Kap still out of work, but Jay-Z appeared on a rap-focused Super Bowl halftime show

Jay-Z kept his promise. It is not the important thing.

The man who once rapped, “I said no to the Super Bowl, you need me, I don’t need you. Every night we’re in the end zone, tell the NFL we’re in the stadiums too, ”was right – because he’s the reason we’re about to have the Blackest Super Bowl Halftime Show, already.

“Pepsi, NFL and Roc Nation have brought together a line of pioneering musicians to present the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show,” the NFL press release read. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar will take to the World’s Biggest Stage at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. On Sunday February 13, 2022, airing on NBC and Telemundo, and airing in direct on Peacock.

The rap mogul who walked into a partnership with the NFL two years ago – for an as yet unknown amount – did what he said he would do upon signing “to enhance live NFL gaming experiences and to amplify the league’s social justice efforts.”

But it was also the day when Jay-Z said that infamous quote:

“I think we are over the knees. I think it’s time to get into an exploitable element… I’m not minimizing [Kaepernick’s] part of it. It must happen. It is a necessary part of the process. But now that we all know what’s going on, what are we going to do? How are we going to stop it? “

Since that day America has had a summer of 2020 in which virtually every sport has knelt down. Derek Chauvin even got into action by kneeling for almost 10 minutes on George Floyd’s neck, which resulted in his murder. During this same period, Jay-Z also participated in buy a Bentley from Robert Kraft (psst: he could already afford it) for the birthday of the owner of the Pats; standardization of racing has been on display throughout the league; and yet Kaepernick is always unemployed today.

“I want to be held accountable for what I do,” Jay-Z said on that fateful day in 2019 as he sat next to Roger Goodell. “It keeps me alert. Let me know I can’t play. I have to do what I say I’m going to do.

Super Bowl LVI will be the first time that rap has been the flagship genre on the show at halftime, as it has always been treated as a side dish in the past thanks to Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. “Nipplegate” in 2004. Ironically, the two rappers – P. Diddy and Nelly – who were on that show had nothing to do with the scandal, but it was their genre and their culture that suffered because of the act. of a white male pop artist.

The February show will be a legendary day for rap music. I’ll take full advantage of it, and you should too. But, do you know what would make it even better?

If everyone on stage would kneel down at the end.