Do you remember anything MAROON 5 did at the SUPER BOWL six months ago? Or JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE 18 months ago? The Super Bowl halftime show, 12 or 13 minutes in front of TV audiences that routinely surpass 100 million, is an endless source of fascination for many of us, capable of carrying significant social and cultural weight. Or not, as the case sometimes may be. Does the typical halftime have any more impact, when all is said and done, than a random Tuesday night gig in Houston or, I don’t know, an NBA all-star game? If BEYONCÉ or PRINCE didn't show up, did it happen? If there isn't a wardrobe malfunction, how long can we expect the news cycle to last? The middle layer of the annual football-and-music sandwich is in the news right now because of JAY-Z and ROC NATION's controversial partnership with the NFL, which among other things makes Jay a co-producer (whatever that means) of the halftime show. There's little doubt the show could use a makeover, from booking (especially) to performance. There's little doubt Jay-Z could make it better even if he doesn't perform, which, by most current signs, he isn't planning on. There's little doubt that me and people like me will be publicly lobbying him for a MEGAN THEE STALLION or TIERRA WHACK booking in the months ahead. But this can't really be what Jay-Z and the NFL's interest in each other is about, can it? Is the football league trying to bury some recent (and justified) bad press and/or curry favor with a demographic that's been boycotting or simply not watching/engaging for the past few years? Is the rapper trying to give that demographic a voice it currently doesn't have and/or is he trying to (warning: thin sourcing) get himself a team? Is this a step toward true social justice, or a step away? Have we really moved past kneeling? Who is this we we're talking about? Has anyone asked COLIN KAEPERNICK? Are we going to give Jay-Z points for trying to engage, or are we going to deduct points for trying to engage? Who again are we, and what's our goal? What are our tactics? We're still cheering at the end of the day for the rapper from MARCY PROJECTS who's broken into yet another previously off-limits corridor of power, right? And, seriously, how about Megan Thee Stallion next February in Miami Gardens? MusicSET: "The NFL Drafts Jay-Z"... "The greatest of the corporate rappers": The NEW YORKER's KELEFA SANNEH on Jay-Z, 18 years ago this week... U.S. government sides with LED ZEPPELIN in long-running copyright case against SPIRIT (and, legally speaking, a 51-year-old sound recording)... It rained in Bethel, N.Y. How else would you expect a Woodstock anniversary weekend to go?... Musicians pick their favorite films about music, from URGH! A MUSIC WAR to WHIPLASH to HOMECOMING... RIP KATREESE BARNES.