Although the vast majority of viewers during Super Bowl LVI were excited to watch the showdown between Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals versus Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams, many people watched the game for the Pepsi Halftime show. 

The Super Bowl halftime show, along with its infamous commercials, has always been just as important an aspect of the Super Bowl as the actual game itself. Sure, the clash of two great NFL (National Football League) rosters competing for a chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy is great, but the spectacle that is the Pepsi Halftime show draws in many viewers alone. 

The show is known to host the biggest names in the music industry, with some of the most recent hosts being Bruno Mars, the Weeknd, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Travis Scott, Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga and others. 

Super Bowl LVI’s halftime show was no exception, with this being the first year that the genre of hip-hop was featured as the main performance. 

This year’s show was especially important to the Gen X and Millennial communities, as it featured some of the biggest stars in hip-hop from both the 1990’s and the early-to-mid-2000’s. The featured stars included Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and a surprise guest appearance by 50 Cent. It was truly a night to be remembered for anyone that grew up in the ‘90’s, in addition to people like myself that were raised on the classic west coast hip-hop of the late 20th century. 

From Dr. Dre producing the entire show and performing on the keys, to Anderson Paak on the drums, this show had it all. It even featured a smooth-talking Snoop Dogg who, supposedly, finished a blunt approximately minutes before opening the show. 

Although “Lose Yourself” by Eminem probably got the most crowd participation and cheers, I believe that it was actually Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright,” or Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s “Still D.R.E.,” that was the performance of the night. 

The halftime performance, like always, seemed to receive mixed reviews. If you are a fan of the genre of hip-hop, or if you are over the age of 30, then you most likely loved the performance. However, if you are older and do not like hip-hop, or if you are younger and do not know the old school legends, then you probably hated the show. 

Nevertheless, it is important to note that this halftime show was a raging success for those it was meant for—Generation X and the Millennials, along with athletes—to provide them with the best, most interesting entertainment of the night. If you did not enjoy the show, odds are that the show was not meant for you. 

Overall, the halftime performance was a giant step forward for the ever growing hip-hop community. It was amazing to see a few of the biggest legends of hip-hop join forces to produce a nostalgic—one of the greatest—Super Bowl halftime shows in history.