Snoop Dogg Explains What Super Bowl Halftime Show Means for Hip-Hop
The rapper emphasized how important this milestone is for the genre, no matter who is headlining.
Snoop Dogg reflected on his own Super Bowl halftime performance in 2022 this week, following his commentary on the 2024 Super Bowl halftime drama. Last week, Snoop made some diplomatic remarks on the NFL's choice to hire Kendrick Lamar for the Super Bowl rather than a local star like Lil Wayne. On Monday, he spoke at a conference for Raising Cane's employees, saying that his chance to play the Super Bowl stage was "a dream come true."
"I'm a fan of football, you know how much I love football," Snoop said to Raising Cane's founder Todd Graves at the "CaneCún 2024" event in Cancún, Mexico. "To go to the Super Bowl is the first feat that you have as a fan, like 'I just want to go to the Super Bowl.' And then the next feat is, 'I just want to meet the players.' You don't have that, 'I want to perform' – that never entered my mind! So, when Dre called and was like, 'They want me to do the Super Bowl. Are you down?' I'm like 'Hell yeah! What you mean am I down?!'"
More broadly speaking, Snoop said that Super Bowl performances like this are an important milestone for the hip-hop genre. He said: "I looked at the opportunity as a chance for our music to get the respect that it deserves, on the level of rock 'n' roll, or any other genre of music, and I feel like it did."
This follows hot on the heels of Snoop's appearance on the podcast Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson. There, he discussed the controversy about Kendrick Lamar headlining the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show, rather than local legend Lil Wayne. Both Lamar and Snoop are from L.A., but he was able to give a nuanced take on the issue without glossing over any important details.
"I don't really have no opinion, but what I do wanna say is that, just remember where the NFL was 15 years ago when it comes to hip-hop," he said. "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."
Snoop then made it clear that he is on very friendly terms with both Lil Wayne and Lamar. He said: "Lil Wayne is the GOAT 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 watched him get bigger than me and I was gigantic at the time and I loved seeing his growth. 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 is the decision maker, 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."
