Even though Super Bowl LVI’s halftime show has already sparked controversy on Twitter, the 90’s hip hop reunion consisting of Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent still had over 100 million views and about two million more views than the actual football game itself. “This year’s amount of views was also 7% higher than when The Weekend performed for Super Bowl LV” (nytimes). So even though the older generations were not fond of the rap music performed, having these rap legends come together on stage for one show is more than just “gangster”. This year’s Super Bowl halftime show is a symbol of the artists’ perseverance and success even when the odds were stacked against them. 

Every single artist who performed at the Super Bowl this year came from a rough childhood but overcame adversity. Andre Romelle Young, famously known as Dr. Dre grew up in Compton and transferred schools four different times throughout middle and high school due to poor grades. Marshall Bruce Mathers III, Eminem, also struggled with school growing up. Because Eminem was poverty-stricken, he began rapping in clubs to make money at the age of fourteen. After attempting to pass the ninth grade three times, failing because of poor attendance, Mathers dropped out of high school to pursue music full time. Snoop Dogg, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., was in and out of prison throughout the early 90s. His birth father also walked out on his family when he was only three months old. Kendrick Lamar, whose full name is Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, was raised in a high-crime neighborhood of Compton surrounded by gang life. His father and closest friends were gang members. Lamar did graduate high school on time and with straight A’s, however. 50 Cent, born Curtis James Jackson III, was raised by a single mother who had to sell drugs for money. His mother died in an unexplainable fire when 50 Cent was just eight years old, leaving him to live with his grandmother. 50 Cent went to prison at 19, even though he had been selling drugs since he was 12. Mary J. Blige’s childhood was not an easy experience. Blige watched her mother experience domestic abuse. She also turned to drinking and drugs as a teenager. 

This year’s Super Bowl halftime show was so inspirational because it brought together six artists who overcame the challenges they faced to become the legendary stars that they are. The most iconic celebrities in the world play at the halftime show, and for these six stars, it just helps to prove their influence. So even if 90’s rap music isn’t your particular favorite music genre, there is no denying how legendary the performance from this year’s Super Bowl halftime show was.