Stop Calling Travis Scott and Big Boi Sellouts for Performing at Super Bowl Halftime

Super Bowl Halftime Big Boi Travis Scott

The Super Bowl, America’s most anticipated and exhilarating sporting event of the year is rapidly approaching. It is also one of music’s most anticipated and exciting events of the year. Everyone waits to see who will headline the halftime show, just as everyone waits to see what two teams will face off for the Lombardi Trophy. Being asked to perform for the Super Bowl is one of music’s greatest honors. Such a request is symbolic of “making it” as a music artist. Being asked to perform at the Super Bowl carries a certain level of prestige. Some of the greatest entertainers of all time have graced that stage. Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince have all performed during Super Bowl halftime. It would seem that any and every artist would jump at the opportunity to perform for the Super Bowl. Right?

“I said no to the Super Bowl…You need me; I don’t need you.”

Perhaps before 2016, any artist would have jumped at the opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl. However, things have changed. Ever since the NFL blackballed former San Fransico 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for protesting racial injustices, there has a been a growing trend amongst the hip-hop community to “say no to the Super Bowl.” Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z reportedly declined the invitation to perform during Super Bowl LII last year. He confirmed the story this summer in the hit Apes**t. In that song, he stated: “I said no to the Super Bowl/You need me, I don’t need you/Every night we in the end zone/Tell the NFL we in stadiums too.” In the video, he had men kneel signaling to everyone that he declined the offer in support of Kaepernick.

This year’s Super Bowl halftime performance was met with the same trend. Various artist including Rihanna and Cardi B reportedly declined the invitation to perform. Accordingly, declining the invitation to perform at the Super Bowl has become a showing of solidarity with Kaepernick. However, is saying no the Super Bowl the only way to show support for Colin Kaepernick and the cause he sacrificed his career for? Apparently, some think so given the reaction to Travis Scott and Big Boi agreeing to perform in this year’s halftime show. The rappers have been called sellouts for their willingness to perform for the league that is continuing to blackball Kaepernick. However, when all things are considered surrounding their agreements to perform labeling them as sellouts is an incorrect assessment.

It is Foolish to Call Big Boi and Travis Scott Sellouts

Before this question can be answered, it is important to understand some of the context surrounding this year’s Super Bowl halftime performance. Super Bowl LIII is going to take place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is and has been a hotbed for hip-hop for the last 20 plus years. Given this prime location, musicians and fans alike expected the halftime show to be a who’s who of Atlanta hip-hop royalty.

Unfortunately, those expectations were crushed when the NFL announced that the Calfornia native pop group Maroon 5 would be Super Bowl LIII’s headlining act. First and foremost, Maroon 5 is a deserving act. However, fans were rightfully outraged as they could not understand how the NFL could overlook all of the musical talents that have come out of Atlanta. Therefore, fans were outraged that artists such as Usher, Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri, and a host of other Atlanta artists were snubbed for the halftime show.

After the outrage regarding the lack of Atlanta artists, it seems that they tried to make it right by asking Big Boi to join the show. Big Bio is an Atlanta native and is one half of the legendary group Outkast. Once Big Boi accepted he became the subject of unfounded criticism.  He accepted the opportunity to perform at the same Super Bowl that everyone was initially upset had no Atlanta representation.  Then all of a sudden everyone was upset with him for accepting the bid.

Big Boi was immediately regarded as a sellout for accepting the very opportunity that everyone was upset was not given to an Atlanta artist. In what world does that make sense? It cannot be both ways. One cannot be mad that no Atlanta artists were initially represented and then be mad when an Atlanta artist takes the opportunity to represent the city. Perhaps that is the very reason Big Boi decided to perform, to represent his hometown and all of the musical greatness that has hailed from Atlanta.

