The sound quality was somewhat poor and the staging was somewhat blah, but the Super Bowl Halftime Show this year was one of the best ones I’ve ever seen? It felt so organic, like all of the artists knew each other, liked each other and coordinated well with each other. That’s rarely the case, as the NFL tends to throw wildly different artists together for the Halftime Show as some kind of stunt. For this year’s show, we got Dr. Dre and Snoop, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick, Snoop and Dre are all from LA/Compton/Inglewood. 50 Cent and Eminem are close to Dre, who produced the show. And Mary… I think they just wanted Mary, and she killed it. She was one of the best parts, singing a medley of “Family Affair” and “No More Drama.” (The NFL is being tricky with the embed, so if you can’t see this video, go here to YouTube).
There was a lot of conversation on Twitter about how this was the most “Gen X” Halftime Show ever. I did have a moment where I was like… wow, Mary is singing stuff from a 2001 album. Eminem did “Lose Yourself,” the Oscar-winning song from the 2002 film 8 Mile. Snoop is 50 years old! So yeah… it was pretty Gen X! Kendrick kind of evened it out a bit – he’s a Millennial, but Gen Xers love him, so IDK.
You know who didn’t love this Halftime Show? Red states and Republicans! The amount of complaining because the Halftime show was full of “rappers” and (gasp) Black folks was really something. There were conservative commentators full-on weeping that Eminem was the only white artist (and Em was arguably the most openly liberal artist on the show). Not only that, the NFL tried to tell all of these Halftime artists that they could not make any reference to Colin Kaepernick or social justice or kneeling, and then EMINEM was the one who kneeled on stage.
That halftime show was so Black red states will have legislation to ban it by tomorrow morning.
— Covie (@covie_93) February 14, 2022
Reportedly the NFL nixed Dre saying “still don’t love the police” and Eminem kneeling but both things happened
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 14, 2022
Eminem taking a knee for Kaepernick? pic.twitter.com/T4p3vOHBUC
— The Recount (@therecount) February 14, 2022
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I loved the halftime show! Gen X here and I thought Mary killed it! Game was meh, but I’m happy for Stafford.
Gen X here as well and I went crazy for the hlaftime show! I love them all, felt like I was 20 in a club again. I dont really know Kendrick but maybe for the younger crowd and 50 was kinda not the the OG team, but it was a great surprise and it was nice to see him. Also great because the show was more about their timeless talent and less about dancing showing off explicit dance moves and stuff like that like we usually see. Just artists artisting. What a breath of fresh air.
So so i miss Jlo and Shakira
LA GEN X REPRESENT!
I LOVED what a celebration of LA and LA culture it was (though they had way more in the trailer which I LOVED, I mean snoop in THAT CAR!!!! )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3NhX6-5mO0
My husband and i don’t watch american sports at all, lol, but we stopped our valentines date to watch this one because DRE AND SNOOP, MARY KENDRICK OMG. My husband has also worked with a bunch of those guys so we were hyped about it all!! I thought it was all great except for f*cking 50 cent. I hate hims misogynist ass, and his performance was lame and low energy compared with the rest! And i was very much hoping that they would bring up colin in some way, so good on Eminen.
I’m happy for Stafford, Whitworth and Michel(Pats fan here).
But yeah it was weirdly not exciting for a close game. I’m just glad I wasn’t stressed all game!
Yeah. Too bad officials missed Higgins’ obvious facemask pull that left Ramsey’s chinstrap dangling…
Not music that I choose to listen to but I agree, they put on a really good show, one of the better ones.
By far, the most ludicrous conservative reaction was Charlie Kirk, who was calling for NFL boycotts, declaring it “sexual anarchy” that shouldn’t be allowed on television.
There was one small part with women doing stripper dance moves, but the rest was totally wholesome. Kendrick’s back up dancers ( who all looked like old men ) were my fav part!
And Eminem knelling while the other performers played was very poignant.
Sexual anarchy 🤦🏼♀️ And I here I was thinking it was so awkward the way they had to sanitize most of the lyrics for the viewing audience…
I’m a white late boomer and I really liked the halftime show! And I never watched one all the way through before. My family members, all younger really liked it too. Checked out Twitter at the time & saw the mixed reactions—one lamenting that Eminem was the only white person….thought he was being ironical, but guess not.
all (or most) of the halftime shows are up on youtube. most of them are really good! it’s worth checking out Prince (ofc) and Madonna. both insanely great!
the early years of the show are fascinating, especially James Brown, who is just a stellar performer. none of them are over 15 mins so it shouldn’t take that long to watch as many as you want.
