In 2019, there was no shortage of complaints about the headliner for the Atlanta-based Super Bowl halftime show: pop/rock band Maroon 5.
Why not celebrate Atlanta? And why not hip-hop, which had never been the primary focal point of any halftime show up to that point.
Imagine producer Jermaine Dupri overseeing Ludacris, T.I., Lil Jon, Migos, TLC and a reunited OutKast? Other options included 112, Ciara, Lil Yachty, Gucci Mane, Future and Jeezy, to name a few.
But the timing wasn’t right. Colin Kaepernick kneeling at an NFL game during the national anthem in 2017 was still reverberating in late 2018 since no NFL team was willing to pick him up. Many Black artists at the time were proclaiming they would boycott the Atlanta Super Bowl and when Maroon 5 reached out to hip-hop artists to join them, many said no.
In the end, the show featured a token Atlanta representative in Big Boi as well as Travis Scott to barely supplement lead singer Adam Levine and his panoply of tattoos.
The reviews were dismal and it was widely considered one of the worst halftime shows in recent history. (Rolling Stone ranked it 25th out of 33 before tonight. Critic Rob Sheffield wrote: “When Levine whipped off his tank top to flash his nipples (twice as many as Janet Jackson showed) for ‘Moves Like Jagger,’ it turned into one sad bachelorette party.”)
Credit: Kevin Winter
Credit: Kevin Winter
Dr. Dre and his crew Sunday night created their own dream team of sorts featuring Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Snoop Dogg celebrating Los Angeles and West Coast hip-hop. Everyone from James Harden to LeBron James raved about it on Twitter.
Miffed and wistful Atlantans on social media lamented what might have been three years earlier.
“With every passing half time performance,” wrote Adrianna on Twitter, “I feel more and more that Atlanta was robbed.”
Alexis wrote: “‘Welcome to Atlanta’ at the half time show would’ve went INSANE.”
And @Coolness941 imagined Usher, Ludacris and Lil Jon doing “Yeah!”
@CurtMcGirt1 wrote: “Atlanta again wishes to press charges against the NFL and Pepsi for the travesty of a half time show we got. #NeverForget.”
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