There is More Than One Way to Show Support

How can someone who garnered a donation to a social justice cause in exchange for their performance be deemed a sellout? Before Travis Scott finalized his agreement to perform, he made the NFL agree to donate money to a social justice cause. Specifically, he made the NFL agree to match his $500,000 donation to Dream Corp. This donation is proof that “saying no to the Super Bowl” is not the only way an artist can show their support for social causes.

Opting out of performing for the Super Bowl is a great way to show support for Colin Kaepernick and the causes he sacrificed his career for.  It is nice to see some members of the hip-hop community come together and refuse to do the Super Bowl performance as a sign of solidarity with Kaepernick.  However, that does not mean that is the only way to show support. Travis Scott supported social justice issues with his donation.  Big Boi is representing Atlanta for all those who wanted to see Atlanta represented on the stage.  With all things considered Travis Scott’s and Big Boi’s willingness to perform doesn’t make them a sellout.

Most importantly, you have no right to call anyone a sellout if you watch the Super Bowl or have watched one single second of NFL football since Kaepernick has been blackballed.

What My 5-year-old Kid Taught Me by Staging his Own Nike Protest

Kid Nike Protest NFL Colin Kaepernick
As the 2019 NFL season comes to a close, I imagine that people across America are still licking their wounds from heated discussions regarding Nike’s decision to build an ad campaign around Colin Kaepernick.
In my head, I see fathers and sons bitterly divided over whether the controversial quarterback’s decision to protest injustice is worthy of finacial reward off the field, or similarly, financial deprivation on the field.
I too, had a fight with my son about Nikes, and appropriate methods of sacrifice… but it had absolutely nothing to do with Colin Kaepernick.

Pajama Day

A few months ago, my kindergarten son and I had a fight. It wasn’t our first fight of the week. It wasn’t even our last fight of the day. These fights happen because one of us is absurdly bullheaded and strong-willed. I say it’s him, and nothing you’ll ever say or do can convince me otherwise.

So in that case, maybe it is me.

Back to the story- That day, As I readied to leave the house for the typical school drop-off routine, I learned that my son believed very strongly that his school was having a pajama themed-spirit day. I had no evidence to back his theory up. No email from his teacher. No note home. Nothing on the school website.

His mother was out of town on business, so I made the executive decision that, even if pajama day was really happening, he would not be participating.

I wasn’t going to chance having my kid be the only one at school wearing pajamas.

He didn’t like my decision, and made it very clear that he was willing to risk the embarrassment of a full day in a long-sleeved Paw Patrol flannels, regardless of whether or not it was actually pajama day. What he was absolutely not going to do, was miss his first ever school spirit day.

I packed an extra set of clothing in his backpack, in the event that the burden of a typical 105-degree day in the Arizona desert changed his mind, and away we went.

Something is Missing

When we arrived at his school, I noticed something was missing- his shoes.

In my frustration with his stubbornness, had I forgotten to put on shoes? No. I distinctly remember him making the task of strapping up his electric-blue Nikes as pointlessly arduous as five-year-olds love to make any and every run-of-the-mill task.

So if I put shoes on him, and now, we’re here at his school without his shoes, where in the hell could they be?

“I threw them out the window.”

His tiny voice took a moment to break through my exasperated parental haze.

You… did what?

“I threw my shoes out the window of the car.”

I was stumped. Of all the nonsense my little friend has pulled… why this? He’s difficult, but not impractical- stubborn in his actions, but far from obtuse.

I pursed my lips, but it took several moments for the breathy “wwwwwhy?” to fall out.

“Because you don’t wear shoes to bed.”

I laughed.

He wasn’t wrong. I mean, he was definitely wrong… but his assertion, if situationally abducted from our current reality, was correct. Wearing shoes to bed is not something one should do (I’d also like to contend that hurling footwear from a moving minivan is equally unacceptable).

We hopped back into the car and went searching for his Nikes. The irony was not lost on me that, at a time in our culture when the very same footwear company has prompted widespread protest (as well as praise) for their choice to name an ex-NFL quarterback, who has become more known for acts of evoking social consciousness and provoking debate than he is for his athletic exploits, my son chose to toss his sneakers out a moving car window in your his own fit of protest.

