Where is the love? Jay-Z asked this question 25 years ago, in the chorus of one of the many songs in his catalog that still resonate with audiences today. If he performs “Heart of the City” as part of his Super Bowl halftime show next February, these outraged bars will certainly be a highlight: “First the Fat Boys break up, now every day I wake up, someone has a problem with Hov…” This would also be an appropriate choice – because then as now, every time Jay-Z achieves a new feat, people find a way to complain.
The jokes and nonsense started almost as soon as the first rumors swirled that Jay, whose company Roc Nation has produced the Super Bowl halftime show since 2019, might choose himself to headline next year’s show. “Jay-Z just did a Dick Cheney for the Super Bowl” PuckThe (Super hip and current reference, and not apples and oranges at all.) Others have pointed out TMZ reports that pop stars like Harry Styles and Justin Bieber were interviewed first. “How are they the favorites, and he ends up in front? » Cam’Ron, who has happily trolled Jay for many years, asked the question out loud on his podcast. “Of all the people on the list, they couldn’t choose anyone else? asked Cam’Ron’s co-host Ma$e.
These criticisms miss the point, which is that Jay-Z is one of the best choices for a high-profile concert like this. He is a superstar with a level of fame comparable to that of any other music star. He has an extensive collection of classic songs dating back decades. And he’s a very talented live performer who knows his way around a stadium stage, as he’s spent this year reminding people on his Jay-Z 30 tour. He tore up Yankee Stadium three nights in a row this summer; last week, he rocked SoFi Stadium, which happens to be the same venue where the 2027 Super Bowl is taking place. He held the crowd’s attention with ease at all of these shows, and while there were plenty of scintillating guests — that’s a given at a Jay show, and will surely be true at the Super Bowl, too — he did so mostly through the force of his own magnetic energy. Let’s state the obvious here: Jay-Z is really, really good at rapping. We’re talking about one of the most skillful and pointed orators in the history of words, someone who rose to the top through a sustained act of myth-making, and then kept going. Do we seriously wonder if he can handle a 15-minute television performance?
And yes, there is a touch of self-righteousness in the way he named himself. So what? Praising his own gifts is arguably Jay-Z’s greatest talent. He made self-clap a real art. He told his story over and over, tracing the steps from Marcy Projects to the corner suite, and he made us believe. It would almost be insulting to the public if it doesn’t give yourself the job at some point.
Pop culture observers of recent years surely remember the backlash against Super Bowl headliners like Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny — all of it at least culturally conservative, and much of it frankly just racist. The blowback to Jay’s announcement is mostly coming from other quarters, at least for now (let’s just wait and see what the right-wing swamps think of this one). But it’s disappointing in another way. Jay-Z has spent his career promoting hip-hop as a dominant commercial force. He’s not a businessman, he’s a business, man. But he is also an artist. He’s made a ton of money and found himself in rarefied rooms where he even has the ability to afford work like this, turning his experiences into compelling narrative art, one verse at a time. Let us not lose sight of how impressive his life’s work is. Jay-Z isn’t some random C-suite bro, and he’s certainly no Dick Cheney. He is one of the greatest rappers of all time, in every way. He earned this Super Bowl berth.
Gn entert
