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This year’s Super Bowl Halftime performance was one for the history books. We got the legends from the East and West coasts: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg,  Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem, along with surprise features 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak. 

Everything about this performance was amazing, from the intro to the outro. Dr. Dre’s orchestration of the whole thing was incredible. The performance started with the iconic track “The Next Episode” with Snoop and Dre. This performance was so fun to watch as you could see that both Dre and Snoop were really enjoying themselves.

Next in the setlist was “California Love.” This got me so excited because I absolutely love this song. It was nostalgic and also kind of sad obviously because you could feel Tupac’s absence. Other than that, it was another great performance by Dre.

After the intro, the anticipation grew to see if there were going to be any surprise guests. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. 50 Cent’s iconic “In Da Club” came on and the dancing began. This song is one of the best songs of all time. It is a staple of club culture. It was also really cool to see how 50 did his performance upside down in the beginning to recreate the music video for the song.

Up next was Mary J. Blige with “Family Affair” and “No More Drama.” I am not a huge fan of Blige’s music, but I know enough to hold her in high regard. Nevertheless, her performance was stunning and the ending was funny when she fell on her back with the camera above her.

This next performance had me on the edge of my seat. When Kendrick’s incredible track “M.a.a.D City” started playing, I knew no halftime show would ever compare to this one. Not only that, but after Lamar being in hiding for so long from the public, it felt really good to see him performing again. He continued on his performance with the incredible “Alright” from one of his best albums To Pimp a Butterfly. The songs were great, but Kendrick being one of the best performers of our time made it even better.

I was already pumped with Kendrick, but once I heard the beginning of Eminem’s verse in “Forgot About Dre,” I lost it. The song cut off and he began to rap his most well known and Oscar winning track “Lose Yourself.” Any performance of this song by him is great, but something about it being at the Super Bowl made it even better. It was also really cool to see Anderson .Paak on the drums for this performance.

The last two songs were “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” by Tupac, performed by Dre, and “Still D.R.E” performed by all of the artists together.

Words cannot describe the nostalgia and importance of this performance for lovers of hip-hop. It was a real gift for the fans. It felt like these artists’ way of telling the fans that they appreciate all of the support and love over the years. This performance will go down in history as one of the best.