Photo Credit: NFL
This year’s Super Bowl aired on Sunday with its half-time show garnering a whopping 29 million viewers. A who’s who of hip hop with audiences spanning a number of generations, the show was constantly referred to as the greatest half-time show in history. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar were all performing with a suprise performance by 50 Cent that had actually been spoiled days earlier on social media because someone couldn’t help but record rehearsal and ruin it for everyone.
Television analytics company Samba TV said the viewership was a 19% jump over last year saying “The powerhouse performances from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent rocked the ratings on Sunday night, shattering last year’s half time audience drawing in millions of more viewers across both linear television and streaming,” said Cole Strain, head of measurement at Samba TV, in a statement. Also the number of people who tuned in at halftime and clicked away before third quarter rose by 60% from last year showing just how much interest there was in the show.
The show did, however draw a significant amount of controversy as well. MSNBC author Ja’han Jones referred to it as “a master class in gaslighting.” He said that the show was everything the NFL could have hoped for regarding having a happy audience watching so many of their classic acts performing and even a kneel by Eminem that satisfied the imagery quota. He said it was “arguably the Blackest night in NFL history,” and most importantly to the NFL, “there were virtually no references to the league’s sordid racial politics, exposed in recent years by its treatment of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and allegations of systemic racism from former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores.” And he said the league was portraying itself to be far more progressive than it actually is.
Controversy aside, the halftime show was apparently so good that even Candace Owens had to give it some praise. Her cohort Charlie Kirk didn’t get the message because he said it didn’t deserve being on television. That must have made for an awkward evening wrap up discussion.
Memes galore came from the half-time show to include most notably 50 Cent having a little weight gain and being referred to as a whole dollar now. (He’s inching up closer to 50, guys. Give him a break.) But he wasn’t too bothered by it because he shared his favorite memes of himself. After you roast people as much as he does, you should at least have a healthy sense of deprecating humor. All in all the show brought an intense level of nostalgia and quite honestly a lot of people feeling old all at the same time.
Check out the Super Bowl 56′ half-time show below:
