Deaf rapper and recording artist Warren “WAWA” Snipe will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful” in American Sign Language before the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers face-off in Super Bowl LV. He'll accompany R&B singer H.E.R. on "America the Beautiful" and country singer Eric Church and R&B artist Jazmine Sullivan on the national anthem.
Snipe calls his genre "Dip Hop" -- Hip Hop through deaf eyes. "His rendering of Dip Hop explores Hip Hop in a way where the focus is taking on challenges and educating people about deaf musicians in the hearing world," his website says.
A native of the Washington, D.C., area, Snipe began his music career in 2005. He has two albums to his credit, "Deaf: So What?!" and "Wamilton."
He released the single "Loud" in 2020 with references to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with The Daily Moth, Snipe said his aim was to give people something fun to talk about amid the fear from the pandemic and last summer's protests over racial injustice.
"So, I redirected things a bit. I wouldn't say I glossed things over, but rather, I addressed it. So things could be seen from a different view. It's more positive: What can we do during this time? Will you allow these situations to take control? Or will you keep going? Are you a survivor? Or are you going to stay 'dead', and do nothing? Which are you choosing? Well you let it control you, or will you control it? So it's like oh, okay, there are different sides to that," Snipe said.
AP Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.