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Why Travis Scott performing at the Super Bowl halftime show is a mistake
In a shocking turn of events, TMZ is reporting that Travis Scott will join Maroon 5 at this year’s Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is no doubt the biggest gig in music. It’s the most watched program on cable television every year by far and ads pay millions just seconds of placement.
Given all of this, Travis Scott’s decision to join Maroon 5 is a mistake.
Since it was announced that Atlanta had won the bid to host the 2019 Super Bowl, the city went up in a frenzy. Besides having what two years ago was a Super Bowl contending team and owning a brand spanking new $1.6 million dollar stadium, Atlanta just so happens to be the most influential city in music today.
. @NFL you have the opportunity to celebrate incredible Hip Hop Artist from Atlanta Next year.
— Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars) February 5, 2018
Migos, Usher, T.I., 2 Chainz, T.L.C., OutKast, Gucci Mane, Future, Young Thug, Lil Baby, Gunna, Jeezy, Ludacris, and Jermaine Dupree are just a few legends from the ATL with catalogs and still don’t come close to who the city has to pick from.
It was a no-brainer. Even if the Falcons didn’t make it to the final game — and they won’t — we just knew they’d show the NFL what the dirty south was all about with a great halftime show.
So when news broke that Maroon 5 was headling and not any of the relevant, prolific, local talents, the disappointment, as you can imagine, couldn’t be held back.
Maroon 5? With all the artists from Atlanta that are 100 times better? Somebody on the Super Bowl entertainment booking staff needs to be relieved of all duties, pronto.
— PoeticGenius916 (@CMont916) September 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/SheaSerrano/status/1042450503655931904
As always, the NFL had gotten it wrong and made a complete tone-deaf decision. This one, however, indirectly turned out being for the best.
Prior deciding on Adam Levine and his crew, marquee artists, who Atlanta would have accepted on any grounds, had already turned down the gig to stand in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick who is currently suing the NFL on counts of collusion.
After Colin decided to kneel during the National Anthem as a sign to bring awareness of racial injustice in America, the NFL made a rule saying players couldn’t take a knee during the anthem and Colin has found himself out the league since.
Last year it was reported that Jay-Z had turned down an offer to perform during the Super Bowl halftime, which he seemingly confirmed in the lyrics to his song with Beyonce, “Apeshit”: “I said no to the Super Bowl: you need me, I don’t need you.”
And according to US Weekly, Rihanna was offered the gig at the big game in February 2019, but she declined due to disagreeing with the NFL’s stance on players taking a knee during the National Anthem as well.
Not to mention, earlier this year it was also reported that the band was “having a lot of trouble finding guests” to perform with them. A source revealed to US Weekly just last month that “No one wants to associate themselves with the NFL in light of its response to Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality.”
Yet, somehow Travis miss the beat on this.
https://twitter.com/MeekMill/status/1075797761818275840
https://twitter.com/MeekMill/status/1075798329613783041
Seeing that his mentor and brother-in-law, Kanye West has alienated half of his fans with his irresponsible rhetoric and Trump musings, you’d think Travis or his PR team would see this as an easy pass. Besides, as Meek said, he doesn’t need it.
Travis Scott has the number one album in Astroworld, the number one song in “Sicko Mode,” and one of the highest grossing tours of the year. Surely, he could have skipped out on this bad for the better good.
While we may have gotten ahead of ourselves being salty about the NFL not grabbing an Atlanta talent, it was a slap in the face to reality. We don’t really want our legends associated with them anyway.
It’s not only just the Kaepernick issue. From acting late on domestic violence cases to cover-ups to targeted drug testings, this is clearly a league that is late on the progressive train and until they start showing a lot more due diligence in respecting the rights of all the players. I’m not sure why anyone would want to align with them.
Travis is Grammy-nominated, a father, and a soon to be Super Bowl half-time performer. I guess sometimes when you have the cake, you’ve got to eat it too.
Let’s just hope he checks the recipe.