Column: From The Rock to Dr. Dre, Super Bowl leisure was generational gold

WTOP’s Jason Fraley testimonials the Super Bowl Halftime Exhibit (Aspect 1)

The Los Angeles Rams won the activity, but the Halftime Present received the Tremendous Bowl.

At minimum, that was the emotion from Generation X and Y (Elder Millennials), who grew up blaring “Parental Advisory” CDs and are now aged ample to be Parentals ourselves.

The whole evening was created for us — and we smelled what the producers have been cooking.

The broadcast opened with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson lifting the People’s Eyebrow to quotation his WWF catchphrase, “Finally, the Super Bowl HAS Come Again to Los Angeles!” Yes, I stated WWF on reason, because Gen. Z would pretty much absolutely call it WWE. The only minimal letdown was that The Rock did not pause to sniff the air just after declaring, “The thousands and thousands.”

Just after the urban modern day gospel duo Mary Mary sang “Lift Each individual Voice and Sing,” R&B soprano Jhené Aiko carried out “America the Attractive,” although country star Mickey Guyton shipped one of the greatest renditions of the national anthem in latest memory, no shock to those people subsequent her rise by the region ranks with “Black Like Me.”

The commercials showcased a great deal of nostalgic ’90s pop-society references, including an electrical Chevrolet Silverado callback to “The Sopranos,” a Peacock trailer for a spinoff of “The Contemporary Prince of Bel-Air,” a Common Motors ad showcasing the forged of “Austin Powers,” and a Verizon business showcasing Jim Carrey reprising his role from “The Cable Dude.”

Best of all, the much-predicted Halftime Demonstrate was the literal soundtrack of our life, the exact tunes that we burnt CDs of in superior school (“The Serious 2001”) and danced our butts off to in faculty (“In Da Club”) courtesy of MP3s downloaded from Napster on to our iPods.

Thus, you can think about our ear-to-ear grins observing the overall functionality revolving about the legacy of Dr. Dre, who’s been the architect of West Coast hip-hop for 35 a long time.

It was only fitting to open with Dre soaring up from a studio console to join his pal Snoop Dogg on “The Next Episode.” “La-da-da-da-dah, it is the just one and only D.R.E.” Props to Snoop for creatively cleansing up his lyrics for the young children — “Dr. Dre, minimal busters!”

“California Love” was ideal for a Super Bowl played in Inglewood. The only matter lacking was a 2Pac hologram, which I wagered $5 on in a spouse and children Super Bowl pool. I was hoping the late fantastic would appear digitally from outside of the grave like prior hologram concerts as a result of his estate. Sigh, at the very least Snoop was a deserving stand-in for Pac.

Dre’s Aftermath protégé 50 Cent was a nice surprise, dangling upside-down like the tunes video clip to “In Da Club.” Social media is ragging on his “Dad Bod,” but let us see y’all hang upside-down 20 yrs just after your prime. 50 can certainly tackle the disses. He’s been strike with a few shots, but he never walk with a limp. No human body shaming on my observe!

Very same for Mary J. Blige, who crooned atop dollhouse dioramas that resembled ’90s dwelling functions and symbolized Black music getting into white houses. Blige’s “Family Affair” was the perfect variety (“Don’t will need no hateration, holleration in this dancery”), adopted by “No Far more Drama,” collapsing on stage like the Oscar-nominated star she is (“Mudbound”).

Future up was Kendrick Lamar, who obviously had the coolest choreography of them all, relocating in rigid, syncopated movements inside a bunch of bins marked “Dre Working day.” As Lamar emerged from the sample with his microphone, he delivered his signature “To Pimp a Butterfly” track “Alright,” ahead of repeating the phrase, “Forgot About Dre” as a set up.

Enter Eminem, who rapped a compact snippet of “Forgot About Dre.” I’m upset the major-offering artist of the 2000s only received one particular music, but his epic rendition of “Lose Yourself” reminded us of why it is the quintessential underdog rap story. Eminem proved a Detroit person could gain in L.A. — just like ex-Lions QB turned Rams champion Matthew Stafford.

You are going to detect Eminem took a knee following his general performance, a thing the Super Bowl people warned them all not to do. On the 1 hand, it is an case in point of privilege (Eminem understood he could get away with it, whilst the other individuals couldn’t). On the other hand, it was a defiant assertion of solidarity with the Black Life Matter movement and Colin Kaepernick.

It all culminated with Dre returning to the phase to engage in a white piano, tickling the ivories for a bit of 2Pac’s “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” before likely into his catchiest riff, “Still D.R.E.,” also off “The Continual 2001,” proving he’s the mastermind powering a technology of bomb beats.

Soon after a standing ovation, my pleasure turned to rage acknowledging how unhappy it is that it took this extensive for a hip-hop halftime. Just about every just one of these artists could have conveniently headlined on their own many years ago. If you have a gut response to cringe at that statement, I invite you to meticulously crawl out from below the willfully ignorant rock you have been living underneath for way also long.

Glance, y’all know that I protect typical Boomer tunes and movies all the time on WTOP (it is amazing stuff), but “doing your research” has to go both ways. You simply cannot pat you on the back for defying your mother and father with Elvis and The Beatles, then criticize your individual children for doing the exact. In its place of hating what you really don’t have an understanding of, lean into it and learn.

To all the “get off my lawn” haters on cable information, permit me remind you that it’s not a badge of honor to proudly admit that you haven’t adopted preferred audio for the past 30 a long time. When you go to create, “Not my music,” you could as perfectly declare, “I’m out of contact.” When you feign outrage that Dre mentions law enforcement, you might as perfectly yell at the sky for becoming blue.

This is not some newfangled stuff that aimless teenagers perform on their phones. These songs are 20 to 30 years outdated! Hell, we are almost 40 years old. Some people have a great deal of catching up to do, just like the NFL has a whole lot of catching up to do with choosing various head coaches.

It’s not also late to appear aboard. We welcome you with open arms. But the coach is leaving the station before long. We’re shifting on to a much more inclusive foreseeable future exactly where we can sing Garth Brooks and DMX in the similar breath. Punch your ticket. Better yet, scan it. All aboard.

WTOP’s Jason Fraley reviews the Tremendous Bowl Halftime Demonstrate (Portion 2)