SUPER BOWL

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, And Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance Wins Three Emmys

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Getty Image / Kevin C. Cox

Last night, the Television Academy announced that this year’s Super Bowl halftime performance, which took place this past February and featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, And Kendrick Lamar, had won three Creative Arts Emmy awards.

On social media, the Academy revealed that the performance won the awards for Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special, and Outstanding Music Direction.

This year’s Super Bowl was an iconic moment for hip-hop, largely for West Coast hip-hop. In a July interview with Apple Music 1, Blige sat down to reflect on the monumental performance.

“I don’t even have the words to explain how full and how huge of an accomplishment that was,” Blige said. “I just felt so strong. And I felt like, first of all, grateful to have been asked, but I definitely felt like I earned that moment,” Blige remarked. “So when it was my turn, I just showed the world who I was. If you’d never seen me or you never met me or you never went to any of my shows, you know exactly who I am after the Super Bowl. I just couldn’t wait to hit the Mary bopping. I just couldn’t wait to just be myself and do what I do in front of that audience. That was the world, that was a big deal. I was so grateful.”

Mary J. Blige is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Game Admits It ‘Hurt’ Being Left Out Of The Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Lineup

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This year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was led by Dr. Dre who brought on a star-studded cast of acts for the show. Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Anderson .Paak, and 50 Cent all joined him on stage for the epic performance. Afterward, it appeared that The Game, who’s collaborated with some of the aforementioned artists on multiple occasions, implied that he should’ve been among the performers for the show. However, he later denied that he was upset about being left out of the show. “I don’t feel no way about not being included,” he said at the time.

A few months later, The Game has now backtracked on his denial. The topic came up in an upcoming episode of the I Am Athlete podcast — led by Brandon Marshall, Pacman Jones and Nick “ Swaggy P” Young. The episode was teased in a preview clip. “The real reason I wasn’t on the Super Bowl [Halftime Show] is because I’m not a ‘safe’ artist,’” The Game said. “You don’t know what the Game gon’ do when he get up there. So, it’s just like, ‘He not safe,’ so they went with the safe artists.”

He continued, “We, on the West Coast, are the only motherf*ckers who have this crab-in-a-barrel mentality, where we wanna keep n****s down. Snoop Dogg is icon. Dre is icon. Em is an icon, but Em is not from L.A. 50 is not from L.A. I’m not taking away from the fact that they’re were on the Super Bowl, but L.A. [artists] wouldn’t have been in the Detroit Super Bowl or New York Super Bowl. It just wouldn’t have happened … L.A., L.A., L.A. all around the Super Bowl and I didn’t get the call.”

The Game then admitted he was “hurt” that he was left out of the lineup. “I talk to Dre often. I just know if I was Dre and he was Game, he would’ve been up there,” he said. “That’s just it. It’s L.A. I am L.A. I’m in the streets … So, yeah, I was hurt. Now am I bothered by it today? I’m not bothered by it today.”

You can watch the preview clip above.

Jennifer Lopez Was Almost Forced To Cut The Cage Portion From Her 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Performance

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Jennifer Lopez Super Bowl 2020 Halftime
Getty Image / Focus On Sport

A new Netflix documentary called Halftime takes an inside look at Jennifer Lopez’s 2020 Super Bowl, in which she and Shakira took the stage to perform some of their biggest hits. Fans may remember that near the end of the show, kids appeared in cages, as a statement condemning detaining children in ICE detention centers.

The documentary revealed that this portion of the show nearly got cut.

When conceptualizing the show, Lopez said to her choreographer, “This girl from the Bronx, this girl that’s a Latina landed on this stage somehow and is here to represent our culture, our music and women everywhere. I’m thinking a great moment would be to have these fantastic little girl dancers I just met along with hundreds of other girls in light cages. A choir of little girls singing. We want a feeling of Latinos in cages…and you can’t keep us there. We won’t have that. The concept is, this next generation is not going to be suppressed in the way that we were.”

Later on in the documentary, she is seen in a meeting talking to higher-ups from the NFL. During the meeting, which took place a day before the actual Super Bowl, Lopez recalls feeling a “weird vibe” after running through the concept. Her manager later explained that the NFL had concerns about the cage portion and wanted her to pull it.

Lopez doubled down and refused to give in.

