Rihanna performed last night at the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show singing a medley of her biggest hits. She sang on a floating stage wearing an all-red ensemble, with her dancers all in white. Yahoo describes her show as a "historic, glass-ceiling-shattering". Rihanna also showed her baby bump during the performance. Watch her performance here.
Trapital Dan Runcie's latest podcast is about the Super Bowl Halftime Show, how it evolved since Jay-Z got involved, and why artists agree to play for free: "In 95% of situations, companies asking talent to do things free 'for exposure' is bullshit. But the Super Bowl halftime show is one of those 5% exceptions. It’s the rare event that the talent can reap the long-term rewards for the exposure." This year, Rihanna will perform and she has prepared her business for the "after". Listen/watch the podcast below.
"This was hip-hop playing the long game, taking its presence and acceptance as an achievement, conceding that the gatekeepers want a level of assimilation with their authenticity" - Pitchfork looks into the Super Bowl, the first-ever hip-hop halftime show. Rolling Stone calls it "a triumph", whereas BBC asks "did too many hooks spoil the broth?". Watch it here.
The Weekend was the big star at this year's Super Bowl and, for the first time in the game's 55-year history, he was largely forced to perform from the stands, rather than the pitch. His 12-minute show, which put the emphasis on his songs, was "watched" by thousands of cardboard cut-outs, Rolling Stone reports. The Weeknd spent $7m of his own money on the production, which included a set modelled on the city in Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis'. Rendition of 'America the Beautiful' by H.E.R. was also all about the music - R'n'B singer displayed her powerful voice and added a pyrotechnic guitar solo.
In Super Bowl commercials it was mostly beers, sodas, snacks, and cars, and - rappers. H.E.R. and Missy Elliot linked up with Pepsi singing their version of Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black'; Post Malone starred in two Bud Light commercials, Lil Nas X and Sam Elliott are dancing cowboys as Billy Ray Cyrus plays his guitar in a Doritos Cool Ranch commercial; LeBron James is the face of the new GMC Hummer EV; MC Hammer ironically stars in a new commercial for Cheetos singing his popular line “Can’t touch this”; The Roots were featured in a commercial alongside Jimmy Fallon in a funny spot.
Shakira and J-Lo made history last night as the first Latina artists to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. Shakira and Jennifer Lopez performed solo and together to put on "a stunning half-time show" at the Super Bowl in Miami where the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20. Shakira put plenty in her seven minutes - 30-seconds snippets of her hits 'She Wolf', 'Whenever, Wherever', and 'Hips Don't Lie', and even some Led Zep's 'Kashmir' and belly dancing. Lopez’s 'Jenny From the Block' marked the handoff from Shakira, which was followed by 'Waiting for Tonight', 'Love Don’t Cost a Thing', and 'Let’s Get Loud'. J-Lo also dueted with her daughter Emme singing 'Born in the USA', with an American flag wrapped around her (was it some kind od immigrant-policy commentary?).
Consequence of Sound: "All told, the 2019 Super Bowl Halftime Show was as much of a clusterfuck as one might expect: an overblown production with no real direction or actual sense of purpose. Maroon "coffee shop pop music" 5 proved once more why they are music’s equivalent to a Nilla Wafer, Travis Scott played 'Sicko […]
Outkast's Big Boi and Travis Scott have been confirmed to join Maroon 5 at their upcoming Super Bowl halftime show. Scott only agreed to perform at the sporting event on the condition that the NFL make a donation to a social justice cause, which they did, to social justice accelerator Dream Corps. Numerous stars refused […]
Super Bowl’s half-time slot this year has become more about politics than music - musicians are deciding not to perform on the show next month in support of Colin Kaepernick, the star quarterback who refused to stand for the national anthem in protest at police brutality against racial minorities. The fact that the Super Bowl […]
