Super Bowl halftime promised to be another old timers affair as "The Who" has been slated by the National Football League to entertain the masses this year. I wonder (along with Scoop Jackson at ESPN) where the flavor is for the halftime show? In a league dominated by athletes of the hip hop generation, how is it that since the infamous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, that we have only been treated to the legends of Rock and Roll at halftime, including the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Paul McCartney? While I understand that Commissioner Roger Goodell is interested in protecting the league from halftime scandal, I believe that the legends of hip hop could perform scandal free just as readily as the Stones, Springsteen, Petty and McCartney. So, where is Run DMC? Queen Latifah? What about Ice Cube, KRS One or Dr. Dre (Prince did get the gig in 2007)?Further, I am confident that the NFL could comfortably inquire into th
e availability of Jay-Z, Common, Lauryn Hill or Snoop Dogg and avoid the embarrassment of a wardrobe malfunction moment. After all, the Super Bowl is the most-watched event in the world. Why prop up the careers of aging white artists and leave the true soul of global culture on the sidelines?
Lauryn Hill or Jay Z would be an enormous "get" for the halftime show. Is the lack of diversity based on the NFL outsourcing its halftime show to a corporate production company?
ReplyDeleteThe reason why "aging white artists" constantly perform at the super bowl half time show is because of the "aging white audience”. The biggest racial group of the super bowl audience is whites. Whites grew up listening to these "aging white artists" and have introduced the music to their children to love. These "aging white artists" have become social institutions for a lot of super bowl viewers. So it makes perfect sense to have "aging white artists" perform at the super bowl because the "aging white audience” has more of a connection to the artist.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of Jay-Z performing at the super bowl is dumb. I am sorry but that is a horrible idea. Hip Hop is in a bad state right now. Plenty of talented artist are selling out by only making club jams and producing inhuman amounts of mixtapes. In my opinion Jay-Z has become the poster child for Hip Pop. If he is given a platform as big as the super bowl; Hip Hop will die.
Hip Hop legends would not be a practical substitute for the "aging white artists”. Any Hip Hop legend would bring in an audience a tenth of the size of any "aging white artist”. Reasons being a) the audience that listens to Hip Hop legends in 2010 is small and b) The younger Hip Hop fans generally dislike old hip hop.
Nice try, personally I would love to see the Wu-Tang Clan perform during super bowl half time.