It was a significant night for Hip Hop at this year’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards evening. The NBC Broadcast of the Super Bowl half-time show, which aired on February 13th 2022, won the Emmy for Live Variety Performance. The awarded half time show featured the biggest names in hip-hop: Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent.
Previously it is live musicals and the Tony Awards Telecast that have prevailed in this category. Not only is this the first time that the Super Bowl half-time show has won this category, this is the first time that hip-hop has been awarded in the category. This achievement at the Emmys seems fitting, since this performance was also the first time that hip-hop had taken centre stage at the half-time show. The show featured classic hits such as ‘California Love’, ‘Lose Yourself’, ‘No More Drama’ and ‘Still D.R.E.’ Additionally there were 400 professional dancers and a custom production curated by Dr. Dre. Thus it is unsurprising that this show also took home the award for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special.
While accepting the award, executive producer of the show, Jesse Collins, expressed his honour. ‘First, on behalf of the fellow executive producers and our performers, we would like to thank the television academy for this incredible honor. It’s amazing. This is the first time this show has ever won this award, and it’s so incredible to be a part of this moment. It took an incredible team to pull this together, and I thank you all.’
As a result of receiving this award, Eminem is now only one award away from possessing the coveted EGOT accolade. This is achieved when an individual has received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. Just a Tony Award away from collecting the sweep, only 17 other artists have achieved this feat. Eminem won his first Grammy in 2000 for The Slim Shady EP for Best Rap Album. Since, he has won another 14 Grammys. He received his Oscar in 2003 for ‘Lose Yourself’ in the Best Original Song category.
