Mary J. Blige teases Super Bowl LVI halftime show is 'going to be so major'

Super Bowl LVI will be played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Feb. 13, and four NFL teams are still vying to circle that date on their schedules: the Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.

Regardless, the star-studded lineup for the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show is set: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar.

To Blige, being tapped to play the Super Bowl is "like getting an Oscar nomination," and she promises that the performance will live up to the hype.

"Hip-hop is East Coast. Hip-hop is West Coast," the nine-time Grammy winner told Elle for the cover of the February 2022 issue. "Hip-hop is Europe—this is why it’s going to be so major, because this is what the Super Bowl is showing to people: It’s not just one thing. [Hip-hop] is everywhere."

Blige hinted that "she's leaning toward" playing her 2001 smash "Family Affair" for her portion of the spectacle. 

"We are the culture," she continued. "[Hip-hop artists] give people a way to speak. We give people a way to walk. We give people a way to talk. We give people a way to think. That’s what hip-hop and hip-hop soul have done for our culture since [the beginning]."

Last week, Pepsi unveiled a trippy trailer for the halftime show—directed by F. Gary Gray: