LOS ANGELES (AP) — There promises to be plenty of “California Love” when Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar combine Sunday for the Super Bowl halftime show. The hip-hop icons are to talk about their set at a midday news conference.
The five music icons will perform at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Lamar – a Pulitzer Prize winner – are Southern California natives.
Dre emerged from the West Coast gangster rap scene alongside Eazy-E and Ice Cube to help form the group N.W.A., which made a major mark in the hip-hop culture and music industry with controversial lyrics in the late 1980s. Dre is responsible for promoting rap stars such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Lamar. Dre also produced Blige’s No. 1 hit song “Family Affair.”
The Super Bowl returns to the Los Angeles area for the first time since 1993. It’s the third year of collaboration between the NFL, Pepsi and Roc Nation. The Los Angeles Rams play the Cincinnati Bengals.
The five music artists have a combined 44 Grammys. Eminem has the most with 15. Blige is the only return performer among the group – she was part of an ensemble cast that featured Aerosmith, NSYNC, Britney Spears and Nelly back in 2001.
Other rap artists who have performed at the Super Bowl include Travis Scott, Sean “Diddy” Comb, Queen Latifah, Nelly and Big Boi of Outkast.
The National Association of the Deaf arranged to have Sean Forbes and Warren Snipe, also referred to as “WaWa,” perform sign language interpretations of the songs performed by the headliners.
Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Blige and Lamar join a list of celebrated musicians who have played during Super Bowl halftime shows, including Beyoncé, Madonna, Coldplay, Katy Perry, U2, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and most recently The Weeknd.
Roc Nation and Emmy-nominated producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-producers of the halftime show. The game and halftime show will air live on NBC.
