Loud music, hundreds of dancers all in unison, and a great performance by some of the most iconic performers of all time were just some of the things that came with 2022’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. The five stars featured were Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg. 50 Cent also had a surprise feature. The song lineup included: 

“Rap God” by Eminem

“The One and Only” by Snoop Dogg

“The Next Episode” by Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, and Nate Dogg

“Family Affair” by Mary J. Blige

“HUMBLE.” by Kendrick Lamar

“Still Dre” by Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg

“California Love” by Tupac ft. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog

At the beginning of the performance, I was surprised because I had no idea who was playing. However, the songs they were playing were pretty good and I recognized most of the performers. Before the event, Pepsi (one of the main sponsors) described it as “what could be the greatest 12 minutes in music entertainment the world has ever seen.”

Even though it had extremely famous people performing, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t underwhelming. Obviously the songs were good and iconic, but it wasn’t the best I had ever seen. For example, 2020’s halftime show blew everyone out of the water. The performance was by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, and included a short cameo by Bad Bunny and J Balvin. JLo’s daughter also sang for a couple of seconds on stage alongside her dance team. It received five Primetime Emmy nominations, winning one. It was also received numerous other awards, including “Best Live Performance” at the 2021 Premios Nuestra Tierra.

Since this was the second Super Bowl since the 2020’s, it might have instilled some personal bias against it. I’m not familiar with the genre of music that they make either, even though it sounded pretty good. 

A notable moment from the show was when Eminem took a knee while performing alongside Dr. Dre. Kneeling has become symbolic of protest after Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem in a 2016 demonstration against police brutality and racial inequality. Eminem didn’t state that he was in accordance with Kaepernick, but the moment was powerful nonetheless.