“For me, this isn’t about politics; this is about human rights,” Lopez said. “I’m facing the biggest crossroads of my life — being able to perform on the biggest stage of my life, but to take out the cages and sacrifice everything I believe in would be like never being here at all.”

Jennifer Lopez Documentary Trailer Teases Tensions Surrounding 2020 Super Bowl Performance

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Just weeks before the entire world shut down in 2020, superstars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira shared the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show in Miami, in what was generally praised as a successful performance. However, the new documentary Halftime, appears to portray a darker side of the event with Lopez airing her grievances with many things surrounding the performance.

Lopez blatantly states that it was “the worst idea in the world to have two people do the Super Bowl.” The two performers were only given 12 minutes total and she and Shakira were reportedly expected to “weave” their songs together in that 12 minutes. Lopez and Shakira agreed to split their stage time right down the middle. Lopez states that she believe they should have gotten 20 minutes total.

She also states that she wanted to give the audience “something with substance” and not the two performers “just out there shaking our f***ing asses.”

The documentary also showcases behind the scenes footage of the hours of grueling practice and prep work that went into creating the halftime spectacle, showing everything from the dancers practicing to the elaborate set design creation.

According to an official statement about the film:

“Halftime offers an intimate peek behind the curtain revealing the grit and determination that makes Jennifer Lopez the icon she is, from her performances onscreen and on stages around the world, to her Super Bowl Halftime show, to the recent Presidential inauguration. The documentary focuses on an international superstar who has inspired people for decades with her perseverance, creative brilliance and cultural contributions. And it’s only the beginning. Halftime serves as the kickoff to the second half of Lopez’s life, as she lays bare her evolution as a Latina, a mother, and an artist, taking agency in her career and using her voice for a greater purpose.”

Halftime premieres on Netflix on June 14. The trailer can be seen on YouTube here.

The post Jennifer Lopez Documentary Trailer Teases Tensions Surrounding 2020 Super Bowl Performance appeared first on The Source.

The Super Bowl Halftime Show Will No Longer Be Sponsored By Pepsi

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Pepsi has announced that the company will no longer sponsor the NFL’s Super Bowl Halftime Show after 10 years as the musical partner for the show. In that time, fans have seen memorable performances from the likes of Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, The Weekend, and most recently, Dr. Dre and friends. Although the beverage company didn’t give a reason for the change, a release on Twitter thanked the 26 musical acts who played the show over the past decade.

“After 10 years of iconic Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show performances, we have decided it’s time to pass the mic,” Pepsi’s official Twitter posted. “Thank you to the amazing artists and fans who helped us create some incredible moments along the way. Now on to the next stage… ” A follow-up tweet recounted some of the Halftime Show’s accolades over the past few years. Pepsi touted, “26 musical acts representing 168 Grammys and almost 1,000 Billboard hits have rocked the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show stage over the past 10 years.”

There have been no similar announcements from the official NFL or Super Bowl Twitter accounts, the latter of which hasn’t been updated since December of 2021. Meanwhile, a press statement from Pepsi says that the company’s overall partnership with the NFL will continue, introducing new programming, sports drinks, and activations for the NFL.

This Year’s Super Bowl Football, Signed By The Halftime Performers, Is Going Up For Auction

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Following an iconic half-time performance by Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Anderson .Paak, a signed Wilson leather football used in Super Bowl LVI is going up for auction. The ball will contain the signatures of the lattermost five and will be sold by Heritage Auctions.

The sale will run from May 12-14. At the time of writing, the ball has a bid of $2,600. “This leather Wilson ball is signed by Dre, Em, Mary J, Anderson Paak, and Kendrick in bold black ink,” reads a description of the ball on Heritage Auctions’ website. “The autographs were acquired by our consignor at the Big Game and is one of the finest collectibles we’ve seen from the legendary show.”

Super Bowl LVI took place this past February in Los Angeles, for the first time in 30 years. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg kicked off the halftime performance of “The Next Episode” from Dre’s 1999 album, 2001, before transitioning into a performance of Tupac’s “California Love.” 50 Cent then made a surprise appearance, performing “In Da Club,” recreating the song’s music video. Mary J. Blige then performed the Dre-produced “Family Affair” and the title track from her 2001 album, No More Drama. Joined by Paak on drums, Eminem then performed “Lose Yourself,” before Snoop and Dre closed out the show with a performance of “Still D.R.E.”

Mary J. Blige is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.