Ludacris and Lil Jon have teamed up to salute their old friend Usher in a new commercial for the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The commercial for Apple Music — which was billed as a “mini movie” and also featured Taraji P. Henson — reunited the two rappers to pay homage with their “Yeah!” collaborator. Usher is set to take center stage during Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday (February 12).
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In the spirit of the classic comedy film, The Hangover, Lil Jon, Ludacris and Taraji are given clues that they have to follow in order to get Usher to the Super Bowl on time.
Along the way, they get a little help from an all-start cast of supporters including J Balvin, Anderson .Paak, Blue Man Group, comedian Criss Angel and Wesley Snipes and André 3000 as alternate versions of themselves.
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There are 14 songs interwoven throughout the film, which has led to speculation that Ursh might be playing them during his set.
Check out the Apple Music short film below.
Earlier this week, Usher made headlines when he said that he loves the rebound R&B has made in recent years — but he scoffs at the notion the genre was ever dead.
The narrative that R&B died has been an ongoing conversation in recent years, and it came to a fever pitch in 2022 when Diddy adamantly echoed the sentiment. However, artists like SZA, Coco Jones, Victoria Monét and more have brought new life into it in recent years, and Ursh is all the way here for it.
“I’m very happy that there’s a new installation of R&B artists who care to be authentic to what they are creating, inspired by artists of the past,” he told Billboard in a new interview published on Wednesday (February 7). “Everybody who has ever said to me that R&B is dead sounds crazy. Especially when I know the origins of R&B are in all other genres of music. It’s about creating commerce in other spaces.
“Lovers & Friends is a successful R&B festival that gives you a place to go and celebrate the songs that we make. We need things that you associate with R&B that you can buy into. Like with Hip-Hop — glasses, clothes, cars, jewelry, sneakers … ancillary things that people can access. R&B needs and has the potential to have those things as well.”
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He concluded: “My point is, I never felt like R&B was dying. I think it just needs expansion. We’re moving toward a standard where people are looking at snippets — TikTok, Instagram and other things — and when fans get it, they take it and do something with it.
“But if we start to think of it that way and create from that place, the standards for R&B will change. You won’t be able to compare it in an old-versus-new way. It’ll just be what it is.”
