Singer and Atlanta Ambassador Usher Raymond took center stage at the Super Bowl LVIII’s half-time show. Joining the R&B crooner on stage were Lil Jon, H.E.R. (who played a guitar solo), Ludacris, will.i.am, and Alicia Keys.
While many took to social media to blast the married woman for allowing “Urrsher” to dirty dance near her rear end and rub her hips during their routine to their chart-topping song, “My Boo,” others were focused on “Cracknote-gate.”
On the official replay, the NFL and Apple Music seem to have edited a sour note Alicia Keys hit at the start of her solo performance of “I Ain’t Got You” that millions of viewers who tuned into the performance claimed they heard live.
The internet was unkind to the “This Girl is On Fire” anthem maker.
“Alicia find the keys girl,” one person wrote.
“Black Church Folk when Alicia was a bit off ‘key’ at the Super Bowl Concert: ‘Take your time, baby…’ ‘It’s alright, baby…’ ‘Well…’” one person posted on Facebook.
Some of those same fans took to X when they noticed that the vocals had been changed.
“Last night Alicia Keys’s voice cracked (first video), and fascinatingly, the official NFL YouTube channel appears to be attempting to erase that little moment, having edited it out in their upload (second video),” one tweet said after posting both videos for social media users to compare and contrast.
Last night Alicia Keys’s voice cracked (first video), and fascinatingly, the official NFL YouTube channel appears to be attempting to erase that little moment, having edited it out in their upload (second video). pic.twitter.com/EM4k8rWT8c
— Robert Komaniecki (@Komaniecki_R) February 12, 2024
“I went to watch the superbowl performance on YouTube and Apple & NFL said ‘Nah, yall not finna do Alicia Keys like this’. Whatever yall heard last night ain’t there no more,” another person wrote.
I went to watch the superbowl performance on YouTube and Apple & NFL said “Nah, yall not finna do Alicia Keys like this”. Whatever yall heard last night ain’t there no more…
— HeyTonyTV (@TheHeyTonyTV) February 12, 2024
One X user seemed to figure out exactly what happened between 9 p.m. on Sunday night and Monday morning.
“The NFL went and got their engineer to Melodyne that first note Alicia Keys sang with the swiftness, before they uploaded the performance on YouTube. Had that engineer in the sweatshop with a gun at his head.”
They really fixed the Alicia Keys voice crack for YouTube 😂 pic.twitter.com/L8e2lIh0So
— Fiddy Sauce (@_likethesauce) February 12, 2024
The New York native’s husband, Swizz Beatz, took to Instagram and addressed his wife being dragged about her dancing and singing.
“Y’all talking about the wrong damn thing !!! Y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium,” he wrote in the caption. “Tonight’s performance was nothing but amazing with 2 amazing Giants ! Congrats @usher and my love @aliciakeys that song is a classic.”
He added, “We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history.”
Keys and crew were on history’s side as guests on the Apple Music-sponsored performance.
According to data from Samba TV, approximately 30.1 million households watched the halftime show during the most recent Super Bowl, reflecting a 5 percent increase from the viewership of the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show, which featured Rihanna and her never-publicly seen baby bump.
“Following Apple Music’s first successful halftime show last year, it found success with fans yet again with an impressive 30.1 million viewers, exceeding last year’s Rhianna-led show Overall, the halftime show drew in 5 percent more viewers than last year,” said Ashwin Navin, co-founder and CEO of Samba TV, Forbes reported.
