Travis Scott may join Maroon 5 on unclear Super Bowl lineup
Rapper Travis Scott will reportedly perform alongside Maroon 5 during the Super Bowl halftime show, according to TMZ. The Associated Press stopped short of confirming the news but quoted a source as saying Scott is in talks to join the lineup.
The NFL has been typically mum on the halftime show lineup for Super Bowl LIII, which will take place Feb. 3 in Atlanta. The organization has not yet confirmed Maroon 5’s headlining gig – reported widely in September – and reps for the league did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The halftime show would be the latest in a streak of career highlights for Scott, born Jacques Webster. His album “Astroworld,” released in August, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, where it has remained in various Top 10 spots. Scott, who recently added more tour dates for his critically acclaimed Astroworld tour, also covers the January 2019 issue of Rolling Stone, which dubs him “rap’s newest superstar.” A rep for Scott also did not respond to a request for comment.
Entertainment slots for the upcoming halftime show have reportedly been tough to fill amid outcry over the National Football League’s alleged blacklisting of Colin Kaepernick. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback set off controversy in 2016 when he began kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality against black Americans. In the years since, hundreds of other NFL players have followed suit in a campaign against racial inequality.
In October, Us Weekly reported that Rihanna had turned down an offer to headline the halftime show in support of Kaepernick. Jay-Z, an outspoken supporter of the NFL free agent, implied that he had done the same on the song “Apes---,” released in June.
“I said no to the Super Bowl. You need me, I don’t need you/ Every night we in the end zone, tell the NFL we in stadiums too,” he rapped. The song is the lead single from “Everything Is Love,” the rapper’s joint album with his wife, Beyonce, who courted controversy during the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show – headlined by Coldplay – with a politically charged performance that evoked the Black Lives Matter organization.
Maroon 5 hasn’t been immune to the debate. A change.org petition asking the Adam Levine-fronted band to drop out of the show in support of Kaepernick has received more than 75,000 signatures. Comedian Amy Schumer, who has faced her share of controversy, also called on Maroon 5 to drop out of the show in an October Instagram post. Scott has not directly weighed in on the protests, but he did tell Rolling Stone that the birth of his daughter, whose mother is reality star Kylie Jenner, has made him more attuned to political issues. He publicly supported Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke in his U.S. Senate race during the 2018 midterms. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, retained his seat.
Others have criticized the NFL’s choice of Maroon 5, a band formed in Los Angeles, over Atlanta-based artists. The Georgia capital boasts a vibrant hip-hop scene that has spawned popular acts including Migos, Future, Outkast, T.I. and Ludacris. Rapper Waka Flocka told TMZ that the halftime show “should have somebody from Atlanta representing Atlanta.”
Scott is from Houston. But rapper Big Boi, one-half of Outkast, is also reportedly in talks to join the lineup. Reports also cite Bronx chart-topper Cardi B, who appears alongside Maroon 5 on the hit single “Girls Like You,” as being in the running.