the most of the theatricality, followed by Eminem, who had a brief but impactful presence, engaging the audience. Between the beginning and the end, Dr. Dre was accompanied by Snoop Dogg, although the conclusion somewhat overshadowed the other participants. One of the highlights was the constant presence of musicians, including the pleasant surprise of Anderson Paak. on drums. The arrangements brought cohesiveness and elevated the songs.
The choice of a predominantly African-American lineup is highly significant, paying homage to a genre that is inherently black in an event that has had many controversies and issues with that community. The performance was inevitably political, although implied, which makes it seem like the NFL is continuing its image cleanup to please everyone – even with Eminem breaking a supposed rule of not kneeling in reference to Colin Kaepernick. Despite everything, the greatest highlight is the ensemble of artists who came together to deliver an infectious and powerful show.
