Super Bowl Sunday is a fan-favorite day for any sports spectator. Since the first game was played in 1967, it has become a stable or canonized event in the sports entertainment field. The next Super Bowl game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 13.
Many argue that Super Bowl Sunday has become an unofficial holiday in the United States. It is a day when families, friends and couples gather to watch the best professional football teams battle it out, over-the-top commercials, and the big-name musical acts at halftime.
So, whether you are watching the Super Bowl for the actual sport or to critique the halftime performance, Super Bowl Sunday is an important day in the entertainment industry.
The game and the two weeks of hype, parties, and other events leading up to the big show have turned the Super Bowl into a spectacle. The event ranks up there with the Olympics, World Cup, a royal wedding, the Oscars, and the Grammys.
Because entertainment is such a big part of our everyday lives, many are on the edge of their seats waiting to see these two teams compete. Especially for Americans, the game is an important part of our culture. Sports divide and unite us, and as the day comes closer, we become more engaged in the heated sports event.
Sunday’s game will be between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams. Regardless of which team you’re rooting for, the halftime show is part of the Super Bowl conversation to be had.
For some, bigger than the game itself is the halftime show, which attracts the brightest stars in music and has become the ultimate combination of sports and pop culture.
It is a spectacle that can make or break careers, and create terms like “wardrobe malfunction” that rival the importance of the football game itself.
Headlining the halftime show this year will be Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar.
This show is a good mix of artists, since we’re talking about some of the biggest West Coast rap icons of all time performing at Inglewood, California, one of the birthplaces of old school hip hop and R&B.
It is important to recognize that the halftime show this year includes artists of color who have earned a spot in the brightest stages of America. After events such as the kneeling of Colin Kaepernick and the NFL games, we must demand that shows be run with the purpose of inclusivity and diversity.
Giving media attention to events we truly support will result in changes to the content we see in the entertainment industry. Hence, supporting these artists during the Super Bowl will be very important.
Pepsi, the sponsor of the halftime show, called the lineup the “most anticipated Super Bowl halftime show ever” in what they say could be “the greatest 12 minutes in music entertainment the world has ever seen.”
If you do not know these artists, they are widely described as five legends of the hip-hop and R&B genre who have made a long-lasting influence on their respective genres.
Kendrick Lamar, for example, is the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize, with the committee citing his album DAMN as a, “virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”
Eminem is another American legend with over 220 million records sold worldwide. Whether you call his music rap or hip hop rap, Eminem is a household name. Despite generational differences, almost everyone has heard of the artist.
Snoop Dog is another artist of color that has earned his spot among the greatest in the music and entertainment industry. Not only has he found some of the most successful talent in the rap game, such as Nicki Minaj, but he has also remained a celebrity over decades.
These artists have left a mark not only within their genre but in the entertainment industry as a whole. Hence, Americans are waiting anxiously, and on their toes, for what will be a historic performance in American culture. Led by artists of color and some of the top rappers in the history of the genre, the halftime show will be some of the most exciting and most talked about 12 minutes in the music industry.
These artists will leave an impact on the halftime show this year and make it exciting and more valuable for years to come. Once again, the Super Bowl invites the best of the best to perform at their show and make it a memorable event.
As mentioned, viewing a diverse pool of artists on stage based on merit is by far a huge progress in the diversification of the entertainment industry. Hence, we must celebrate not only whichever team wins, but the racial progression and inclusivity displayed on our TVs!
