Entertainment

Dr Dre hopes Super Bowl half-time show will inspire young hip-hop artists

He is due to appear onstage alongside R&B star Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and his rap proteges Eminem and Snoop Dogg.
He is due to appear onstage alongside R&B star Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and his rap proteges Eminem and Snoop Dogg. He is due to appear onstage alongside R&B star Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and his rap proteges Eminem and Snoop Dogg.

Dr Dre says the Super Bowl half-time show will “open more doors” and inspire young hip-hop artists.

The former NWA co-founder promised the highly anticipated show, with its all-star line-up, would be “f****** incredible”.

He is due to appear onstage alongside R&B star Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and his rap proteges Eminem and Snoop Dogg, for the performance on Sunday.

The game at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, will see local team the Los Angeles Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals.

The show, a collaboration between the NFL, Pepsi and Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s entertainment company, is one of the most coveted slots in music.

It will be a home performance for Dre, Snoop and Lamar, who are all from Southern California.

Speaking during a Pepsi press conference, Dre, 56, said: “I’m not trying to be egotistical but who else could do this show here in LA?

“Who else could perform the half-time show other than these amazing artists that we’ve put together?

“We’re gonna open more doors for hip-hop artists in the future.

“We’re gonna show how professional we can be, how dope we can be onstage and how exciting we’re gonna be to the fans.”

He was joined for the conference by Blige and Snoop, who hailed the “great moment” and thanked the NFL for giving them the opportunity to perform.

“This is a blessing because the Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in the world, hip hop is the biggest form of music in the world,” the Doggystyle rapper said.

“For us to have the opportunity to bring those two worlds together, we’ve got the queen of R&B, we’ve got the King of hip-hop and all of his proteges in the place.

“We appreciate the NFL because we know a lot of people didn’t want hip-hop on stage. Well, we here now and there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”

Dre said watching the set gave him “goosebumps,” adding: “Throughout my life I’ve always enjoyed being underestimated and I know we’re gonna kill that s***.

“We want to inspire kids to say ‘ok maybe I can get there maybe I can do that one day’.”

Asked to describe the show in one word, he replied: “F****** incredible.”

“That’s two words, cuz,” exclaimed Snoop.