Photo: Dr. Dre (from his Facebook page) | By Njera Perkins, Yahoo | Hip-hop took center stage at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday as Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Dr. Dre, and 50 Cent packed a punch three decades in the making. Not only did six performers grace the stage – only five were originally billed to perform – but it also marked the first time we’ve seen a full hip-hop lineup headline the show’s coveted slot.
It was surreal to see my favorite genre and its legends get their flowers. In all honesty, hip-hop deserved this moment: it’s long overdue. From the nostalgic West Coast hits that blasted through SoFi Stadium to the field of dancers doing a choreographed crip walk on live TV, it was both exciting and scary as hell to see hip-hop be consumed by such a wide audience. It’s dangerous, the way that hip-hop was commercialized for the Super Bowl this year, leaving it open to misinterpretation, critique, and censorship from those not intimately familiar with the genre. But that danger is nothing new – it’s been present since the genre’s inception.
“It broke that glass ceiling for future rap artists, to ensure that these kinds of cultural moments aren’t still “making history” another 20 years from now.”
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As expected, the league had the halftime show under a tight watch as Dr. Dre confirmed to TMZ that a few “minor” changes were made. Fans noticed Lamar omitted his “If Pirus and Crips all got along” line from “m.A.A.d city.” “They had a problem with that, so we had to take that out,” Dr. Dre said. “No big deal, we get it.”
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But praise aside, there’s an obvious elephant in the room. . .
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Read the whole thought here:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/hip-hop-entertained-masses-halftime-230835388.html
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Hip-Hop Entertained the Masses at the Halftime Show, but at What Cost?