It was seriously one of the tamest Super Bowl shows in recent memory. I don’t know why Kirk is talking about.
It was all the conservative assholes… racism was everywhere.
Shakira and JLo had much sexier dance moves. Like where in the hell was the sexual anarchy? Pretty sure this person is using sex as a stand in for something else…like race maybe?
There were plenty of people that criticized that but a lot has happened since then. Most have forgotten.
yeah, I saw that “sexual anarchy” comment and I was confused at to what he meant. like, which part? I still don’t get it.
It isn’t it’s just a dog whistle learned from the Trump playbook of racisim.
Did he complain when Adam Levine stripped off most of his clothing? Just wondering
and does he complain about all of the scantily-clad cheerleaders?
The BIZARRE thing is that Charlie Kirk has used the phrase “sexual anarchy” before, back on Oct. 8, 2021. He must think it sounds really cool, but it’s such nonsense.
Anarchy means lawless and without a recognition of authority. So he’s saying sexuality should be regulated and codified or something? Very twisted view of sexuality.
Something many people don’t understand is while that type of “ethnic/black” dancing is seen as overtly sexual, it’s origins are FIRMLY based in African culture. It’s origins are less sexual and more an exploration of joy and life. People need to understand the history.
As a black woman, my body just wants to move that way. It’s how I dance. Is part of it sexual? Yes. Is part of it sensual? Absolutely. But it’s also just a body moving in ways that feel inherently natural and good to me. If others are going to clutch their pearls…have at it.
I’m done apologizing for every part of me that is true.
It just makes me jealous. My body wants to move like that, and my brain thinks it is, but it’s definitely not. (I’m a middle aged white lady who loved/loves all of those performers)
@Deltajuliet.
You made me chuckle. Listen to your brain honey, and dance like no one’s watching.
THAT SHOW WAS EPIC. The symbolism through out was great. They all enjoyed themselves and looked so happy to be up there. WONDERFUL JOB. And when 50 showed up – I WAS DONE.
The nasty comments on social media made my head spin.
Good on EMINEM for doing what was right. Lets not forget he blessed his song being used for a Dem commercial for the election, so yeah republicans can’t stand him. And for those saying it was full of rappers and “Black Folks” – they obviously don’t know, understand or appreciate this genre of music. Like I stated above, there was a lot of symbolism in that half time show – and as Biggy would say: if you don’t know, now you know. California Love – and Cali was on FIRE when that song was sung.
he also told his trump-supporting fans to f off.
My only complaint of this half time show is that it was way to short!!
THIS! They tried to cram too many people in and it just wasn’t enough of anyone.
Yeah I told my spouse I could easily have watched another 30 minutes of that halftime show and I have NEVER said that about a half time show before. Dre, Snoop, Eminem, and Kendrick each could have sang 3~ more well known songs and I’d have been happy.
they literally get 14 minutes. even Prince! I saw a timelapse video from above and it’s amazing to see the (massive) crew set everything up and then tear it all down again 14 minutes later.
Mary was on FIYAH! I wanted more MJB and more Anderson.Paak. and Eminem truly amazed me when he took the knee! such a powerful moment. good for him.
video direction/editing could have been better. too many closeups on the headliners and not enough wider shots of the whole production.
also they really ought to start paying the artists again. they can afford it!
I wanted Enimen to also do Rap God but yeah they only had so much time. Loved the Tupac tribute!
The show wasn’t for everyone but it will never be. It was definitely in my top five for best performances.
Agree! I was hoping for more Snoop Dog and Mary J. I loved it ! I’m also very confused about what sexual anarchy is.
Right?! I thought the same thing!
I was so frustrating to only hear snippets of so many good songs, only to have it transition to the next one so quickly.
I think it says how great of a show it was, that it seemed like it went by so fast. Leave them wanting more, indeed.
I loved it and wished it was longer. I had secret hopes that Ice Cube would make an appearance, but oh well. It totally brought me back to the late 90’s, so I was feelin’ it!
Solid performances overall and always here for Mary. But I was mostly just stuck on the fact that a good percentage of the performers on that stage were the artists who in my high school/college years made parents cringe and freak out and presented as solidly anti-establishment….and now they are sharing billing with endless corporate shilling and USA military propaganda.
