\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWhere\u2019s the love? Jay-Z<\/a> asked that question 25 years ago, in the chorus<\/a> of one of many songs in his catalog that still move audiences today. If he performs \u201cHeart of the City\u201d as part of his Super Bowl halftime show<\/a> next February, those indignant bars are sure to be a highlight: \u201cFirst the Fat Boys break up, now every day I wake up, somebody got a problem with Hov\u2026\u201d It would be an appropriate choice, too \u2014 because then as now, any time Jay-Z notches a new achievement, people find a way to complain.<\/p>\n \n\tThe jokes and nonsense started almost as soon as the first rumors trickled out that Jay, whose company Roc Nation has executive-produced the Super Bowl halftime show<\/a> since 2019, might be choosing himself to headline next year\u2019s show. \u201cJay-Z just Dick Cheney\u2019d himself for the Super Bowl,\u201d Puck<\/em>\u2018s Matthew Belloni quipped<\/a> on X last week, alluding to the time that the late prince of darkness, who\u2019d been asked to run the vice-presidential search committee for George W. Bush\u2019s 2000 campaign, put himself on the ticket. (Super hip and current reference, and not at all apples-and-oranges.) Others pointed to TMZ<\/em><\/a> reports that pop stars like Harry Styles and Justin Bieber had been asked first. \u201cHow are they the frontrunners, and he end up in the front?\u201d Cam\u2019Ron, who\u2019s delighted in trolling Jay for many years, wondered<\/a> aloud on his podcast<\/a>. \u201cOut of all the people on the roster, they couldn\u2019t pick nobody else?\u201d asked Cam\u2019Ron\u2018s co-host, Ma$e.<\/p>\n \n\tThese critiques miss the point, which is that Jay-Z is one of the best choices for a high-profile gig like this. He\u2019s a superstar with a comparable level of name recognition to any other A-lister in music. He has a deep stack of classic songs going back decades. And he\u2019s a highly skillful live performer who knows his way around a stadium stage, as he\u2019s spent this year reminding people on his Jay-Z 30 tour. He tore down<\/a> Yankee Stadium<\/a> three nights in a row this summer; just last week, he rocked SoFi Stadium, which happens to be the same place where the 2027 Super Bowl is being held. He held the crowd\u2019s attention with ease at all of those shows, and though there were plenty of glittery guests \u2014 that\u2019s a given at a Jay show, and it will surely be true at the Super Bowl, too \u2014 he did it mostly through the force of his own magnetic energy. Let\u2019s state the obvious here: Jay-Z is really, really good at rapping. We\u2019re talking about one of the slickest, sharpest talkers in the history of words, someone who made it to the top through a sustained act of myth-making, then kept going. Are we seriously asking whether he can handle a 15-minute televised performance?<\/p>\n