Credit: Alamy

Dr Dre headlined the Super Bowl LVI halftime show in 2022 with a mammoth set featuring some of his most prominent collaborators over the years. The performance ran through some of his career’s biggest hits, welcoming special guests Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J Blige. Another artist who appeared on stage was Anderson Paak, but that was initially never part of the plan.

Paak signed a record deal with Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment in 2016 after being impressed by his NxWorries track, ‘Suede’. He’s released two albums on the label, Oxnard and Ventura, debuting in the top 15 of the Billboard 200. The Cali singer/rapper has a close relationship with Dre and feels he can say anything to him.

When he found out the NWA legend was hosting the Super Bowl show and that he wasn’t involved, he called him out. “They had already dropped the flyer for the Super Bowl – I was not on that shit,” he told Drink Champs. “I hit Dre direct [like], ‘Dre, what the fuck? Let me get on that joint. Let me play drums or something. I can get in there some way.’ He said, ‘Ay, it’s all good.'”

Paak attempted to will his wishes into reality, photoshopping himself onto the flyer and showing it to Dre. He wanted to appear on stage so much that he convinced Dre, one way or another, to include him in the epic performance.

“I made my own flyer – I superimposed myself on that shit,” he said. “This is before AI. Before AI shit. I threw myself on there and I was like, ‘Yo, what’s good?’ [Dre] was like, ‘We gon’ find something for you.’ I was like, ‘Bet.’ I’ma put myself on the flyer, I’ma take a few liberties, I’ma just throw myself on there.

“I showed it to him, and he started cracking up. He was like, ‘Make sure they know it’s a joke.’ I was like, ‘It’s all good. I’ma post it.’ And I was on that shit, next thing you know. Forced manifestation. He said, ‘Yo, AP, I got an idea. What the fuck was that? Yo, AP?’ Alright, I’m in.”

Paak’s cameo appearance was drumming for Em during his performance of ‘Lose Yourself’, which is undoubtedly a career highlight. “That was pretty much the gist of it,” he explained. “Next thing, you know, I’m at rehearsals. [Dre’s] like, ‘I got this idea – you down to play for Marshall?’ And I’m like, ‘Let’s do it.’ Like, ‘Lose Yourself’?!”

The setlist included classics like ‘California Love’, ‘In Da Club’, ‘Forgot About Dre’, and ‘Still DRE’. Paak also recalled a funny story about Snoop forgetting the lyrics to one of his and Dre’s most popular songs, ‘The Next Episode‘, moments before going on stage.

“Right before we go onto the field, we’re on the side of the field, and they get like 30 seconds to set up the stage or whatever,” he recalled. “It’s seconds before we go up, and I hear Snoop go to Dre, ‘Yo cuz, is it ‘La-di-da-di-da’ or ‘Da-di-da-di-da.’ And Dre goes, ‘What?’ Then, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, boom. Lights off. We come on stage.”