Huh. Life is long and weird.
Maybe getting criticized by the far right will be a welcome reprieve, then. I’ll bet Eminem is flat out delighted he’s still upsetting people in 2022!
Loved every minute of it! I felt 18 yrs old again. ❤
I felt similar watching it. Made me think of my younger/happier days.
Shout out to Anderson Paak on drums (for Eminem’s set) cheezin’ like a mug, having the time of his life!
I loved the whole thing!
He and Kendrick’s dancers were my favorite part!
Not to mention the subversiveness of it all.
Ah Love Mary J i recently did a youtube listen to all her Duets, she is the only artist i know who has dueted with the most YT male artists, and out of the box ones you’d never think they would go together, i will check out her performance later. And she was looking good
@Lili, very true – she did a duet with Andrea Bocelli (What Child is This) for Christmas. Beautiful!
Yes! My fav is still her cover of U2’s One. I was in Rome in 2006 (or maybe it was 2005?) when they performed it on an open stage as part of the European promo. It blew my mind. She is an icon.
It’s funny that NFL thought they could control them. Like, what are they going to do? Cancel some of the most iconic artists of a generation? lol Oh nooo, radio stations will refuse to play Eminem’s songs? lol
Millennial here. A lot of those songs came out during my high school years, so needless to say, I loved it.
It was a very good half time show. Mary was spectacular, Kendrick and Snoop killed it, everyone was good.
And I’m still angry though that Dre, a man who has abused multiple women ranging from Dee Barnes to Michel’e to his ex wife, is so widely accepted by the music industry and the general public that he gets invited to these major events and produces them. I can separate the art from the artist for the most part, but there’s a difference between listening to music imo and someone landing a major, plum gig like the Super Bowl. And the racist right wingers are going after him for criticizing cops and the left wingers are defending him for it and….no one cares about the multiple women who he beat, slapped, held a gun to their heads, etc. And the media is spectacularly complicit in it (not coming after Celebitchy, I love you guys)….they very much cherry pick who to call out for me too and abuse and other issues and who to ignore.
Yeah – when he raised up I said, “Oh hey, Abuser!” Men just keep proving there’s no such thing as cancel culture.
Yes! And if it ticks off the MAGATS – all the better. Charlie Kirk is just mad that he got it*stimulated* from watching
“MAGATS”….stealing that one! Cheers!
Same!!!! Dre, Snoop, just contemptible abusers. Incredible artists for sure, but vile humans.
I LOVED seeing Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar though! They were phenomenal.
I jokingly texted a friend last night that the NFL showcasing so many performers who had a history of abusing women was the most on-brand thing the league has ever done.
I wish people talked about this more.
Dre either signed (Eminem, Snoop, 50) or produced (Kendrick, Tupak, Mary) or both all of these artists. He produced Family Affair.
I dislike that someone with a well documented history of abuse towards woman was highlighted.
However I enjoyed the show.
I loveddddddd it! They all killed it! I love snoops’ dancing 😅
So many memories to this music! I just got up and danced during the show as nd I would gladly watch another hour.
This was definitely one of my favorite half-time shows in recent memory.
And f the haters. Basically they don’t want to listen to music that half of the American population of loves because they don’t have control over it. So tired of these red states and Republicans trying to make us into Gilead.
My friends and I watched it again after the game was done and danced like we were at the club. It was AMAZING
I thought 50cent was easily the weakest part of the show?
Honking for Anderson Paak, i would love if CB or Oya or Kaiser started covering him regularly, his talent and charisma are supernatural.
50 Cent honestly was so luke warm,he is such an egomaniac i truely believe he feels he warranted his own half time show.
Agreed, he was weak, and I think unnecessary. The show would have been fantastic without him anyway
I thought most of them struggled vocally. Except Snoop and Dre. And it seemed so short.
did you miss Mary somehow? her part was fantastic.
I think starting off upside down winded him. It seemed a bit like he couldn’t catch his breath. But, I love all the memes of upside down Fiddy!
Anderson Paak FOREVER! He is one of the best live performers of his generation. I saw him perform live 4 times between 2015-2018 and each show was ridiculously good.
I thought the half time show was fully on-brand for the nfl- they de-fanged some important lyrics and several of the male performers had history of abusing and assaulting women so on brand.
