"I said no to the Super Bowl, you need me, I don't need you," Jay-Z revealed on a 2018 song alongside Beyoncé. Eight years later, the Brooklyn-born rap icon is finally in a position to say yes, not just to the Super Bowl, but to himself.
Since 2019, Jay-Z's entertainment company, Roc Nation, has been in charge of selecting Super Bowl halftime talent
, and he just chose himself to perform at the 2027 halftime show. If that wasn’t self-important enough, he proclaimed himself the GOAT in the announcement commercial.“I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man,” he declared on Kanye West's 2005 track "Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix).” A Jay-Z-appointed Jay-Z Super Bowl halftime show is the Jay-Z prophecy fulfilled.
I’m not sure if the Super Bowl
needs Jay-Z, but it’s clear he thinks he needs it.
Jay-Z is looking toward legacy
Rumours of this self-ordained performance began circulating from an Oct. 20 Puck report that states sources “say the pick has long felt inevitable and more compelling than Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, both of whom were considered for SBLXI."
More compelling to whom?
One answer is Jay-Z himself. He’s spent the latter part of this year doing a great deal of legacy-cementing. In July, he held a record-breaking mini-residency at Yankee Stadium to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his 2001 album “The Blueprint” and the 30th anniversary of “Reasonable Doubt.” Guest performers included Rihanna, Usher, Nas, Teyana Taylor and, of course, Beyoncé.
This fall, he did even more mythology-circling with a self-produced, eight-part, interview-style HBO docuseries with record producer Rick Rubin.
Jay-Z clearly wants the general public to respect his legacy, but his public image for the past few years has been marred with controversy. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick recently questioned the true intention behind Jay-Z’s rank in the league, claiming the powers that be wanted a “Black face” to paint over past racial missteps. Jay-Z was also named in a lawsuit alongside long-standing industry friend Sean “Diddy” Combs alleging they sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl at an MTV Video Music Awards after-party in 2000. The case was dismissed in February 2025.
In his mind, a self-appointed halftime show performance is the perfect way to bookend a years-long project to rehabilitate his image and cement himself as a rap great.
Granted, this isn’t all to say Jay-Z isn’t a perfectly capable halftime show performer. The acts usually fall into two categories: an artist at a relative commercial peak, using the show to capitalize on or cement their cultural impact, or a legacy act with a string of hits that span generations, using the show as a victory lap.
Jay-Z is the latter. He’s respected by hip-hop purists but has enough pop radio collaborations (think Rihanna, Mariah Carey and, again, Beyoncé) to make him a household name.
But all the inside baseball (football?) surrounding this halftime show makes it hard to see into the future of the event.
Are we running out of Super Bowl halftime performers?
The death of monoculture brought forth by the internet has fractured society so much that cultural ubiquity is hard to attain. Audience attention is so divided that few artists have enough widespread appeal to carry a performance on one of the biggest stages in the country.
Every year, the list of possible performers gets shorter and shorter.
Miley Cyrus is mentioned consistently. She has a string of hits spanning all the way to her "Hannah Montana" days that appeal to Gen Z and millennials. She appeals to older generations. She achieved a No. 1 hit several years ago with “Flowers,” but her recent shows at the Hollywood Bowl revealed Cyrus has fallen out of love with performing. The underperformance of her newest album, “Bass Persuades,” doesn’t give her a reason to, either.
Ariana Grande is still performing, but she’s taking a break from music to focus on acting. She’s more than capable of putting on a good show, but the recent controversy around her body doesn’t place her in the best position.
Justin Bieber seems like a worthy choice, but his antics at this year’s Coachella and his dalliances with controversy over the years leave many questioning if he’s stable enough for such a high-pressure performance. Maybe it’s time for an uncomfortable conversation about child stars.
Drake is there. But will he do it after Kendrick Lamar essentially had an entire stadium calling him a pedophile?
Taylor Swift is the obvious choice. She’s the biggest artist in the world by almost every metric. She’s also a savvy businesswoman who reportedly requested ownership rights that the NFL gods probably aren't willing to hand over just yet. At this rate, they’re going to have to bend the knee eventually. They know she knows they need her.
There's that cabal of aging rock bands I'm sure people want to see: Metallica, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses.
Then there’s the crop of newcomers, namely: Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter, who all have the makings of capable halftime performers should they keep their current trajectory.
Jay-Z’s halftime show has the potential to be a great one, especially if he taps his legion of legendary collaborators. Selfishly, I want him to pull a bait-and-switch: Start with a little medley of tracks from “Watch The Throne” and “The Blueprint,” then exit stage left and let Beyoncé do the rest.
Kofi Mframa is an entertainment and culture columnist at USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Super Bowl halftime show doesn't need Jay-Z. He needs it | Opinion
