Last month, it was announced that rapper, Travis Scott would perform at the Super Bowl. Allegedly, he stated that he and Colin Kaepernick had a conversation and Kaepernick, the man who lost his career for a peaceful protest, approved of Scott performing. However, Kaepernick quickly put this rumor to rest and stated that he never agreed to Travis performing.
After the news broke that Travis was caught in a lie, Twitter and other social media platforms started dragging the Houston rapper. They brought up tweets of the rapper saying distasteful things about Mike Brown, the 18-year-old shot by the police even with his hands up.
I, however, wasn’t surprised. Travis Scott did something many of our current favs rarely do. He stayed consistent. He has never fought for Black Rights or stood by us in times of need. He was never a J. Cole or Kendrick Lamar. This was never his brand or prerogative. The only time he spoke up publicly about something wrong was when it affected him directly. Remember the YouTuber who faked his cheating photo?
Travis Scott has always been selfish and focused on his immediate bubble. He wasn’t concerned with social issues and only focused on building his name and craft. However, the same can’t be said about Chance the Rapper, Cardi B, Big Boi, Meek Mill, T.I., Gladys Knight or Chloe and Halle.
Unfortunately, these five acts are regarded as woke or progressive thinkers in our society. Cardi B recently in the news for a video that calls out Trump’s government shut down has proven to Black and Brown people that she is here for the cause. She told TMZ, that even though she was asked to perform at the Super Bowl she would only do the show “when [NFL teams] hires Colin Kaepernick.” She refuses to perform due to the NFL’s treatment of freedom fighter, Colin Kaepernick.
After she stated this, her fans and people across America were extremely proud of her decision. She was standing up for a man that kneeled for all of us. However, in the same breath, she participated in the Pepsi commercial. A tradition many would argue is just as important as performing at the halftime show. Fortunately, she was not the main focus of the commercial but she was still in it and used as a major marketing point.
Cardi recently said this about her decision not to perform.
“My husband, he loves football. His kids play football. It’s really hard for him. … He really wants to go to the Super Bowl, but he can’t go to the Super Bowl, because he’s got to stand for something,” stold the Associated Press.
“You have to sacrifice that,” she added. “I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.”
Same can be said about Chance the Rapper. Chance, just like Cardi has not stayed quiet about this issue. He has made a point to not only talk and tweet about police brutality, but also stand in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. The Chicago native also has charities to help better his city of Chicago and raps about positivity like his love of God and his community. Chance, unlike Travis, has made a conscious effort to speak on the injustices of Black folks. So why do the Super Bowl commercial?
The inconsistency of these two really confuses me. I wonder what the decision was like. Was the argument, “well it’s only a commercial it’s not the same as performing”. However, the two that confuses me the most are Chloe and Halle. These two newcomers, just like Chance and Cardi have not stayed quiet about injustices. They have tweeted and posted Sandra Bland and Trayvon Martin. Recognizing their gruesome deaths and showing their support to the community. So I ask again, why perform at the Super Bowl? Is it only cool to talk about supporting the cause but when it comes to real action we become complacent over money and exposure? Is there a price on our support and could anyone including Black leaders and advocates be bought out?
Some people may say yes. These people have families to feed and people to support. They cannot turn down major opportunities to support one man or the community. However, Kaepernick did just that. He saw injustice in his community and instead of staying quiet like Travis or posting about it like Chloe and Halle, he kneeled. He kneeled for all the children shot down like dogs by the police. He kneeled for all the families who are forever broken because of the police. He wasn’t asked to do that, he just did and unfortunately, he lost his livelihood because of it.
So I ask this question to you MEFheads:
Are we supporting Kaepernick by not attending, watching or performing at the Super Bowl or are we not? Are Super Bowl commercials off limits or are they not? I’m confused and I need answers. Where does our community go from here and how do we fight this injustice together?