2 Generations. 1 Super Bowl Halftime Show—Rihanna Review Part I.
Not just any artist can perform at the Super Bowl––the artist needs to capture both the attentions of halftime/advertisement watchers and those watching for the actual game. Rihanna had both audiences captured with her simple yet incredibly busy performance.
Rihanna, who hasn’t been active in the music industry since the birth of her first child in May 2022 with boyfriend A$AP Rocky, performed at the 56thSuper Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
As a salty Packers fan who lives in Central Pennsylvania, I was looking forward to the Super Bowl for Rihanna’s performance… and the chance of seeing Eagles’ fans humbled.
Rihanna opened her set with “Bitch Better Have My Money,” and it only took 5 seconds to know that she was going to body this performance. Her dancers, clad in white hazmat-esc suits, surrounded her on moving platforms as she shined bright in her all-red set accompanied with a badass red coat.
The choreography was sleek, and Rihanna moved seamlessly alongside her dancers. They moved up and down on floating shelves and moved throughout the stage in the middle of the field. By the end of the performance, there was a white-suited dancer on every inch of the field. It was aesthetically stimulating to see how well the choreography, dance team, band and Rihanna used the field. The simple red and black halftime show was just enough to entertain without taking away from Rihanna’s vocals.
Although, I will say, the performance resembled slightly that of the 2019 horror film “Us.”
Rihanna’s performance was vocals-driven as her own choreography was on the chill and laid-back side. In an interview with Apple TV, Rihanna said that the physical challenge of preparing for the performance was immense because “I haven’t done it in a minute.” But we should give the queen a break, I mean who can give birth, raise a baby, and then take a break to go perform at the Super Bowl?
Not only did Rihanna serve looksandvocals (that mic was ON), but her set list was killer. She doesn’t have new music, so her set list was curated perfectly from her collection of hits. As her performance went on, I caught myself adding her old hits like “Shine Bright Like a Diamond,” and “Run This Town.” Of course, she had to throw in “Umbrella” for good measure. Each song flowed into the next, leaving almost no time to guess what was to come next.
The entire performance exuded sounds and movements of Barbados, where Rihanna was born and raised. No matter if you watch the Super Bowl for the food or for the football, the island vibes of Rihanna’s performance surely made you want to stand up and try to see if you can move your hips like Rihanna. Don’t worry, I definitely did.
There might’ve been two teams fighting to win the Super Bowl, but Rihanna’s red-hot halftime show was a win across all boards this past Sunday.
