The pick for Super Bowl LIX’s halftime headliner has proven controversial, drawing criticism for the NFL, Roc Nation, and Jay-Z in particular. This is familiar territory for the rapper-turned-mogul, whose partnership with the NFL has been criticized from the very beginning. But he has at least one supporter in his corner — former rap rival and fellow Golden Era pioneer Fat Joe, who defended Jay during a livestream on his Instagram account. During the wide-ranging monologue, Joe posited that while Jay-Z’s deal with the NFL might not be perfect, that there wouldn’t even be an opportunity for rappers like Kendrick Lamar or Lil Wayne to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
While acknowledging the contingent of hip-hop heads who wanted Lil Wayne to headline in New Orleans, he argued that “it ain’t just one man’s decision” and “if he wasn’t doing shows, it’d be no hip-hop.” As an example, he pointed to the 2022 show, which was headlined by rap legends Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg and featured 50 Cent, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar, and joked that if not for Jay, the halftime show would feature performances of the viral country folk song, “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” While that might be an exaggeration on his part, the last arguable rap act to perform the halftime show was Black Eyed Peas in 2011, at the height of “I Gotta Feeling” and “Boom Boom Pow Pow.”
So, while it wasn’t Jay’s decision to book Kendrick (or snub Lil Wayne), Joe believes his influence has at least opened the door for non-traditional performers, as hip-hop continues to take it pretty far.