Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, and Anderson .Paak played the Super Bowl Halftime Show tonight and triggered an existential crisis in grandmillenials on social
media. The hip-hop legends performed slices of their greatest hits, including Dre's “California Love,” Lamar's “m.a.a.d city,” and Blige's “Family Affair.” Quickly heralded one of the best halftime performances in recent memory, the show humbled a number of 20- and 30-somethings watching at home, who one by one had it hit them, as they cheered for their childhood inspirations: Oh. These people are old. I'm old.
Remember how our parents swooned over Prince and Paul McCartney as they stormed the Super Bowl stages? Friends, we're all closer to that AARP subscription than we believed mere hours ago. Twitter had many thoughts watching tonight's set:
everybody born between 1985 and 1995 saw the Super Bowl halftime show lineup and was like “sweet, instead of doing a show for old people like the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney or The Who they did one for us young people”
and then 10 seconds later it hit us
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) February 13, 2022
This must be how my dad felt when The Blues Brothers and ZZ Top crushed the halftime show of the ‘97 Super Bowl.
— Sean Fennessey (@SeanFennessey) February 14, 2022
finally a halftime show for the generation who had a six-disc CD changer in the trunk
— actioncookbook (@actioncookbook) February 14, 2022
This a crazy way to find out I’m old.
— Ashley Nicole Black (@ashleyn1cole) February 14, 2022
For everyone googling:
Dr Dre: 56 years old
Snoop Dogg: 50 years old
50 Cent: 46 years old
— Washington Post TikTok Guy ??♂️ (@davejorgenson) February 14, 2022
In other words: If you sang along tonight? Never fret—you can purchase your retinol products right here.
If you know every. single. word. of this halftime show it’s time for an eye cream.
Every single word.
— carina adly mackenzie (@cadlymack) February 14, 2022
Although numerous fans applauded the rousing production shared by icons of the ’90s and 2000s, few would deny that other beloved artists were sorely missed. Among them: Kendall Roy and SpongeBob SquarePants. Maybe next year...
Looks like the NFL solved their halftime show. Run this back every year
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) February 14, 2022
Only thing this halftime is missing, clearly pic.twitter.com/LSMEiY2cuC
— Hugh Kellenberger (@KellenbergerCBB) February 14, 2022
They keep calling it the greatest halftime show of all time like this didn’t happen pic.twitter.com/x0Oiamq0qH
— Guru (@DrGuru_) February 14, 2022
Unfortunately, though perhaps unsurprisingly, the performance—headlined by multiple Black artists—prompted a number of racist responses. Twitter responded in kind.
I know racists across the country fucking HEATED rn over this halftime show ??
— Keesimigos? (@KeesTheGod) February 14, 2022
This Critical Race Theory halftime show is ?????????
— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) February 14, 2022
racists after seeing people of color perform at the halftime show: pic.twitter.com/bgJkw22f2T
— Noctis ? (@_itsNoctis) February 14, 2022
They are all better dancers than you https://t.co/38JPDJY0Da
— Treat Williams (@Rtreatwilliams) February 14, 2022
In sum: Legends never die, though apparently they do age. Said legends also headline the Super Bowl and grace the cover of ELLE(hello, Mary J.!), so breathe easy. It's not all downhill from here, ’90s babes.
What if we just passed on the football and did two more quarters of this halftime show instead
— Ella Brockway (@ellabrockway) February 14, 2022