The stars aligned for this year’sSuper Bowlhalftime show.
In a celebrity-filled performance worthy of this year’s Los Angeles host,Dr. Dre,Eminem,Mary J. Blige,Kendrick LamarandSnoop Doggtook the stage as the Los Angeles Rams faced off against the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium.
As the show started, the SoFi field was covered with what appeared to be the Los Angeles city grid and a row of white buildings. Snoop Dogg and Dre kicked things off together with their song “The Next Episode” before segueing into Dre and Tupac Shakur’s “California Love.”
50 Cent was next to join the party in a surprise appearance, starting off literally upside down to perform “In Da Club” with a bevy of female dancers in a faux party scene.
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Eminem then took things back up top again, performing his Grammy and Oscar-winning song “Lose Yourself.”
Mary J. Blige.VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.Rob Carr/Getty
Dre eventually sat down at the piano, playing the iconic first notes of his hit “Still Dre.” All the performers then gathered together on the top of the center building structure to close out the epic show.
Deaf rappers Sean Forbes and Warren “WaWa” Snipe were also on hand to perform American Sign Language renditions of each of the songs, marking the first time that the NFL has incorporated sign language performances as part of the halftime show, according to theDetroit Free Press.
Dre, 56, served as the headliner, and said ahead of the performance that it would be “one of the biggest thrills of my career.”
Eminem.Rob Carr/Getty
“I’m extremely excited to share the stage with my friends for the #PepsiHalftime Show,“Dre captioned a photo of the groupin September. “This will introduce the next saga of my career… Bigger and Better than Ever!!!”
For Dre and Snoop Dogg, 50, the halftime show was personal, as they’re both local and “were at the forefront of the West Cost hip-hop revolution,” Todd Kaplan, VP of Marketing at Pepsi, said in a statement.
50 Cent.Rob Carr/Getty
Eminem, meanwhile, revealed that he was heading into the performancefeeling quite nervous.
“When the whole thing started going down and we were like, ‘OK, this might be actually serious.’ I was trying to envision what Dre might do,” Eminem explained. “I was thinking like, yeah, that’s dope that all of us are gonna rap together, right, and that kind of thing, but I didn’t expect the production to be like this.”
Meanwhile, Blige has no qualms about being the sole female performer at this year’sSuper BowlHalftime Show — in fact, she embraces it.
Kendrick Lamar.NBC
“I love it,” shetold PEOPLEwhen asked how she feels about being the only woman in the lineup.
“To actually have Dr. Dre reach out and ask was just huge, because Dr. Dre is one of the most important people in hip-hop, and as a producer, as a writer, as a rapper. He’s justtheone, you know?” she adds.
Gregory Shamus/Getty
Still, the night wasn’t without its controversy, as Snoop Dogg wasaccused of sexual assault and batteryin a lawsuit filed just days before the performance. The rapper hasdenied the allegations, calling the lawsuit “a shakedown.”
The Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals are facing off at Super Bowl LVI on Sunday in Los Angeles. The game is airing on NBC.
source: people.com