I found it hilarious that Kendrick performed “Alright” a song that is a love letter to black resilience and a black anthem at an NFL half time show when the league is racist as hell as is being sued for its anti-black hiring practices. But maybe that was exactly the point and Kendrick was sending a message as best he could while still accepting the NFL’s money?
Unfortunately the SB halftime show is not lucrative in itself, but stands as important for future endeavors. Read somewhere that Dre paid $7M on his own, which is believable given the dancers and choreography.
Snoop was also told he could not hang a blue bandana on his pants,to signify the crips gang so his whole outfit was a blue bandana. Ha!
I loved all of the songs they played, I really do. I dislike and don’t support most of them because of their actions/abuse though. I watched and honestly? Kendrick was solid, Mary J Blidge great, I felt like Eminem was way too short and could do his own half time show. I liked Snoop and Dr Dre but I wish they included other hit songs. It was way too short for such big artists
I saw some commenter on Twitter saying that all these conservative jerks complaining about the halftime show just shows that the GOP has to gin up fake social controversy because they have nothing left to offer politically.
I think that’s very true.
I’m a young millennial so this music is a little before my time. The only music I knew very well out of all of them is Eminem (who I think should’ve probably done at least another song). I wasn’t wowed, but I didn’t hate it either, and I love that they went against the NFL in doing things they were told not to, LOL. That’s all that matters.
I’ll have to watch it some other time, because I really do like most of these artists. But I guess I’m on noise overload – too much shouting and “look at me”, with commercials and Olympics, Super Bowl and ratings desperation, plus people shouting about politics and Ukraine and China and Covid. When, I looked up and saw yet another man posturing while surrounded by women shaking their asses, I thought “No, not again, I just can’t…” But, I’ll definitely watch it later.
Wow, how funny (not haha funny), I felt exactly the same. I wasn’t going to say anything because I sound like a grump and don’t want to be a killjoy, but I’m heartened that I’m not the only one.
As a Gen X, I was THRILLED by the half time show.. My kid thought I had lost my mind when it started, lol
It was great. It was like a soundtrack to my high school and college years. I wish they would have played ain’t nothing but a g thing but that may be too controversial. Loved how they got some Tupac in there.
It was such a great halftime show!! Loved it
My kid also thought I’d lost my mind!! It was a ton of fun!
I thought the stage was a poor choice. 3/4 of the audience couldn’t see anything.
Yeah, it reminded me of how much better Lil Nas X / Billy Ray / BTS / etc. did it at the 2020 Grammys. Iconic artists but the set was kinda blah.
Love the music, hate abusers so I’m torn. Any one of those artists (maybe not 50 lol) could have had a full halftime show just on their own though.
I liked the idea in theory, but with the Super Bowl your presence needs to fill the entire stadium. When 50 cent performed he stayed in his tiny box, which looked good for TV, but there’s a whole stadium on people there to see you, and if they can’t see you they can’t feel your presence.
Those gigantic screens above the stands are helpful. That is if you really wanted to see 50 hanging.
YES! OMG, it brought me back to my late teens/early 20s. I wanted to go to the club! I wish it had been longer because it was so fun – that’s my only gripe.
I watched and loved it. It was more conservative than I was expecting (I was wondering if there would be more dancers – this was way less sexy than shakira and J.lo, and they censored the language), but I thought they did a really good job. I watched with my husband’s republican boomer family and none of them knew who the entertainers were.
I think it’s interesting that across the board on my social media feed, all ethnicities and ages (mostly millennial and Gen x were commenting), men and women, Republican AND democrats, everyone loved the show. Loved loved loved it and wished it was longer. I haven’t listened to any opinions from conservative media though.
I don’t think rap lends itself well to performance. It’s just guys standing, with their mikes. Compare this year’s show to J.Lo and Shakira or Beyonce or Bruno Mars. Now, that’s a performance. Or even Bruce Springsteen, who doesn’t dance but is a showman.
Eh, gonna have to disagree here. This rap music at the super bowl seemed to lend itself very well.
If you are just going to stand there with a mic, you best be Liza Minelli. 🙂
I think the Super Bowl halftime show is a tough gig for bands and rock artists mostly because the show is all about theatrics and visuals. It’s definitely easier for pop artists who can perform with dance routines. But I think rap is somewhere in the middle, but artists like Kendrick Lamar still perform with dancers and are still theatrical, as well as Mary J Blige. But i think it was a great halftime show.
