Jay-Z’s Super Bowl set has a legitimacy question—and a deep catalog
Jay-Z will headline the Apple Music Halftime Show at Super Bowl LXI in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 14, 2027. The announcement may have been predictable: Roc Nation, his company, has executive-produced the halftime show since 2019. That connection makes the choice controversial, but it doesn’t settle whether he’s earned the stage.
The catalog makes a stronger case than the conflict of interest makes against him. Across a career spanning three decades, Jay-Z has released 14 albums that debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 and four Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers, alongside collaborative hits and songs that became cultural anthems. Those chart results match or exceed the records of several halftime headliners since 2010, including Maroon 5, Coldplay, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, and The Who. The numbers don’t tell us what the show will sound like, but they make claims that his body of work is too thin hard to defend.
There’s a broader point here, too. The assumption that a hip-hop performer must trim the music to suit a mainstream audience feels dated; hip-hop has helped shape American culture, not just the charts. Whether Jay-Z’s selection was the right call is still open to argument. The booking itself isn’t.
So the question now is what he’ll do with the stage. Here’s our imagined setlist of songs, guests, and moments that could make the performance memorable.
A fitting opening: “Can’t Knock The Hustle”
Jay-Z’s debut, Reasonable Doubt, is at the center of the ongoing JAŸ-Z30 celebration, which has renewed attention to the album’s craft. Many fans regard it as his finest work. Opening with “Can’t Knock The Hustle,” joined by Mary J. Blige in a return to the Super Bowl stage, would connect that legacy to the spectacle ahead.
“Can’t Knock The Hustle” with Mary J. Blige
“Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”
Jay-Z’s strongest halftime set would be more than a parade of hits: it would show how deftly he can move between mass appeal, hip-hop history and surprise guest appearances. The songs below sketch out that balance. Some are obvious stadium choices; others would turn the show into a run of carefully aimed callbacks.
“Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” made Jay-Z a solo star. Its “It’s the Hard Knock Life” sample, drawn from the 1982 musical Annie, helped make the song his first bona fide solo hit and earned him a Grammy. The combination of an instantly familiar vocal and lyrics about ambition still has the ingredients for a crowd-wide singalong.
“Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys
For a stadium crowd, few picks are safer than “Empire State of Mind.” The 2009 anthem has remained a fixture of Jay-Z’s live sets, and Alicia Keys’ part gives the song an extra lift. It celebrates New York, but its scale should travel: even at SoFi Stadium, any West Coast skepticism would have to contend with a chorus built for thousands of voices.
“Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
“Izzo” draws its instant recognition from the Jackson 5’s 1969 hit “I Want You Back,” much as “Hard Knock Life” did from its Broadway source. Jay-Z once brought Michael Jackson onstage to perform the song at Hot 97’s Summer Jam, roughly 25 years ago. Jackson has since died, but a guest appearance by his nephew Jaafar Jackson, who stars as Michael in the biopic, could give the performance a pointed personal connection.
“Numb/Encore”
A Linkin Park reunion with Jay-Z would make sense on more than nostalgia alone. The two acts joined forces on the 2004 mashup EP Collision Course, and a performance of “Numb/Encore” would fit the halftime show’s tradition of pairing artists across genres. It would also bring a distinctly Californian act into a show at SoFi.
“Run This Town” with Rihanna
Kanye West’s strained relationship with Jay-Z makes a reunion around their Watch the Throne material seem unlikely. Rihanna offers another route into Jay-Z’s catalog. She could join him for the opening verse and hook of “Run This Town,” bringing a familiar collaborator back to the Super Bowl stage after headlining the 2023 halftime show.
“Umbrella” with Rihanna
Once Rihanna is onstage, “Umbrella” is the natural follow-up. The Jay-Z collaboration was a chart-topping hit, and it could give her a clean exit before the set moves on. It’s an obvious choice, which is precisely why it would work.
“U Don’t Know”
Just Blaze’s charging production makes “U Don’t Know” feel built for a huge room. Jay-Z’s lyrics trace a shift from drug dealing to capitalism, a story of reinvention that lands with particular force when delivered to a stadium and a national television audience. It’s also an unmistakably hip-hop pick. The song doesn’t need a guest to command the stage.
“Guns & Roses” with Lenny Kravitz
For a change of texture, Jay-Z could bring Lenny Kravitz out for “Guns & Roses,” from Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse. Kravitz’s guitar and a full band would give the set a rock detour without losing Jay-Z’s voice at its center.
“Don’t Kill My Vibe” with Kendrick Lamar
A performance of “Don’t Kill My Vibe (Remix)” with Kendrick Lamar could read as a passing of the torch, or at least as Jay-Z acknowledging another star’s claim to the throne. The setting would sharpen the gesture: this is Lamar’s home region, and some people criticized and expressed disappointment with his halftime performance two years earlier. Jay-Z needn’t make the moment pointed for the symbolism to register.
“Young Forever”
“Young Forever” may be a less obvious pick for devoted Jay-Z fans, but its sample of Alphaville’s 1984 song “Forever Young” gives it an easy way into a broad audience. Sometimes a familiar melody does more work than another guest appearance.
“Renegade” with Eminem
Jay-Z can make room for deep cuts while still keeping a halftime set accessible. “Renegade” would be one way to do both: Eminem has already performed at the Super Bowl, but sharing the stage with Jay-Z would give the reunion its own weight. The appeal here is the meeting of two celebrated rappers, not a novelty cameo.
“’03 Bonnie & Clyde” with Beyoncé
After the set’s louder stretches, Beyoncé could bring the energy down with “’03 Bonnie & Clyde,” the Tupac-inspired song from The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse. Her entrance would be one of the show’s biggest reveals.
“Crazy in Love” with Beyoncé
Beyoncé could stay for a second song, launching into “Crazy in Love,” the lead single from her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love. It would turn a guest appearance into a full-scale set piece.
“PSA”
Jay-Z could close with “P.S.A.” from The Black Album, ending the show on a solo note after a set built around collaborators and catalog highlights.
The guest list is speculative, and the fragment offers no confirmation that any of these artists will appear. Still, the strongest version of this set has a clear logic: familiar samples and stadium choruses bring the crowd in, while the deeper cuts and reunions give longtime fans something to look for.
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