Inside rap world: Jay-Z’s Super Bowl show, Eminem’s stolen tracks

Sometimes, a lyric has a way of coming back to its writer years later.

Jay-Z once rapped about turning down a Super Bowl offer in a song. Now, he is set to headline the halftime show at the 2027 game.

In “Ape...,” released with Beyoncé in 2018, Jay-Z rapped about turning down an offer to perform at the Super Bowl. Now, he is preparing to take the stage at halftime of one of the world’s most-watched sporting events.

The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation have announced Jay-Z as the headliner for the 2027 Super Bowl halftime show.

The rapper will perform before millions of viewers on Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

What makes the announcement particularly interesting is that Jay-Z has not simply watched the Super Bowl from the sidelines in recent years. His company, Roc Nation, partnered with the NFL in 2019 and began helping oversee the musical side of the halftime show.

In other words, Jay-Z has spent years helping decide who gets to perform on that stage. Now, he is stepping into the spotlight himself.

The Super Bowl halftime show has grown into a major musical event, attracting even people who have little interest in football. Performing there means more than singing a few songs to millions of viewers. It offers artists a chance to put their careers back in the global spotlight.

Jay-Z knows the power of that platform well. In recent years, he has been among those helping shape the very shows he is now preparing to headline.

All eyes are now on what he will bring to the stage he once said he turned down. Which songs will make the set list? Will he bring out any surprise guests? And will he reference the lyrics that made the announcement all the more intriguing?

Those answers will come in February. But the story already has a compelling twist: A stage Jay-Z once said no to is now preparing to welcome him as its leading act.

Eminem's stolen songs

An ex-employee of Eminem has pleaded guilty to illegally copying and selling the rapper’s unreleased recordings for about $50,000. The tracks later spread across digital platforms without the artist’s knowledge.

Does an artist record a song in the studio and release it the next day?

Sometimes. Other times, a recording sits on a hard drive for months or even years. It might be reworked, have its lyrics changed or be developed into another version. Some tracks never reach listeners at all.

What happened to Eminem shows how recordings an artist is not yet ready to share can be taken out of their hands.

Joseph Strange, a former employee of the rapper, has pleaded guilty to copyright infringement in connection with the unauthorized copying and sale of Eminem’s unreleased recordings.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Strange worked for Eminem from around 2007 to 2021. He helped set up and maintain the computer systems used at the rapper’s studio in Michigan, giving him access to encrypted drives containing music the artist was working on.

Court documents say Strange illegally copied at least 10 audio files from those drives. In the summer of 2024, he sold the recordings online for about $50,000.

Eminem was unaware of the sale and had not authorized the release of the recordings.

But the files did not simply change hands. They spread across the internet and onto digital music platforms. By November 2025, the recordings identified by authorities had been made available more than 8 million times.

One of the most striking aspects of the case is that it was not even clear whether the recordings would ever be officially released. Some had been prepared for possible release, but the final decision belonged to Eminem.

A recording an artist might consider unfinished, want to rework or never intend to release ended up in front of millions without their consent.

And the person responsible was no stranger who had somehow broken into the studio. He was someone who had worked there for years and had been granted access to its systems. That makes the case not just a copyright issue, but also a serious breach of trust.

Strange is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27, 2027. He faces up to five years in prison.