Snoop, Dre, Eminem, Mary J., Kendrick
This is the quite the lineup just announced for next year’s Super Bowl in February. Historically, the NFL has seemingly attempted to be as big a crowd pleaser as possible, or hone in on a specific demographic. There was a big run of dad rock when the Stones, Springsteen, The Who played a few years ago in a row, and there have been hip-hop focused shows in the past, but most recently it’s seemed the big pop stars of the past 5-10 years have been given the performance nod. This go round though seems a departure from the tradition, and as little as I actually care about the Super Bowl halftime show, it kind of is a breath of fresh air.
I mean don’t get me wrong, Snoop and Dre are old as piss, and Eminem doesn’t really get the respect he deserves anymore. Speaking of, imagine the NFL giving MGK the halftime show this year. He’s the artist of the moment, but kind of still too niche and he’s been fighting way too many of his concertgoers lately. But in like 5 years I could see that happening.
Mary J. Blige is sort of the wildcard here, but I think rounding out this group with Kendrick Lamar is an attempt to still maintain the attention of the younger demographic. Still I’m not sure any under 21 actually cares about Kendrick anymore, I’ve always found him a little overrated.
I’m just excited to see Snoop being Snoop. Never really liked his music, but what an absolute character.