Hip-hop finally took center stage during last month’s Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, but it wasn’t an easy road.
Snoop Dogg reveals the uphill battle that JAY-Z, whose company Roc Nation co-produced the show, faced in getting Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar to perform at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Speaking with TIDAL, Death Row Records’ new CEO reflected on his friendship with JAY-Z and how the Roc Nation boss threatened to end his partnership with the NFL unless they allowed Dre to perform.
“We love each other. Like, not secretly, like publicly, we love each other,” Snoop said. “It is what it is, so it’s like for him to go to bat for us and tell the NFL, ‘F**k that. They perform or I quit,’ that was the most gangster sh*t out of everything.”
The NFL was also concerned about Snoop’s onstage attire, but JAY-Z told him not to worry. “Then with attire and kneeling and all this … you can’t wear your gangbang shit? JAY-Z hit me like, ‘Wear what the f**k you want to wear. Peace to the Gods.’”
After the performance, Snoop celebrated the historic moment with Hov. “So then he came down, and soon as he came in he hugged me. We hug each other tight. It was as if we won a championship. Like, you know when you’re genuinely happy for each other? People don’t understand, me and him are the ones. He’s the one on the East. I’m the one from the West.”
Dr. Dre previously revealed that the NFL made some minor changes to their performance. While they were aware of Eminem taking a knee during “Lose Yourself,” they asked Kendrick to remove the lyrics “If Pirus and Crips all got along” from the beginning of “m.A.A.d city.”
“They had a problem with that so we had to take that out. No big deal. We get it,” he told TMZ.