Hip-hop rocked Super Bowl half-time show

LOS ANGELES • Los Angeles natives Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre united for California Love, surprise guest 50 Cent hung upside down and rapper Eminem took a knee as superstars of hip-hop performed a high-energy half-time show at Sunday's Super Bowl.

The star-packed line-up, also featuring R&B star Mary J. Blige and rapper Kendrick Lamar, made hip-hop the focus of the half-time extravaganza, a platform that draws the world's top music acts.

At SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles, the musicians sang a medley of hits and traversed the roofs and interiors of a row of white buildings assembled on the football field.

Eminem ended his hit Lose Yourself by kneeling and placing his head in his hand (above), a gesture that former quarterback Colin Kaepernick made during the National Anthem at NFL games as a call for racial justice.

Kaepernick has not played since the 2016 season as no NFL team has hired him after he began kneeling.

Media outlet Puck reported earlier on Sunday that the NFL had told Eminem not to kneel during the performance. An NFL spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg opened the show with The Next Episode and California Love.

Rapper 50 Cent, an unannounced guest, began rapping In Da Club while suspended from a ceiling upside down.

Wearing a sequinned white outfit with thigh-high boots, Blige performed Family Affair in front of a sparkling group of backup dancers.

Before the show, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg said the NFL should have embraced rap years ago and they hoped to open doors for more hip-hop artistes.

Rap musicians have appeared previously, but alongside pop and rock acts.

"The greatest half-time show I've ever seen," Los Angeles Lakers basketball star LeBron James, who was seated in the crowd, wrote on Twitter.

REUTERS