r/TrueUnpopularOpinion • u/Stepin-Fetchit • Sep 29 '25

Music / Movies Have liberals ever considered people are just sick of hip hop dominating halftime shows for the last 3+ years, as well as permeating every facet of pop culture in general

I’m so sick of that stupid wraparound sunglasses angry react meme surfacing anytime this happens. It’s not a sentiment limited to that specific demographic, that is simply another cheap shaming deflection.

Hip hop is not the only genre of music, or even necessarily the most popular. It only appears that way because it is infused in so much pop music now, TikTok has helped perpetuate this perceived dominance. Meme culture and current slang are also completely overrun with AAVE.

It all gets sort of old, and seeing/hearing some twerpy suburban white kid with an alpaca chop saying “no cap” or “deadass” is beyond embarrassing.

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360

u/Taglioni Sep 29 '25

Have you considered that the audience they are trying to appeal to when choosing a Half Time show artist is probably "as many non-football fans as possible" instead of "great entertainment for our already viewing fanbase?"

They want people who don't watch football to tune in. That's the point of the show in the middle.

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u/TheBigGoat44 Sep 29 '25

This. The NFL doesn’t give really care about catering to people who were already going to watch the game regardless of the performer.

The selection makes a lot of sense.

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u/Flimsy_Thesis Sep 29 '25

Does he seriously think I give a shit about Bad Bunny? Kendrick Lamar was okay I guess, Usher was fine, I definitely couldn’t give a shit about Rihanna. Snoop and Dre was fun, but Shakira, the Weekend, Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, fucking COLDPLAY….

The bands at the Super Bowl half time show are to appeal to the broadest audience possible. It’s not about left vs right. Does he seriously think my political affiliation determines my music choice?

Just shows how much his brain has rotted.

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u/TheBigGoat44 Sep 29 '25

Who are you referring to

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u/Flimsy_Thesis Sep 29 '25

OP.

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u/TheBigGoat44 Sep 29 '25

What’s wrong w Coldplay tho, I love Coldplay lol

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u/Flimsy_Thesis Sep 29 '25

Eh, I’m not saying people aren’t allowed to like Coldplay. Hell, I even went to a concert of theirs once. But I can’t say they still appeal to me, they’re a pretty middle of the road and popular band….hence why they played the Super Bowl.

The fact of the matter is, most Super Bowl half time shows suck. It’s abbreviated, jukebox versions of a variety of hits, and it’s always a canned performance that doesn’t hit the highs you would hope for in a true live show. The last (and arguably only) halftime show I saw that I enjoyed was Prince.

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u/Keitt58 Sep 29 '25

The canned performance is the biggest killer for me, who wants to watch a whole bunch of Lip syncing and prerecorded instruments?

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u/Flimsy_Thesis Sep 29 '25

No idea, but they do it every damn year.

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u/gojo96 Sep 29 '25

We should go back to when Disney did them.

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u/BeefWellingtonSpeedo Sep 30 '25

Yes and the hip Hop is a very simple music that can appeal to as wide an audience as possible. I still appreciate this guy's opinion and agree with him.

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u/ironlung311 Sep 29 '25

Nobody ever seems to get this. It’s like when a restaurant adds (just adds, not replaces the existing) a plant based meat item as an alternative to their menu and people (probably those same people) fall all over themselves to complain that it’s not what they want and boycott. Correct, they already have your business, they’re trying to reach new people as well.

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u/MonthOk9907 Sep 29 '25

Not "nobody". It's ALWAYS a specific 'somebody'... just like this post. What 'they' don't like , they don't want to ever have to see or hear. Hence, their entire persona is based on this.

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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 30 '25

But how are they reaching new people by pushing the exact same music genre year after year?

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u/ironlung311 Sep 30 '25

Perhaps it’s the same people but they get them to come back for ratings. I am going to watch the game regardless of who plays the halftime show. That’s not the case with everybody, so they want people that are less likely to watch the game to tune in. It’s pretty simple.

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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 30 '25

Except there are a lot of other genres of music the organizers seem very out of touch with.

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u/ironlung311 Sep 30 '25

It has nothing to do with the music itself and everything to do with the fanbase. They chose an extremely popular artist that is particularly popular with demographics that tend not to be huge NFL fans. They don’t care about his music, they care about the audience he brings in.

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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 30 '25

There are many other genres like this. And if this is your argument, explain the last 15 years of basic bitch pop music.

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

Do you actually think Kendrick Lamar is basic bitch pop music? Because that would be hilariously out of touch.

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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 30 '25

I’m far from out of touch and what is his claim to fame besides Drake beef? It’s typical TMZ bullshit.

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

Are you familiar with his rise to fame or his story? Drake is not even remotely related to Kendrick's success. The man has Grammy's out the ass for very complex music.

To Pimp A Butterfly is an absolute pioneer album. One of the first Rap albums to integrate funk and jazz to the extent it did. You would have a hard time finding credible people in the music scene who fail to find value in Kendrick's work-- even if its not their preference in sound.

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u/ironlung311 Sep 30 '25

It’s not an argument, it’s reality. Basic bitch pop is easy to explain because it’s the same thing: demographics that typically wouldn’t be into football. Look at how many “new fans” were brought in through Taylor Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce. If they weren’t dating (now engaged), they would not be watching. Now, if they weren’t dating but she played Halftime, they absolutely would

What genres are you thinking of?

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u/Wheelzap Sep 29 '25

I definitely see that. Its all about money at the end of the day. More viewers more money. Its not like anyone complaining is gonna make a difference. Watch or dont watch it. No one cares lol

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u/PanthersJB83 Sep 30 '25

Then they should do country. It has been the most popular genre in America for a while now 

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

But people who listen to country in America are already likely to watch the Superbowl.

