Rihanna’s show was spectacular, and a huge sellout
Remember that Jay-Z song from 2018, when he boasted: “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.”
Or that Rihanna quote in Vogue in 2019, after she’d turned down an invitation to perform at the Super Bowl?:
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. … I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”
These words came at a moment when the National Football League was actively suppressing Black expression and protest. When Colin Kaepernick, famous for kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, had been effectively shut out of playing. When team owners had ruled that any other athlete kneeling during the anthem would be punished.
It was stirring, back then, to see Jay-Z and Rihanna, these Black cultural icons, using their star power to send a message: No, we don’t need validation from a White-run, historically racist institution such as the NFL.
Whelp, so much for that!
On Sunday, Rihanna, the Barbadian-born musician turned beauty-industry billionaire, performed at the big game — nearly seven years since her last studio album and nearly five years since she last stepped on to a huge public stage.
Dressed in a devil-red outfit, RiRi began her set descending from on high like manna from heaven, blessing the fans with what we’d all been craving for so long: a bit of her old self. She bodyrolled effortlessly through her hits — “Umbrella,” “Diamonds,” “Pour It Up.” And she did it all while flashing a little belly bump — her second pregnancy, her reps confirmed post-show. Fierce. And yet? Disappointing.
Look, everyone who knows me knows I love me some Rihanna, ever since she came out with “Pon De Replay” in 2005. There’s a reason I ask for Rihanna GIFs on Twitter every year for my birthday. The woman is bold. Her beauty and confidence are such that she could wear a paper bag, make it look good and turn it into a trend. That’s power.
But Rihanna’s performance on Sunday is a reminder that almost no one achieves that kind of influence without selling out in some way. She could have used some of her stage time to acknowledge Kaepernick and the spirit of his protest. Or lamented Tyre Nichols’ death after his brutal beating by Memphis police. Or noted the NFL’s ongoing discrimination against Black coaches. Instead, she simply … put on a show, in service to the same forces that only three years ago she said she wanted nothing to do with.
It’s a testament to her unrivaled cultural power that she has so far escaped serious blowback. So let’s now take a closer look at this NFL about-face.
Rihanna is signed to Roc Nation, the music label founded by Jay-Z. In fact, you could say she owes her entire fabulous career to Jay-Z, who saw a tape of her performing in Barbados when she was still a teenager, then flew her to New York for an audition and wouldn’t let her leave until she’d signed a contract.
As for Jay-Z? He was up on his social-justice high horse for only about a year. In 2019, the NFL announced it was entering into a partnership with Roc Nation, which would help spearhead “the selection of artists for major NFL performances like the Super Bowl.” The idea, the announcement said, was to “nurture and strengthen community through football and music, including through the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative” — which purports to support social justice work through grants and awards.
The move drew plenty of side-eyes. Yet Jay-Z attempted to justify the deal, saying: “I think we’ve moved past kneeling. I think it’s time for action.”
Fast-forward a year, and more Black people were made into hashtags — tragic ones. George Floyd was brutally murdered by police in Minneapolis. Millions of people moved past kneeling for national anthems and took to the streets, interrogating racism and anti-Blackness in all facets of our society and risking tear gas and further violence.
Since then, it has been a thorny dance between institutions such as the NFL that actively perpetuate anti-Blackness, and the superstars who best exemplify Black talent and creativity.
In many ways, unlike Jay-Z, Rihanna has made social justice, protest and inclusivity part of her brand. She has commented on protests in Sudan. She spoke out in support of the #EndSARS anti-police-brutality protests in Nigeria. And she made global headlines and drew the ire of the Indian government by tweeting about farmers protesting in that country.
Which, after the Super Bowl, makes a person wonder — was any of this authentic?
Because the harsh truth is this: With Rihanna’s performance and her silence on the issues she claims to have stood for, the true winner of the night was the NFL. She has shown them, and all racist institutions, that if they can withstand Black protest and outrage for a few years, put on some cool shows and donate to charities, then everything will be hunky-dory — at least until the next wave of Black outrage.
Is this really the queen we stan?