Jay-Z Has Reportedly Selected Jay-Z to Perform This Year's Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show in Los Angeles
Puck – After weeks of handwringing, Jay-Z, the chief decision-maker on who plays the Super Bowl halftime show, has finally picked the artist who will take the stage in L.A. in February: himself. That’s according to multiple sources, who say the pick has long felt inevitable and more compelling than Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, both of whom were considered for SBLXI. Besides, a Jay-Z performance is the natural next step in the $5 million-a-year deal his Roc Nation signed with the NFL in 2019—and re-upped in 2024— to curate and produce the halftime show. The league re-upped that deal in 2024 for another five years. (Reps for the NFL and Roc Nation did not respond to a request for comment.)
In 2019, Jay-Z signed a deal with the NFL to produce their Super Bowl halftime show. Since then, the halftime shows have featured – Shakira & Jennifer Lopez, The Weeknd, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Rihanna, Usher, Kendrick Lamar, and everyone's favorite Super Bowl halftime show (Puerto Rico category), Bad Bunny.
Honestly, it wasn't until I just now ran through that list that I realized just how hip-hop + R&B-heavy the halftime show has been ever since Jay-Z took over. It makes sense, considering Jay-Z is a rapper, and most artists signed with his label (Roc Nation) fall into that category. But historically, the Super Bowl halftime show is all over the place. Before Jay-Z's time, we had the likes of Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Coldplay. Back in the early 2000's, there was a run of classic bands like Aerosmith, U2, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Prince. For my money, Prince is the best halftime show the Super Bowl ever gave us. Him launching into the Purple Rain guitar solo in the rain was all-time.
I thought this might be the year the Super Bowl halftime show pivoted back to something a little different. I thought they might even go country. But I guess we're in the hip-hop/R&B/Puerto Rico era of the halftime show. Which is great for me. I enjoy rap. I enjoy Puerto Ricans. As far as rap artists go, Jay-Z selecting Jay-Z is about as safe a selection as Jay-Z could make (aside from Snoop Dogg, obviously). It's almost like Jay-Z didn't want to deal with all the phone calls and negotiations that go into booking a halftime show, and said "Fuck it. I'll do it myself."
Or maybe… if I wanted to engage in some wild, baseless speculation… maybe Jay-Z had another artist lined up. Maybe that artist was the biggest female artist in the whole fucking world… someone who's married to an NFL player and recently dropped an album… but for whatever reason, Taylor Swift dropped out, and Jay-Z was left holding the bag.
Just a thought. But according to the report, the other artists being considered were Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. I'm sure both would put on fine-ish shows, but I'll take Jay-Z over either of them any day.
Now, if Jay-Z wants to throw white people a serious bone (not that plenty of white people don't appreciate the musical stylings of Beyonce's husband), he should really get Linkin Park in on the mix.
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That was a fun time. THAT would be a halftime show. Nobody under the age of 50 could be too upset about Jay-Z and Linkin Park getting back together.
Or, if Jay-Z wants to get real controversial, which is what the Super Bowl halftime show is really about these days – get people talking about it by any means necessary. Just bring out Kanye. Run through the whole Watch The Throne tracklist. People would love it, hate it, and be personally offended by it the perfect amount.
If you don't like rap at all, Jay-Z is probably a shitty selection for you. But the man has hits. I gotta think Jay-Z puts on a damn good show. He's collaborated with so many artists. The possibilities are endless. And realistically, we knew Jay-Z was going to tap himself for the halftime show at some point. The longer he waited to do it, the older he'd get, and the worse his performance would be. Might as well do it now, while he's the spry age of 57.