"They brought out Dr. Dre, Eminem" — Fat Joe defends JAY-Z and Roc Nation after backlash over choosing Kendrick Lamar for Super Bowl

Fat Joe recently made statements defending Jay-Z and Roc Nation for choosing Kendrick Lamar to perform at the 2025 Super Bowl half-time show amid controversy.

Jay-Z and his company, Roc Nation, have been facing massive backlash from artists and fans for choosing Kendrick Lamar to perform at the Super Bowl in February 2025, despite the event being held in New Orleans. Many claimed Orleans native Lil Wayne deserved to be chosen for the performance.

In an Instagram Live on September 10, Fat Joe shared his views on the matter, supporting Jay-Z and Roc Nation's decision. The rapper highlighted that Jay-Z had done a lot to support the hip-hop community since he took over the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019. Joe said:

“Years ago, the beef with the NFL was that Black people weren’t represented and they were doing us wrong, even though we were the talent and whatever the case. But then they brought in JAY-Z and Roc Nation to do the shows and they brought out Dr. Dre, Eminem, Rihanna, number one ratings — they killing it.”

Moreover, Fat Joe indicated that the decision could not have been Jay-Z's alone, so it is unfair of him to receive all the backlash. He continued:

“Yeah, JAY-Z’s a big voice but, you know, he gotta go through the NFL ranks, the Roger Goodells and everything like that, so they can come up with who’s performing at halftime. It ain’t just one man’s decision — that I know of. So to just blame one man…”

Finally, Joe ended his stance by reiterating Jay-Z's contribution to giving hip-hop a bigger stage and sarcastically claimed that "the hip hop community likes to attack hip hop." He added:

“If he wasn’t doing the halftime [with] Roc Nation, there’d be no Hip Hop! ‘Cause there never was Hip Hop [before 2022]. You’d be listening to, ‘Don’t go messin’ with a cotton-eyed boy / Cotton-eyed Joe / Cotton-eyed Joe.’ You’d be listening to that s*it at halftime.”

Apart from Fat Joe, multiple other hip-hop artists, including Charlamagne Tha God, Funk Flex, and Fabolous, also supported Roc Nation and Hov for their decision. Meanwhile, artists like Nicki Minaj, Cam'ron, Birdman, and Juvenile criticized Jay-Z for not choosing Wayne over K Dot.

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Fabolous, Charlamagne The God, and Funk Flex join Fat Joe in support of Jay-Z and Roc Nation

Earlier this week, New York-based rapper Fabolous shared thoughts similar to Fat Joe about the Super Bowl halftime show controversy. Taking to Instagram Live, Fabolous said:

“I do see people blaming it solely on JAY-Z when I don’t think that’s the truth. I think it’s a committee, it’s a board, it’s different people who come in to play when decisions like that are made.”

The rapper agreed that Lil Wayne performing at the Super Bowl would have been memorable but assumed that Kendrick Lamar's victory over Drake in their feud earlier this year may have worked in K Dot's favor.

Taking to X, Hot 97's Funk Flex also came in support of Jay-Z. Much like Fat Joe, he pointed out that the NFL community did not care about Black artists and their representation before Roc Nation took over. He wrote on X:

“WE GOTTA STOP BLAMING JAYZ FOR EVERYTHING… THE NFL HAS NEVER CARED ABOUT PEOPLE OF COLOR. (BEFORE JAYZ) (BEFORE COLLIN). THE NFL HAS ACCOMPLISHED TURNING US AGAINST EACH OTHER! THIS WOULDNT OF HAPPENED IN TAYLOR SWIFT’S HOME TOWN! LIL WAYNE LEGACY ALREADY WRITTEN IN STONE!”

In an episode of The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne Tha God also shared views similar to Fat Joe, Fabolous, and Funk Flex. The rapper said he is surprised by claims suggesting Jay-Z purposely snubbed Weezy a place in the halftime show due to personal reasons. Such claims were made by Nicki Minaj through her series of tweets on X.

The rapper said:

"I’m shocked that so many people are running with the ‘JAY-Z is hating on Lil Wayne’ narrative because JAY-Z has done nothing but show Wayne the utmost love. JAY-Z literally helped this man with his tax debt."

Charlamagne was supposedly referring to reports claiming Hov helped Weezy when he was in tax debt. Further, he added that Kendrick Lamar may have been chosen because he is a better pick in terms of the business perspective for the NFL.