Jay-Z Speaks Out on Controversy Around Super Bowl Halftime Show Picks: 'It's Not Rocket Science'
Jay-Z is opening up about his role as the NFL’s Live Music Entertainment Strategist through his company, Roc Nation.
During a new interview with GQ, the hip-hop legend opened up about fundamentally shaping the Super Bowlhalftime show since taking on the role back in 2019.
Jay-Z's Mission
While the halftime performer pick has always been somewhat divisive, those debates reached a peak this year when Bad Bunny was chosen at the headliner. The Puerto Rican rapper performs entirely in Spanish, and has been outspoken in his political beliefs, causing backlash from some fans who felt like he wasn't representative of the larger crowd watching the game. Of course, it must be noted that he was the most-streamed artist, globally, in 2025, for the fourth year.
The Super Bowl halftime show, under Jay-Z and @RocNation supervision, has never been a bigger source of debate and anticipation. His goal with the show, he told GQ, is to represent the music of our time in its totality https://t.co/JvJdheyxHe pic.twitter.com/ymJjuPKKxl
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) March 24, 2026
When asked about his decision to choose not only Bad Bunny, but other recent performers, Jay-Z explained that he wants the world's biggest stage to be more balanced instead of only representing one side of the music spectrum.
"I think everyone should experience music in its totality," he began. "And for a lot of years, it was only one side of music that was being represented. We got the opportunity to create a more balanced idea of what popular music is today."
He made sure to add that despite all of the backlash, the Puerto Rican powerhouse was a pretty obvious choice.
"I'm not going out on a limb, this is the most famous people in the world," Jay-Z said with a laugh. "I didn't pick, like, the indie artist that I really like from Portland--It's the number one most streamed artist in the world. Him!"
Making the 'Obvious' Choice
After explaining that decision, Hov was asked about his choice for the year prior, Kendrick Lamar, and if that was "a hard one to get across the board."
"Not without conversations that was dated, you know what I mean?" Jay-Z replied." The stats show. Kendrick broke the audience record, it's not rocket science, this is the music of our time and it should be represented on the biggest stage because--I'm not saying they're the only artists, right, obviously, other artists would be offended--But, I think that was the right choice."
Jay-Z on choosing Kendrick for the Super Bowl halftime show https://t.co/berIwWwx0K pic.twitter.com/TxS8nU6Yjm
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) March 24, 2026
And despite the LA native's ongoing beef with Drake, which was at its peak during his halftime performance, Jay-Z says that had nothing to do with his decision.
“I chose the guy that was having a monster year. I think it was the right choice. What do I care about them two guys battling? What’s that got to do with me? Have at it," he said. "They drag everybody in it, like everyone’s part of this conspiracy to undermine Drake, I guess. But, it’s like, what the f**k? I’m f***ing Jay-Z! All due respect to him. I’m f***ing Hov."
Jay continued, "Respectfully. It doesn’t make any sense. It couldn’t be that these guys just don’t like each other. I think this has been brewing, just like me and Nas was brewing. It didn’t happen at the Summer Jam—that happened with 'Lex with TV sets, the minimum.' It was a whole bunch of stuff leading up to that point. I actually regret that because I really like Nas. He’s a really nice guy.”