Dr Dre says the NFL insisted on “minor changes” to lyrics for the Super Bowl Halftime Show
Dr Dre has given his first interview following his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance, reflecting on Eminem‘s much-publicised decision to take the knee, the NFL’s censorship of some lyrics, and more.
The legendary rapper and producer joined forces with Eminem, Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg for the show, which also featured surprise appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak.
Asked by TMZ whether organisers had requested the performers remove any lines, Dre said: “There were a few things we had to change, but it was really minor things.”
Bringing up Eminem’s taking the knee, he said “that was Em doing that on his own and there was no problem with that.”
It was reported after the show that the rapper was reportedly told not to kneel by the NFL, a claim the league has denied.
During Lamar’s section of the set, which consisted of a medley of some of his songs, the lyric “If Pirus and Crips all got along / They’d probably gun me down by the end of this song” was notably absent from ‘mAAd City’.
Dre confirmed that the line was removed at the request of the organisers due to its reference to LA gangs. “They had a problem with it, so we had to take that out. No big deal, we get it. But all in all, everybody came in, we were professional, everybody was on time and everybody felt the magnitude of this thing and what we were gonna be able to accomplish.”
He also revealed that Blige celebrated after the show at his house, and that the two spent time in the studio together.
“She was playing me samples and we were just vibing out. We were talking about working together on her next project. I’m not even sure if i’m supposed to be saying this or not so I’m sorry Mary, but I’m excited about it […] That’s all we did, just sat in the studio and played music and had fun dancing around!”
Before the show, Dre had joked that he’d had to talk Eminem and Snoop Dogg out of “pulling their penises out” during the set.