Tell me you’ve never been to a rap concert without saying so.
Many of the rappers have dancers and some dance along with them. LOL!
I never have, no. I don’t think any of the guys at the halftime show were real showman. You don’t’ have to be able to dance. Then again, I always thought the Beatles weren’t showmen, either
I enjoyed this show a lot more than Beyoncé or Bruno mars but I grew up in Southern California during the height of west coast rap.
I think the timing of the show with the open arena kind of hurt it. I think the lighting is more dramatic and focused when the show happens in the dark. Because it was on the west coast and the show has to be scheduled for East Coast fans time zone wise, I think the sun was too bright for their performance. Overall I loved it, but visually it could have been more impressive.
So I guess I was the only one yelling at my TV for Snoop to keep his hands off his penis?
I get it’s a rap thing, but come on. It’s the Super Bowl. Also, he’s an admitted pimp. Not a good dude.
Also, I’m a Bengals fan and enjoyed the game immensely. Mostly clean, defensive battle. And at least after 31 years we got there!
I know Missy Elliott performed at the Super Bowl in 2015 , but I wished they would’ve had her perform last night too. Overall it was a fun show.
I liked the half time show and it was good to see those performances. I loved how Eminem kneeled, I feel like he tries to help using his white privilege. He knows he won’t be hammered for it like a non white person kneeling would be. Or like Colin was!
Literally the only thing that made me crazy was all the flashing lights all the time. Rough for an epileptic.
Anyone else an 87 millennial? Eminem and 50 cent were big in high school. I though gen x was more Dre and Tupac, also on the grunge end Nirvana is very clearly gen x youth music. I always thought of Eminem and 50 cent as very much the early 2000s teens music? Isn’t a generations music the music that they grow up with? I think of Kendrick Lamar as Gen z music because I didn’t grow up listening to him. Still love it though.
87 millennial here! I listened to Tupac but mostly only because my brother did, he is 3 years older than me. But My Name Is came out in 99 so Eminem was late 90s/early 2000s. I was a bit disappointed that he did Lose Yourself, but I forgot he won an Oscar for that. I was not here for 50, mostly because he is such a massive a-hole and I just felt like he didn’t need to be there. Someone on the radio this morning said “it wasn’t the music of a generation, it was the music of multiple generations, 3 decades.”
I’m solidly Gen X and grew up in the 80s (music I love!) But the late 90s/early 2000s were my 20s, the only time in my life when I was both happy and free of big responsibilities. I think of the 90s especially as the decade of me! So, needless to say, I LOVED every minute of the show and could have watched it for hours. ❤️
Great show
Only care about Queen Mary. The rest of them can go away with their bag of criminal charges, infidelity, offensive views about women and sexist tropes.
The racism really jumps out when things like this happen. I saw a lot of right wingers trashing it and it’s not about they didn’t like it, they don’t like black people, period. They love to take any opportunity to say rap ain’t music and blah blah blah. Really pissed me off, but I loved the show. Mary was everything.
Eminem was not kneeling for Colin K., he was kneeling in homage to Tupac because Dre was playing one of his songs.
When did Eminem reveal to you why he was kneeling?
Am guessing he spoke exclusively to you since there’s no media. Or is that just your preferred interpretation?
Did he reveal to you that he wasn’t? Why don’t you try reading something before you try and jump on here.
Yahoos who never listened “Music To Be Murdered By – Side B,” BET Hip Hop Awards 2017 or “Untouchable” watch Eminem take a knee (ala Kaepernick), then watch keyboardist switch to Dr Dre who plays a few bars of “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” before bridge to “Still D.R.E.” (while Em is still kneeling), loudly proclaim that ‘Eminem kneeling is not about race! He wouldn’t do that for Colin K!’
Yeah right – Was Eminem kneeling out of respect for Tupac (two bars of song not on set list)? Or was he kneeling out of respect for Dr Dre and other artists (has he ever done that before)? Or was he just being theatrical (have you been listening to him at all)?
Racist is as racist does. When a racist sees their favorite rapper take a knee they invent all kind of wack stories.
We all assumed he was catching his breath, then we though respect for Pac, then respect for Dre. Lapse I I was our last thought.
Mary was there because Dre produced the songs she performed. They’re all part of his legacy and/or LA.