Sunday, Feb. 3 marked the 56th Super Bowl and, with it, the 56th edition of the Super Bowl halftime show. This year’s show prominently featured West Coast hip-hop sound, which was fitting for the Los Angeles location.
Gauging by the online reaction, many people believe that this was the greatest Super Bowl halftime show ever. While I enjoyed the performance, I vehemently reject that idea.
The show featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige. The first four of those artists are rappers who often swear in their lyrics. This means they had to change their songs to make them clean for a mass audience, which altered the feel of their music. 
Sometimes censoring a song doesn’t significantly change it, like in Snoop Dog’s performance of “The Next Episode.” Other times, you get Kendrick Lamar’s clean performance of “Alright” or “M.A.A.D City,” where the omission of some lyrics causes him to change the flow to something foreign to regular listeners.
The changes to “Alright” were the most off-putting. The song has a theme rooted in Blackness. From the jazz-influenced instrumental, to the lyrics that speak to a specifically Black struggle. Neutering the song by leaving out the n-word takes away from the feeling the song evokes.
I’m not arguing that the halftime show should be uncensored. I am arguing that rap has an inhibitor that other genres rarely have to deal with, and that inhibitor significantly alters the performance of rap in front of a large audience. 
Beyond changing lyrics, another issue I have with calling this year’s performance the greatest ever is that there was a better show just last year. The Weeknd’s performance had better outfits, more energy and a better vocal performance than this year’s artists.
Traveling back to 2013, Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child put on an incredible show with production so extravagant that it created a 33-minute, 55-second blackout.
In 1993, Michael Jackson had one of the greatest performances ever. His performance began with two full minutes of cheering from the audience before he sang “Billie Jean” and “Black or White.” After bringing the house down with these energetic numbers, he tugged at the audience’s heartstrings with “We are the World” and “Heal the World.”
In 2007, Prince put on what is widely considered the greatest halftime show of all time. His performance brought everything from pop to rock to funk, culminating in his legendary performance of “Purple Rain” in the rain.
Recency bias is one reason viewers are adulating this year’s show. People tend to overrate the importance of things that have just happened, only to later discover under more sober analysis that what they experienced wasn’t quite what they remember.
The idea that this year’s halftime show was the greatest ever is also fueled by nostalgia. People hearing the music that they grew up on had more of an influence on their perception of the show than anything else. If next year’s show featured Playboi Carti, 21 Savage and Lil Uzi Vert, there would be a younger generation calling it the greatest of all time, but that would not make it so.
This year’s Super Bowl halftime show was good, but it belongs in the league of Maroon 5 and Lady Gaga, not in the rarefied air next to Prince and Michael Jackson.
Frank Kidd is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Springfield.