"You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime," Eminem reminded the world during Sunday's Super Bowl LVI.
"Would you capture it, or let it slip away?" he rapped in "Lose Yourself," his hyper-urgent anthem from 2002.
Halftime at the Super Bowl, billed as the year's biggest musical moment, offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for hip-hop.
While it's America's most popular musical genre (28% market share at the moment), hip-hop has played no more than a bit role at TV's most dominant event. (Rappers Queen Latifah, Nelly, P. Diddy, Travis Scott and Missy Elliott have all made cameos in previous years.)
Hip-hop starring at halftime is as rare as two Black head coaches on the Super Bowl sidelines — something that's happened just once (in 2007). But on Sunday, hip-hop took over the field for the very first time.
The A-list lineup was smartly chosen by rap mogul Jay Z, whose Roc Nation produced the halftime show:
Dr. Dre, 56, godfather of West Coast hip-hop; Snoop Dogg, 50, the comical prince of pot who somehow became Martha Stewart's bestie; Mary J. Blige, 51, the queen of hip-hop soul; Eminem, 49, the bestseller who took hip-hop to the mainstream; Kendrick Lamar, 34, today's premier rapper and the only hip-hop artist to receive a Pulitzer Prize, and unadvertised guest 50 Cent, 46, the early-'00s hip-hop hero turned actor.
Despite special moments, the nearly 14-minute show lacked the extravagant choreography and the visual pizazz of other recent Super Bowl intermissions. Most of all, it begged for a focal point. With an ensemble cast, the spotlight was a revolving door, though Dr. Dre was the thread since he produced or co-wrote nearly every number in this seamless medley.
