The Best Super Bowl Halftime Memes For People Who Aren’t Even Football Fans

Some people watch the Super Bowl for football. Some people watch it for movie trailers and star-studded advertisements. But pretty much everyone enjoys watching, commenting on, and laughing about the spectacle of spectacles, one of the biggest annual music events nationwide—the halftime show.

This year’s show featured some of the biggest names in hip-hop history and sparked endless tweets, threads, and posts across every social media platform. Some of the funniest memes of 2022 so far were inspired by this epic collaborative performance by Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige. Even non-football fans have to laugh over how hilarious these memes are.

Kanye Watching The Half-Time Show

This meme is a hilarious reference to Kanye West’s collaboration with Balenciaga for the Met Gala, wherein he and now ex-wife Kim Kardashian donned shocking black masks that fully concealed their faces. West had a front-row seat for the Super Bowl on Sunday.

West has made an intense and accusatory series of posts on Instagram lately about his divorce from Kardashian and her new relationship with SNL comedian Pete Davidson. On top of his tumultuous romantic life, which includes a very brief romance with actress Julia Fox of Uncut Gems, he has also alienated several other rappers including Kid Cudi. It’s easy to presume that a turbulent Kanye might feel left out of tonight’s performance as a self-proclaimed hip-hop legend.

If You Can Hear This Shoe

A trademark shoe of the ’90s and early 2000s, the shoe pictured in this meme was at its most popular at the same time that the artists in Sunday’s performance were topping the charts.

It could be said that both the shoe and the artists are known for their signature sound, although one is remembered slightly more favorably than the other. Except for Kendrick Lamar, the majority of the artists performing at the halftime show hit the peak of their careers several decades ago. They all left their mark on both hip-hop and the world and many, like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, remain culturally influential in and outside of the industry.

Eminem: “….And I Took That Personally”

Following his performance, which included a reprise of the hit song “Lose Yourself” from his 2002 cult classic movie 8-Mile, Eminem silently took a knee on stage. This was a tribute to former quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the national anthem in 2016, which brought attention to American racial injustice and police brutality.

Eminem’s spot in the homage to hip-hop legends as a white man was met with mixed reactions by Black activists and influencers. Although Eminem is a staple of the genre, the show coincided with Black History Month and centered around a historically Black type of music. This symbolic gesture was a thoughtful way to honor the people that created the genre he found success in, as well as bring awareness to the social issues central to Black History Month.

Kendrick Lamar: Spongebob

In Kendrick Lamar’s portion of the show, his dancers rose around him from cardboard boxes labeled “Dre Day” in honor of the legendary producer Dr. Dre, also performing. The performance was a mixture of intense choreography and wardrobe set to a mashup of Lamar’s biggest hits.

Kendrick Lamar’s performance was met with somewhat mixed reactions on social media. The youngest performer of a group that primarily charted in the early aughts, it’s possible that his performance did not appeal to the same audience. Others may have just seen the humor in it and were reminded of images like this one from Spongebob.

Millennials: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

This image is from Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, a 2019 film directed by another cultural icon for Millenials during their upbringing, Quentin Tarantino. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, pictured here, also a legend of the silver screen for Millenials. He plays Rick Dalton, a washed-up actor past his prime and unable to get a leading role.

The Millenials in the audience, as well as the performers on stage, can all relate to Rick Dalton.  The themes from the movie match up perfectly with the theme of many of the funniest memes of the night. Millennials and Gen X-ers recognize that the performance is geared towards them based on the selection of performers, and reminiscing on the days when these artists were topping the charts.

50 Cent: Pawn Stars

With so many rap legends in the performance, many thought that the hologram of Tupac might make an appearance at the Super Bowl. Instead, the biggest spectacle of the night was 50 Cent hanging from the rafters. The audience didn’t necessarily get what they came for but found something unexpected–just like the deals made on Pawn Stars.

The Super Bowl halftime show typically has a budget of several millions of dollars. It’s not exactly far-fetched to imagine that Tupac’s hologram might make an appearance. On the other hand, this meme feels like more of a joke about a silly online rumor than an actual expectation. If there was one moment of the night that bordered on the insanity of a Tupac hologram, it was 50 Cent’s entrance.

Reaching For Your Phone

50 Cent’s upside-down entrance was one of the most memorable moments of the show, sparking tons of memes like this one. Following Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s collaborative opening performance, 50 Cent began his set with this insane bat-like entrance.

This meme speaks to a moment everyone can relate to– cozy in bed, too lazy to get up, stretching your body past human limits. Although 50 Cent looks a lot cooler than the average person dangling upside down from the side of their bed, this moment of his halftime show performance brings the image to mind.

Waiting For Tupac’s Hologram

Those expecting a major technological spectacle for the night may have been disappointed when Tupac’s hologram didn’t make an appearance. Here, their sorrow is illustrated by a screencap of Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar in the hit Netflix series Narcos, notably dressed in a red bandana and gold chain– Tupac’s signature look.

Tupac’s hologram performed with both Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at Coachella in 2012. Since Dre and Snoop were finally performing together again on Sunday for their biggest performance in a decade, many speculated that the hologram, too, would make an appearance. Unfortunately, the star-studded performance was limited to still-living legends of the hip-hop community only.

Oscar’s Fitness Regimen

The Office is one of the most meme-able shows of all time, so it only makes sense that one of the best of the night would be from the renowned comedy series. This screenshot is from a Season 9 episode where Oscar attempts to implement a new fitness regimen. 50 Cent’s upside-down moment at the halftime performance is the perfect comparison.

A staple of the 2000s, The Office has a huge Gen. Z following despite being released before they were old enough to have been watching it– just like 50 Cent and the other artists performing on Sunday released most of their music before the younger generation was old enough to hear it on the radio (yes, that’s where people used to listen to music—on the radio).

Politically Correct 50 Cent

A lot has changed over the last two decades, and some of the song lyrics from back then wouldn’t fly by today’s standards. One hilarious example is this 50 Cent lyric in his hit song 21 Questions, released in 2003. Here, the creator jokes about the pivot that rap music and culture have made away from weight-based punchlines.

With a lot of new hip-hop artists making music that’s conscious of the body positivity movement, particularly women in rap like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, it’s funny to look back at the way lyrics felt harmless at the time would be looked at critically today. It looks silly when newer standards are taken to an extreme and used to examine things released during a different era when people had a completely different mindset.