Super Bowl 2019: Travis Scott Halftime Appearance With Maroon 5 Slammed by Fans as ‘Disappointing’

Travis Scott’s appearance alongside Maroon 5 during the halftime show at Sunday’s Super Bowl LIII was met largely by disappointment from viewers.

The Astroworld rapper and “Girls Like You” artist joined forces during the midpoint of the big game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams to perform “SICKO MODE” after being introduced by a scene from SpongeBob SquarePants. Fans were not feeling the collaboration, however, coming after Scott for his performance without the signature autotune sound.

“Travis Scott is disappointing for the super bowl [shaking my head],” one fan wrote. “#superbowl”

“Wow Travis Scott singing sicko mode live sounds like absolute horse s— lol #superbowl,” another viewer wrote.

“Did they just suggest that Travis Scott is a ‘musical genius’?” another added. “I don’t think either if those words would apply to this guy in any context. #SuperBowl”

A third declared, “No autotune, no Travis Scott #SuperBowl”

Prior to Sunday’s performance, Levine opened up about the decision to perform in the Super Bowl despite the ongoing controversy surrounding the NFL’s treatment of Colin Kaepernick and other players who decided kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality and police brutality.

“No one thought about it more than I did,” Levine told Entertainment Tonight. “No one put more thought and love into this than I did. … I spoke to many people, most importantly though, I silenced all the noise and listened to myself, and made my decision about how I felt.”

The band’s frontman said he “absolutely 100 percent” took a hard look inside of himself before agreeing, continuing, “I will never sit here and deny that. I think that to have not done that would have been deeply irresponsible.”

For people who felt the band’s decision to perform was a sign their voices were not being heard, Levine continued, “They will be [heard] — that’s all I want to say because I don’t want to spoil anything. And once again, I like to think that people know where I stand as a human being after two decades doing this. I’m not a speaker. I’m not a public speaker. I do speak, but it’s through the music. My life’s work and what I put out into the universe has been positive and hopefully inspiring … So, what I would say is, you know, we are going to do what we keep on doing, hopefully without becoming politicians and continuing to use the one voice we know how to use properly.”

“To make people understand, we got you,” he concluded. “We got you.”

Levine’s comments didn’t strike the right note with many people, however, including Kaepernick’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, who spoke out against the interview in an appearance on Good Morning America Friday.

“If you’re going to cross this ideological or intellectual picket line, then own it, and Adam Levine certainly isn’t owning it,” Geragos said on the morning show. “It’s a cop-out when you start talking about, ‘I’m not a politician; I’m just doing the music.’ Most of the musicians who have any kind of consciousness whatsoever understand what’s going on here.”

Photo credit: CBS