
This year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show will be a monumental moment for Hip-Hop. Some of the most legendary figures in the culture will take the stage at SoFi Stadium for what is primed to be an action-packed performance. Headlined by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem, the show will mark the first time the Super Bowl has embraced Hip-Hop to this magnitude, resulting in some of the performers feeling pressure to rise to the occasion, particularly Eminem. The “Rap God” spoke on the opportunity to perform alongside his favorite collaborators on such a big stage and admitted he’s feeling a bit nervous ahead of the big night.
“I’m gonna tell you, it’s fu**ing nerve-wracking,” Em revealed to Sway Calloway in a SiriusXM Shade 45 interview earlier this week. “To me, there’s nothing more final than live TV. You know what I’m saying? So if you f**k up, your f**k up is there forever.”
He continued, adding “When Dre first asked, when the whole thing started going down and we were like, ‘OK, this might be actually serious.’ I was trying to envision what Dre might do,” Em said. “I was thinking like, ‘Yeah, it’s dope that all of us are gonna rap together.’ [But] I didn’t expect it to be, like the production to be like this.”
In addition to discussing the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, Eminem also shared his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s place in the pantheon of great rap artists, past and present, and how he feels Lamar will be viewed as an emcee in the future. “Kendrick, to me, is one of the most electrifying vocalists of this generation, would you agree?” Shade 45 host Calloway asked Em. “I absolutely would agree,” Em offered in response. “Kendrick is at the very top, top tier of lyricists. Not just of this generation, but of all time.”
Listen to Sway’s full interview with Eminem below.
The Super Bowl LVI matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams goes down on Sunday (Feb. 13) at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The kick-off is at 6:30 p.m. ET and airs on NBC and Peacock.