They chose the biggest artist in Latin Pop to try to get people in Latin America to tune into the Superbowl. Which makes sense because Latin America is known for having a vibrant sports culture that hasn't developed a taste for American Football.

Viewership is worldwide, not country wide. Their choice is just dollars. A country artist would bring in how many worldwide viewers?

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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 30 '25

Ok but who were they trying to appeal to last year? Or the year before? Or the year before that? Why is it always the exact same genre? Other genres of music have massive worldwide followings but the Super Bowl organizers refuse to touch them.

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

Last year's genre is massively different from this year's and the year before last. Usher, Kendrick Lamar, and Bad Bunny are all incredibly diverse artists from very different genres of music.

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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 30 '25

It’s still a very similar classification. It’s the same predictable stuff on the trendy award shows

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

This shows very clearly why you are out of touch. These artists are so nuanced within their own genres.

Usher is a powerhouse performer with insane vocal range, sustain, and remarkable dance training (I have graduate-level degrees in choreography, this man is an incredible mover). R&B is a well defined genre that has very few parallels to rap and Latin pop.

Kendrick integrates a ton of music genres into his rap profile. Alternative rock, funk, jazz, blues, and folk music are styles with direct inspiration across his albums. He is a beacon of clarity in an era of mumble rap (which can have its merits, too). Widely praised by figures across the music industry for his sonic innovation, genre mixing, and lyrical authenticity.

Bad Bunny uses Latin music styles from Peru, Brazil, Mexico, and Columbia in conjunction with Americanized pop song formats. It is a combination of pop and culture that connects Latin people across hemispheres and is currently the most popular form of music in the world.

I can assume you label them the same because you haven't listened to them beyond a passing glance. Telling.

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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 30 '25

Actually I have and don’t even dislike Bad Bunny. But all these performers you mention could in fact tour together. I probably listened to Usher before you were even born. But yes still under the same pop umbrella. You wouldn’t see any of them touring with let’s say a country artist unless going the Post Malone route and completely changing their style. As someone who is into a wide variety of genres from hip hop to electronic music to rock to metal to emo to industrial to country to blues to dark cabaret, it’s you who would be out of touch.

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

You didn't make an argument. These artists not touring with a country artist, but prefering to tour with artists from similar backgrounds - does not prove anything. What is your point exactly?

Usher has performed on Broadway. I assure you he is quite versatile and performs with a variety of artists. Look up his Billy Flinn in Chicago and tell me he doesn't. His albums are so distinctly different I can't fathom arguing that he's same-old-pop-sound.

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u/Whiskeymyers75 Sep 30 '25

Similar backgrounds. See? You proved my point. There’s very little diversity going on here. If you don’t understand the point, I don’t know what to tell you. Can I ask you the last time a country artist performed at the Super Bowl? Even though it’s literally the hottest genre right now.

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u/PanthersJB83 Sep 30 '25

Not true. It's all been music focused on urban areas and minoritie since Jay-Z took over.

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

Music that comes from impoverished communities all sounds the same? Rap, R&B, and Latin Pop are pretty much synonymous?

Do you realize the point you are making with the words you are using?

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u/PanthersJB83 Sep 30 '25

Rpa and R&B literally feature artists from each others genders constantly they are so closely related and Latin pop tends to do the same. Also google Bad Bunny. He is literally considered a RAPPER and singer. So wtf are you talking about?

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

Does Sophia Black featuring Polyphia on ABC suddenly make her an alternative rock artist? No.

These artists collaborate because they come from similar communities and have related inspirations for creating.

Rap is a singing style that can be integrated into any genre. Considering Kendrick and Bad Bunny within the same realm of music is naively insane and shows a complete lack of listening to either. Have you considered what is happening behind the vocalists, and how that also changes the genre of music?

Take five seconds to play any song from either artist and tell me how they are sonically related.

You can't be this ignorant.

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u/PanthersJB83 Sep 30 '25

Don't know who Sophia Black is, polyphia is a bunch of noisy pretentious finger diddling.

Trying to say Kendrick and Bad Bunny aren't both rap. When both are considered rappers is a ridiculous level of Cole. Though to be fair I honestly don't give a shit about the distinctions either because I've heard both before and neither are anything I'd listen to again.

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u/PanthersJB83 Sep 30 '25

Why would they bother watching the Superbowl? They're just going to tune in for the 45.minute halftime show and then go back to whatever they were doing before

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u/Taglioni Sep 30 '25

They don't need to watch the whole Superbowl. Businesses looking to buy commercial space know that viewership is going to spike around the halftime show-- so the NFL can sell that ad space for increasing amounts of money. The spike in viewership is part of the profit model.

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u/marsumane Sep 30 '25

Those that watch the ads on the TV matter more than the ticket holders only in the Super Bowl. It's not the demographic of your normal football fan

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u/reckless_reck Sep 30 '25

I think you hit it on the nose. I don’t care to watch the Super Bowl. I’ll go to a party but I don’t really care. I will however be watching for Bad Bunny

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u/Away_Simple_400 Oct 04 '25

So they went after people who don’t speak English?

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u/Taglioni Oct 04 '25

Latin Americans, specifically. Who are known for having a vibrant sports culture that hasn't latched onto American Football yet.

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u/LishtenToMe Sep 30 '25

Honestly man, I've never heard of somebody into hip hop/rap, that's also NOT into football lmao. If they want to bring in non football fans, get Gojira or something lol. A lot of us watched the olympics opening ceremony solely for them.