Why Maroon 5? Why is there controversy? And most importantly: Will Travis Scott propose to Kylie Jenner?
The Super Bowl halftime show is always a big deal. Welllllll, maybe not always. The first Super Bowl’s halftime show had a marching band and a bunch of pigeons.
This millennium, anyway, the halftime show is often the most-talked about part of Super Bowl Sunday. Sometimes that’s a good thing (Prince!) and other times it really isn’t (Nipplegate). Maroon 5 — a safe, if boring choice— is already getting a lot of ink before the game between the Rams and Patriots.
If you don’t quite understand why, let us help. We’re answering all your burning questions, from the controversy surrounding the halftime show to whether we’ll see a proposal from Travis Scott to Kylie Jenner, aka Generation Z’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
1. Why Maroon 5?
There are only two types of artists who get the call to play the Super Bowl halftime show these days. Aging legends (The Who, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen) and mega-popular, completely inoffensive acts* (Beyonce, Coldplay, Katy Perry). Maroon 5 falls firmly in the latter category, as they’ll bring their unique brand of waiting room rock to America’s longest bathroom break in Atlanta.
Maroon 5’s soulless songwriting and Top 40 sound mean they’re objectionable only to those who believe people who whistle in songs should be exiled to the Yukon. They’ve sold more than 100 million singles and 27 million albums, so a few people will be excited to see them, at the very least. “Harder to Breathe” was OK, I guess.
Anyway, Maroon 5 didn’t take the honor lightly.
“I spoke to many people,” lead singer Adam Levine said, “most importantly though, I silenced all the noise and listened to myself, and made my decision about how I felt.”
Seconds later, Levine disappeared up his own butthole.
*Lady Gaga is the exception, but only kind of.
2. What’s the controversy about?
Maroon 5 wasn’t the NFL’s first choice. Rihanna was reportedly approached to play the halftime show, but turned the offer down because of the league’s blackballing of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick has been a free agent for each of the last two NFL seasons after kneeling during the national anthem throughout the 2016 season to protest police brutality and racial inequality.
By accepting a gig that Rihanna passed on in solidarity with Kaepernick, Maroon 5 has faced criticism for slighting the quarterback. The band has — for the most part — avoided questions about Kaepernick, even skipping the press conference that halftime performers usually hold before the Super Bowl. But at least one member of Maroon 5 says it’s just about the band doing its job.
“I think there are plenty of people — a lot of the players, to be honest — who support Kap and also do their job for the NFL,” Maroon 5 keyboardist PJ Morton told People. “I think we’re doing the same thing. We can support being against police brutality against black and brown people and be in support of being able to peacefully protest and still do our jobs. We just want to have a good time and entertain people while understanding the important issues that are at hand.”
3. So that’s why we won’t see Cardi B?
Yup.
The rapper is featured on Maroon 5’s song “Girls Like You,” which you’ve probably heard if you’ve turned on a pop radio station for 15 minutes at all in the last few weeks. So she was a logical choice to join Maroon 5 on stage, but she also turned down the offer because of the NFL’s treatment of Kaepernick.
“You have to sacrifice that,” Cardi B told the Associated Press. “I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.”
Maroon 5 still managed to find a couple artists to join them, though.
4. Why are Big Boi and Travis Scott performing?
There’s a long list of influential musical artists from the city of Atlanta, but the NFL chose a band from Los Angeles for the halftime show. By adding Big Boi — one half of Atlanta-based rap duo, Outkast — the NFL got its musical nod to the host city.
It added more star power by getting Travis Scott too. The Grammy nominated rapper had one of the most successful albums of 2018 with Astroworld. While he and Maroon 5 don’t have a song together, they do have the same management.
But like Maroon 5, both artists face criticism for accepting a gig that Rihanna and Cardi B turned down. Rapper Jay-Z even reportedly tried to talk Scott out of the performance.
Scott said he wouldn’t perform during the halftime show until the NFL agreed to make a donation to support a cause for social justice.
“I back anyone who takes a stand for what they believe in,” Scott said in a statement, via Billboard. ”I know being an artist that it’s in my power to inspire. So before confirming the Super Bowl Halftime performance, I made sure to partner with the NFL on this important donation. I am proud to support Dream Corps and the work they do that will hopefully inspire and promote change.”
That donation hasn’t slowed the critique, though.
5. What songs should we expect?
Bad ones. Or OK ones. Or good ones. Whatever your opinion is of Maroon 5 will probably determine whether you enjoy the setlist.
Some of our guesses: “Sugar,” “This Love,” “Moves Like Jagger,” “Harder to Breathe,” and “Payphone.” Maybe a SpongeBob song.
Adam Levine was featured on Big Boi’s “Mic Jack” from his 2017 album Boomiverse, so it seems like a good bet that’ll be on the agenda.
Travis Scott will likely perform at least one of his own hits from his Astroworld. Let’s say ”Stargazing” and “Sicko Mode,” but don’t hold us to that because we’re not Tony Romo.
6. Any other surprise appearances?
The game is in Atlanta, and Ludacris has been tweeting about hosting the big game in his home town incessantly. The NFL may be reticent about letting him anywhere near the 50-yard line, however.
Big Boi’s appearance suggests we might get a full-blown Outkast performance if Andre 300 shows up. There may be no better palate cleanser to follow the mom jeans of rock and roll than “Bombs Over Baghdad.”
The Zac Brown Band will not be there.
7. What about SpongeBob?
SpongeBob SquarePants fans rose up after the cartoon’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg, passed away in November. A petition imploring the NFL to play “Sweet Victory” — the smash hit by the Bikini Bottom Super Band received more than 1.2 million signatures in the run-up to the Super Bowl.
This is “Sweet Victory,” by the way:
Both Maroon 5 and the Mercedes-Benz Stadium have dropped hints about this happening, enough so that the odds of America’s least-interesting band playing it are better than any one of their original songs.
8. Will Big Boi bring one of his owls?
Big Boi loves owls and has at least two as pets (Hootie and Hoodini, amazing names).
It’s not clear which owl this one is, but his ability to troll a cat (usually the trolliest pet) means he’s obviously the best one:
— Big Boi (@BigBoi) January 14, 2019
Do we want Big Boi to bring that owl so that he’ll trick Adam Levine to falling off the stage? Yeah, a little bit.
Do we think it’ll happen? Probably not. It’d be a Superb Owl Super Bowl if it did, though.
9. Will Travis Scott propose to Kylie Jenner?
In January, the NFL confirmed that Travis Scott would be one of Maroon 5’s guests at the halftime show. That was a month after Scott told Rolling Stone that he and girlfriend Kylie Jenner would get married soon.
“I gotta propose in a fire way,” he said.
Plus, the Super Bowl is exactly one year and two days after their daughter, Stormi, was born.
CONNECT THE DOTS, PEOPLE.
So will the rapper ask the youngest of the Kardashian sisters (but not actually a Kardashian) for her hand in marriage Sunday night in front of the biggest TV audience of the year?
Well, it’s possible they already are engaged. Or they just like the attention of the rumors. Either way ... maybe?
It’d definitely be a first in Super Bowl halftime show history. So hopefully. Because we believe in love.