Maroon 5 as Super Bowl halftime performer feels like a slap in the fact of hip-hop

The Daily Beast

Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta was a chance for the NFL to showcase some of the "rich hip-hop history and hit-making that have become synonymous with the ATL for the past 25 years," says Stereo Williams. "The NFL still seems a bit skittish about presenting rappers on its biggest stage," he adds. "A peripheral factor in the fallout from 2004’s Janet Jackson 'Nipplegate' scandal was that some were offended by the performances of Nelly, Kid Rock and Diddy at that show. Crotch-grabs, strippers-as-cheerleaders, some kind of Kid Rock American flag poncho—it all fell into the mix that was the pearl-clutching of network censors and pontificating politicians. Jackson felt the brunt of that backlash, but it also lingered over the Super Bowl for years. That’s why we mostly got a parade of granddad-rock halftime shows (The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney) for almost a decade. Some of these artists were just as brazen and 'dangerous' in their younger days; but by the early 2000s, the classic rock guys had become the 'safe' alternative to these wild and crazy rappers." While things began to loosen up a bit in the 2010s when Madonna was joined by Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., it feels like the NFL has an aversion to rappers as headliners on its biggest stage. "The Maroon 5 choice feels like a 'safe' one—much like Justin Timberlake did this year," says Williams. "These artists have big hits, like Maroon 5’s Cardi B-assisted 'Girls Like You,' but it doesn’t feel as though they’re the defining pop stars of the moment. They also don’t have a “legends in the game” reputation. They just seem like white guys with big hits and just enough blandness to not terrify the more conservative corners of NFL viewership."

ALSO:

• In defense of a Maroon 5 halftime show: "Is Maroon 5 the best or most popular band? Of course not," says Michael Baumann. "Does Maroon 5’s music appeal to a boring, down-the-middle, white bourgeois taste? It does indeed. And you know what? That’s fine. It’s the Super Bowl halftime show, not the f*cking papacy. The Super Bowl halftime show hasn’t been emblematic of what’s cool or representative of broader American music in at least 15 years. Justin Timberlake, a far zeitgeist-ier artist than Maroon 5 has ever been, played the halftime show last year, and he sucked."
• "You could have gone with Usher, Outkast, Ludacris or Migos," says Dan Wolken. "You could have mixed in a little John Mayer, who launched his career in Atlanta, or brought back grunge rock with Collective Soul. Elton John and Justin Bieber live at least part-time in Atlanta. You could have even given a nod to country with Zac Brown Band or Jason Aldean. The point is, from CeeLo Green to Killer Mike to Future to TI, Lil Yachty, the bench here is pretty deep and diverse."