Snoop Dogg has weighed in on the drama surrounding Kendrick Lamar‘s upcoming Super Bowl halftime show with a refreshingly unbiased take.
The NFL’s announcement that Kendrick will perform at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans next February has divided the Hip Hop community, with some — including prominent figures like Nicki Minaj, Birdman and Cam’ron — arguing that NOLA native Lil Wayne should’ve been given the gig instead.
Much of this anger has been directed at JAY-Z, who has helped organize the Super Bowl halftime show since 2020 and, according to one of the show’s executive producers, has the final say on who the headlining act is.
But as Snoop argued during an appearance on Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco’s Nightcap, rap fans ought to remember that Hip Hop barely had a platform at the Super Bowl before Hov partnered with the NFL.
“I don’t really have no opinion, but what I do wanna say is, just remember where the NFL was 15 years ago when it comes to Hip Hop. How many Hip Hop artists was able to grace that stage 15 years ago? So I understand both sides of the coin and I understand how people feel,” he answered diplomatically.
“[But] I have no answer, no opinion, because I had the opportunity to get up there via Dr. Dre [in 2022]. I didn’t do any Snoop Dogg songs. I was up there helping Dr. Dre and it became a great moment for all of us.
“So any time anybody can get on that Super Bowl stage, remember this: it’s a 12-, 13-minute performance and you’re not getting paid.”
Tha Doggfather than praised both Wayne and Kendrick, saying: “Lil Wayne is the G.O.A.T. of New Orleans rap. Remember, I was at No Limit Records for three years and I watched his whole career come to life, and then I watched him get bigger than me — and I was gigantic at the time.
“Me and Wayne is family to this day, me and Kendrick is family to this day, and me and JAY-Z, and me and Roger Goodell. I don’t know who the decision maker is, all I know is that I’ll be at home watching the Super Bowl and when the halftime show comes on, I’ll be watching that as well.”
Check out his comments at the 12:55 mark below.
Snoop Dogg’s fellow Super Bowl LVI halftime show co-star 50 Cent also recently sounded off on the debate, and was more forthcoming in his approval of the NFL’s decision to book Kendrick Lamar for the Big Game.
“I mean, it was a choice. I think Kendrick deserves [it]. As a solo artist right now, he’s the guy,” he said during an interview with The Talk.
Lil Wayne himself addressed the perceived snub in an emotional video shared on Instagram last week in which he admitted that missing out on the opportunity left him “broken.”
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“That hurt. It hurt a lot. You know what I’m talking about. It hurt a whole lot,” he said. “I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown, and for automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position. So I blame myself for that.
“But I thought that was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt. It hurt a whole lot. But y’all are fucking amazing. It made me feel like shit not getting this opportunity and when I felt like shit, you guys reminded me that I ain’t shit without y’all… and that’s an amazing reality.”
The Young Money rapper concluded: “So, like I said, it broke me and I’m just trying to put me back together. But my God, have you all helped me. Thanks to all of my peers, my friends, my family, my homies on the sports television and everybody repping me. I really appreciate that, I really do.
“I feel like I let all of y’all down by not getting that opportunity, but I’m working on me and I’m working. So thank you.”
