During the Super Bowl halftime, rapper Eminem ended his performance by kneeling, in front of millions of viewers. Tribute to Tupac or Colin Kaepernick? Interpretations vary.
Kneeling and holding his head, the interpreter of Lose Yourself lay down for several seconds, before joining Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent for one last song.
Meanwhile, rapper Dr. Dre was playing a few notes of I Ain’t Mad At Cha, by Tupac Shakur, said Tupac. Several spectators saw it as a tribute to the emblematic figure of American rap, who was assassinated in 1996.
This is it. Right here. Eminem takes a knee as Dr. Dre plays Tupac’s I ain’t mad at cha on the piano. Here’s when I lost it pic.twitter.com/uDIaSYJJB8
— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) February 14, 2022
Eminem has repeatedly praised Tupac, writing in a letter to the late rapper’s mother that he “inspired his entire career.”
Challenge the NFL
In the American press, Eminem’s gesture had a completely different echo, presented not as a tribute to Tupac, but as a clear reference to the gesture of footballer Colin Kaepernick, who had protested in 2016 against police violence against blacks. kneeling down during the American anthem.
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback, refusing to back down despite the controversy, left his career there. The athlete has not since found a team.
However, Colin Kaepernick became the figurehead of a movement that grew to such an extent that then-President Donald Trump reacted, calling the protesters bad Americans, who he said despised the flag and soldiers killed or wounded in action.
In 2018, the National Football League (NFL) decided to ban kneeling during the anthem, arguing that it created a “false perception among many people that thousands of NFL players were not patriotic » and inviting athletes who do not wish to get up for the anthem to « stay in the locker room ».
Today, kneeling down is a committed gesture, associated with the Black Lives Matter movement.
In the American press, a rumor circulated, suggesting that the NFL had opposed this gesture of Eminem. The information was denied by league spokesman Brian McCarthy, who claims that Eminem had already knelt down during rehearsals for the show.
Tribute to Tupac or Kaepernick, Eminem did not clarify. It wouldn’t be the first time the Detroit rapper has offered his support to the footballer. In 2017, a key period of controversy, he paid tribute to him in his title Untouchableending with “we f****** hate Trump”.
“We hate po-po”
Largest gathering of viewers in the world obliges, rude words are censored. But the absence of the words “we hate po-po” as Kendrick Lamar interpreted OKa hymn against police violence, also caused a reaction.
While he had to pronounce the sentence “And we hate po-po, wanna kill us dead in the street for sure”, Kendrick Lamar disappeared behind his dancers. It is therefore impossible to know if he did not utter the words “we hate po-po”, or if this passage was cut without his knowledge.
However, during Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s performance, Dre’s anti-police text, “Still not loving police”, was audible.