50 Cent made a surprise appearance at tonight’s (February 13) Super Bowl Halftime Show, joining Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige at the event.
All but 50 Cent from the aforementioned artists had been announced to be performing at the annual sporting event, which took place at LA’s SoFi Stadium.
The show began with appearances from Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, who performed from on top of a set of white buildings. After they delivered a version of ‘California Love’, the camera panned to the lower floor of one of the buildings, where 50 Cent was hanging upside down – a reference to the video for his hit single ‘In Da Club’, which he then launched into a rendition of.
Once his section of the performance – which he finished standing the right way up amongst a group of dancers – was complete, the show moved on with appearances from Blige, Lamar and Eminem.
50 Cent’s entrance quickly became a much-talked-about moment from the halftime show on Twitter, with fans sharing memes riffing on his upside-down performance. See some reactions to the moment below.
50 cent waiting for his part the whole time #HalfTimeShow pic.twitter.com/cSbGcy9DBJ
50cent when he was upside down waiting for Dr Dre to finish his verse #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/oXs4VcZTsH
50 Cent after hanging upside down for 5 seconds #HalfTimeShow pic.twitter.com/xVMgFNlF5s
50 cent is gonna be light headed through the 3rd quarter
No one: 50 Cent: pic.twitter.com/pUpf1CN5ta
my therapist: upside down 50 Cent can’t hurt you, he isn’t real upside down 50 Cent: pic.twitter.com/aYJZWdf4CW
Speaking ahead of the event, Snoop Dogg said performing at the halftime show was a “dream come true”. “I’m still thinking I’m in a dream because I can’t believe that they will let a real hip-hop artist grace the stage in an NFL Super Bowl,” he said. “We’re just going to wait for that moment and put something together that’s spectacular, and do what we’re known for doing and add on to the legacy.”
Blige also revealed that she was not being paid to perform, but explained that she wasn’t bothered about money because it was “an opportunity of a lifetime”. “Listen, you’re gonna be paid for the rest of your life off of this,” she said. “People are gonna be knocking at your doors. They don’t have to pay me, but if they was paying it would be a lot of money.”