My son’s act of defiant nonsense almost perfectly personified the spirit of Nike’s new ad campaign.

“Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”

Conviction makes the world go ’round

My son believes things very strongly. To him, your beliefs aren’t even beliefs, they’re simply knowledge. He didn’t just believe that it was pajama day, he knew. He didn’t believe that shoes aren’t part of a traditional pajama ensemble, he knew. That’s called conviction, and convicted people are what make the world go ’round.

Convicted people can also flip the world upside down, and that may or may not be a good thing. I suppose it depends on if the world being right-side up involves the “right side” being up.

I know my son is young, but the conviction he feels when making his decisions is already my most formidable opponent as a parent. He’s already willing to sacrifice the peace of our home to take the proverbial knee on any number of issues… issues that may feel trivial to me as his father, but issues that encompass his entire miniature kindergarten world.

Issues like turkey sandwiches being an acceptable breakfast food. Or whether standing directly in front of the television is the best way to consume content. Or pajama day.

Someday, his causes will be larger than food and dress. Someday his cause will be one that, when his stand is made, will make greater waves than making us late for school or planting the seeds for a blog idea in his father’s head.

When that time comes, as heroic as Nike’s “believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything” campaign might sound, some things might be worth hanging on to, even if they conflict with his beliefs.

This isn’t meant to be a comparison to Colin Kaepernick, or any of the connotations that come along with his mission to draw attention to racial injustice at the hands of authority figures. This is about my son throwing his shoes out the window.

Having those shoes on conflicted with his belief that he didn’t need them, so he tossed them away.

Someday the thing he doesn’t need in the moment might not be shoes. It might be might be something more consequential- like relationships. I need my son to know he can’t just throw out the people in his life in the times that he feels their presence conflicts with his current causes or needs.

Belief can certainly invite a need for certain sacrifices, but it doesn’t demand them. It’s my job to help him to never forget that he needs people, especially people that he doesn’t think he needs, to remind him that convictions are only worthwhile if shared with a community of people that can help see those convictions through.

Colin Kaepernick and Nike – Did Nike Just Do It or Just Blew It

Colin Kaepernick

Nike almost broke Twitter when it announced that Colin Kaepernick would be the face of their 30th anniversary “Just Do it” Campaign. It has been a polarizing debate that has lingered on for days. Everyone has their opinion about the health and future of the NFL, Kaepernick, and Nike. That debate will continue as the Nike ads will start running Thursday during the NFL’s Falcons-Eagles Kickoff game. I am here to provide facts and insight on the situation.

Social responsibility, protests, and action are the American way. This country was founded on protest. However, evidence shows that protests are largely ineffective unless they disrupt the everyday lives of people. So, a Twitter protest is just a social media protest that will affect people’s buying habits for days, not months or years. In the last year, people have tried to boycott Chick-fil-a, In-N-Out, Starbucks, and the NFL. All have gone on to make more money.

Nike Just Blew It

Is having Kaepernick on the face of the campaign “bad for business”? Did Nike really alienate half its customer base? Twitter business prognosticators and an angry mob would have you believe that’s true.

The facts are that half of Nike’s nearly $36 billion of revenue in 2017 comes from overseas. And 2/3 of all Nike customers are 35 or under. So while they did piss off a specific demographic, in all likelihood they aren’t Nike’s core customers anyway. NIKE absolutely dominates the sports footwear market. And has recovered the 5.5% of its market share of US footwear it lost to Adidas in 2017.

Nike spends millions on research every year. So, choosing Kaepernick to be the face of the campaign was a very calculated decision. The company was built on rebellion and bucking the system, and Kaepernick falls right in line with that. Michael Jordan and Steve Prefontaine are Nike’s cornerstone athletes. Both bucked the system. Pre was an eccentric runner who bucked the norms. Jordan’s shoes were banned by the NFL, but he continued to wear them. Nike rebelled and took a chance on a black athlete as their pitchman in the 80s. Most companies believed it to be a risky business. We see how that turned out.

