Uncensored Lyrics & Controversies: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem & More at the Super Bowl Halftime Show 🎤

From blackballing Colin Kaepernick to racially-biased medical denial-of-compensation for Black players, the NFL has racked up a litany of anti-Black discriminatory accusations. Given this fact, one might wonder if their choice to call upon Jay-Z to curate the who's who of hip-hop for the half-time show might be an attempt to both win back Black football fans and change the discourse around their public image.

In her groundbreaking book on rap music, "Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America," Trica Rose discusses the strategies of power-holders to control public discourse. She writes: "Powerful groups maintain and affirm their power by attempting to dictate the staging of public celebrations, by feigning unanimity among groups of powerholders to make such social relations seem inevitable, by strategically concealing subversive or challenging discourses, by preventing access to the public stage, by policing language and using stigma and euphemism to set the terms of public debate or perception."

How might the 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show be: 1) "strategically conceal[ing] subversive or challenging discourses", 2) "preventing access to the public stage," or 3) "policing language and using stigma and euphemism to set the terms of public debate or perception?" How might the NFL be attempting to recast its public image to create the appearance of support for Black people? How might this be an attempt to sweep under the rug the Flores and Kaepernick controversies and all the other anti-Black 'skeletons in the closet'?

This edit of the 2022 NFL Halftime Show attempts to 1) uncensor the performances (including bringing back Kendrick Lamar's 'Alright' line: “we hate po-po”) and 2) highlight some of the people that the NFL has tried to silence in recent years. Lastly, out of respect for the artists, these interventions were intended to interfere as little as possible with their performances.



References:

"Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America" by Tricia Rose. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_Noise/2Zw_21gKz1QC?hl=en

"NFL Caught Discriminating Against Black Players" by Rick Strom. https://youtu.be/RYveHo4cuwQ

"The NFL’s Denial of Black Humanity" by Jermaine Scott. https://www.aaihs.org/the-nfls-denial-of-black-humanity/




This is a project for "The 'Black' Voice" (MUSI 7519) with Dr. A.D. Carson at the University of Virginia.


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