Dr. Dre has made the historic move of adding two deaf rappers to this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The two artists, Sean Forbes and Warren “WaWa” Snipe, will appear alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar on February 13th to sign the big performance. It’s the first time sign language interpreters will be included in the halftime show’s more than 50-year history.
“The doors to accessibility are busted wide open with something like this,” Forbes told the Detroit Free Press following the announcement. “So this is very much a full-circle moment, being from Detroit, being part of the Eminem camp –– or even going back to being 12 and listening to N.W.A, Dre, and Snoop on my Walkman…My goal is to get out there, show what we can do, and have fun. And I want to open the door for other deaf performers.”
Snipe, meanwhile, will be bringing his past Super Bowl experience to the stage, having served as interpreter during Jazmine Sullivan’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and Eric Church’s performance of “America the Beautiful” at the 2021 contest between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Just two weeks ago, the upcoming halftime show received a cinematic trailer courtesy of Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray, in which the Good Doctor rounds up his all-star team of hip-hop legends to a medley of hits including “The Next Episode,” “Family Affair,” “HUMBLE,” “Still D.R.E.,” and “California Love.”
Meanwhile, Consequence also assembled our dream setlist ahead of the big game, including “Forgot About Dre,” “Nuthin’ But a G Thang,” “Be Without You,” “The Monster,” and the hopes of a special N.W.A. reunion.
