Dre, Snoop and friends deliver epic show

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INGLEWOOD, Calif., Feb 14, (AP): Dr. Dre & Co. took the weight of the hip-hop culture on the Super Bowl stage, shouldered the pressure from skeptics and delivered a strong halftime show to prove that edgy rap can work at the world’s biggest sporting events. All it took was hip-hop’s most controversial figures — and one knee taken by music’s most prominent white rapper. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar were headliners along with 50 Cent as a special guest at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday. Their collective performance is one of the best since Beyoncé and Bruno Mars’ halftime set in 2016. Each performer offered their own element: Dre, Snoop Dogg and Lamar brought their West Coast flavor.

Blige — known as the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” — sang and danced her heart out. 50 Cent hit the musical rewind button with “In Da Club.” When Eminem’s turn came, he performed a couple of his hits starting with “Forgot About Dre” with Anderson .Paak playing the drums. He seemingly defied the NFL by kneeling after performing “One Shot,” though the league says it knew it would happen. Eminem stayed down on one knee for a moment while Dre sat in front of a piano and played Tupac’s “I Ain’t Mad at Cha.” Dre, a prolific producer, kicked off the performance standing behind a sound table on top of a makeshift white house. He introduced Snoop Dogg — wearing a blue bandana outfit — who performed a few classics such as “The Next Episode” and “California Love.”

Afterward, Snoop Dogg yelled out “West Coast make some noise.” The rapper’s statement showed their unabashedly attempt to deliver a remarkable view of Southern California music — especially the lowrider cars posted on stage. Like in his “In Da Club” music video, 50 Cent began his set upside downside wearing a white tank top. Blige appeared on a rooftop with a slew of dancers jamming to her classic melodies “Family Affair” then performed “No More Pain.” Her set seamlessly went to the black suit-wearing Lamar who was joined by other Black men sporting same outfits as him. After Eminem’s performance, all six joined together as Dre rapped “Still Dre.” Their closing act had an array of dancers dressed in khaki outfits. The six legendary performers — particularly Dre and Snoop Dogg — performed the clean versions of their songs for the PG crowd. It initially felt kind of weird at first, because there were several instances when a expletive word was replaced by a safer one. On the NFL national stage, that worked to their advantage. Why? It shows that hip-hop can be performed in various versions and still be appealing to the ears. Among the stars, Drake still shined the brightest.

Dramatic
In an all-white outfit, the multi-Grammy winner had many concertgoers jostling for position to watch him perform at the Super Bowl eve party dubbed “Homecoming Weekend” on Saturday night. He made a dramatic entrance, darting down an aisle before performing center stage under an airy tent at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. The crowd included many entertainers and athletes: Issa Rae, a mask-wearing Mike Tyson, Lil Wayne, Paul Pierce, Derrick Henry, Ricky Gervais, Jon Hamm, Nicole Scherzinger, Cedric the Entertainer, Karrueche Tran and Flava Flav. While waiting for Drake, attendees mingled for a couple hours. Once he arrived, many flocked toward the stage and pulled out their phones to capture his 45-minute set. Drake told the crowd that he was initially asked to deliver around five songs, but felt compelled to triple that amount because of where he traveled from.

“They flew me out of like three feet of snow for this, so I got to perform for you,” said Drake, who went on to perform bangers including “No Friends in the Industry” and “Girls Want Girls” from his recent album “Certified Lover Boy.” The rap star talked about being able to perform in person and showed appreciation to everyone in attendance. “I’m sure at one point we’re all sitting at home — maybe a little depressed, maybe a little frustrated, maybe a little confused,” he said. “I want to make a toast to how grateful I am for being in this (expletive) room with each and every one of you. I wasn’t sure how and when we would be able to do this again. But cheers to each and everyone of you. More life.” Drake went on to perform hits including “Controlla,” “God’s Plan,” “Too Much” and “Passionfruit.” He surprised the crowd with a guest appearance by Future, who performed “Way 2 Sexy” with Drake before his uber-popular “March Madness.” At the end, Drake paid homage to Lil Wayne — who watched from a VIP section — before closing out his set by playing “I Will Always Love You,” the Dolly Parton song that Whitney Houston made famous. He sang every word along with many in the crowd.

Proof of vaccination was required of the 1,500 guests. Only a few wore masks, including Tyson. The “Homecoming Weekend” show helped cap a full week of entertainment events leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl at SofiStadium in Inglewood, the first in the Los Angeles area in nearly three decades, with the hometown Rams facing off against the Cincinnati Bengals. Justin Bieber sang and danced on the first night of the event, presented by The h.wood Group, REVOLVE, PLACES.CO and Uncommon Entertainment. Staffers were dressed in football uniforms, making the rounds with fancified versions of stadium food, including plant-based chicken bites, garlic fries and tiny pizzas. Miley Cyrus and Green Day performed across town at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

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