Flavor Flav probably didn’t immediately come to mind as an option when the Milwaukee Bucks said over the offseason that the team was looking for performers for the national anthem.
But the rapper, a member of the legendary group Public Enemy that sang “Fight the Power,” sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Bucks’ game Sunday night at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, making his mark as the second performer in the new group. season.
The delivery certainly caught the attention of many on social media.
Flavor Flav, wearing a No. 59 Milwaukee Bucks jersey, a white hoodie and a shiny red medallion, sang the national anthem to the best of his ability, while the crowd looked on. A few Milwaukee Bucks players were seen trying to hold back or hide their laughter.
Flavor Flav received a small applause from the audience after hitting the high note on “Rocket Red Glare” and “Land of the Free.”
Once he arrived at “Home of the Brave,” he repeated the last verse three times, and received a standing ovation from some.
Although some were not impressed with the performance, others compared Flav’s performance to other performances from the past that went viral, such as U.S. Olympian Carl Lewis’ 1993 performance in New Jersey. The nine-time Olympic gold medalist’s performance was deemed so poor that the ESPN hosts struggled to get through the segment.
There was also Fergie at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. This performance went viral as the NBA stars were caught on camera unable to hold in their laughter.
Flavor Flav moved to X, formerly known as Twitter, after the performance. He said the anthem had been a “bucket list item for a long time” and he was “having fun” while performing it.
He added: “I can’t live my life worrying about what people might say about me.” “I won’t let it stop me from trying new things and doing the things I want to do. Some people may not like it. But the surest failure is to stop trying.”
The Flavor Flav is known for bringing star power — or as Public Enemy groupmate Chuck D put it in his fine art book, “Livin’ Loud: ARTitation,” the Flavor Flav’s job is to “walk into a room and ‘suck the stardom out of it.'”
“You can be the icing on the cake and be the spectacle, but it takes the rest to be amazing,” Chuck D told USA TODAY. “I always urged him to say, ‘You’ve made the spectacle. Now work on the amazing show.'” But things are always good (between us).”
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
After 10 years:The “Worst Anthem” singer is on the Star-Spangled Redemption Tour
“Communicator. Music aficionado. Certified bacon trailblazer. Travel advocate. Subtly charming social media fanatic.”
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