Nike’s Stock is Getting Killed

Many people believed that Nike’s stock would drop significantly and it would hurt the business. They thought that “protesters” would abandon a well-performing stock to prove a point. Well, that has shown to false so far. Nike’s stock closed at $82.18 per share on Friday, Aug. 31st.  Nike made the announcement on Labor Day when the markets were not open. By the close of Tuesday Nike’s stock was down $3 to $79.01. On Thursday, September 6th (NKE) closed at $80.40 per share. So yes, Nike’s stock is down $1.78 since the Kaepernick campaign announcement, but it appeared to be normal market fluctuation. On September 11th, the stock price reached as high as $83.57. which is the highest it has ever been. Here is Nike’s last year on the market:

Colin Kaepernick and Nike

NFL will drop Nike

The Twitter mob would have you believe that the NFL may end their relationship with Nike.

Nike is bigger and badder than the NFL. There is ZERO chance the NFL takes legal steps to remove Nike as their official apparel provider. Nike and the NFL are in the midst of an apparel contract that was just extended to 2028. It would likely cost the NFL billions in damages if they breached the contract. The thought that the NFL was blindsided by the Colin Kaepernick signing is doubtful. The league may not have had much advance notice about it, but they have known for much longer than we know. The evidence lies in the NFL’s response to Nike’s campaign, and in the league suspending any consequences to players kneeling.

The NFL responded by saying:

“The National Football League believes in dialogue, understanding and unity,” executive vice president of communications and public affairs Jocelyn Moore said in the league’s statement. “We embrace the role and responsibility of everyone involved with this game to promote meaningful, positive change in our communities. The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.”

There will be some angry owners, but they will get over it. The smartest thing the NFL can do is take a page out of the NBA’s playbook. Stay out of litigation and public discord with your players. Let your players be individuals free to say and do as they please. Fans want their players on the field, not in the courtroom fighting the league.

The owners also have realized that despite what the POTUS or some of the media tell you NFL revenues and total viewership is up despite falling ratings. Nearly all television network ratings have dropped at a much higher rate than NFL game ratings. Antiquated Nielsen ratings are the biggest factor in the decrease in ratings while total viewership has increased. Those ratings do not account for “cord cutters” and people who watch games through streaming services like Amazon, Hulu TV, YouTube TV, Sling, Roku, etc.

Colleges will drop Nike

There is a faction of people who believe that universities like Alabama, Oregon, or Florida would consider dropping Nike.

There is ZERO chance that happens as well.

“Schools can’t stop any of them: Nike, Under Armour, Adidas,” said David Carter, executive director of USC’s Sports Business Institute. “They don’t have the contractual ability to do that.”

Aside from having no legal ground to void their deals, what alternative do schools have? Nike writes the biggest checks and sells the most merchandise, which handsomely increases these universities bottom line. And we all know that the NCAA always protects the bottom line before the student-athlete.

Breaking Away From Nike

I conducted a poll on Twitter. Thanks to all those who voted and shared. Reading the comments on this poll was fascinating. There were a lot of “let’s rock the vote” comments going on, which only proves my point about Twitter boycotts. They trend, but rarely result in a significant economic impact.

How can a sports fan realistically #BoycottNike? It’s impossible. Nike is the official apparel company for the NFL, NBA, most college basketball teams, and 52.8% of all FBS college football programs. So, if you want to rep your favorite team, you will be giving Nike some cash. And you will absolutely see plenty of swooshes and commercials as you watch the games. Nike also owns Converse and Hurley as well. So, good luck with that.

It is your right to hate or love Nike for signing Kaepernick. However, you have no soul if you hate this commercial.

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*Updated Sept. 11th 10:26 am pt to reflect Nike’s YTD stock price