Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J & More Lead

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Grandmaster Flash, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh were also onstage for the tribute medley.

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The final performance of the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards toasted hip-hop on its 50th anniversary, with a star-studded medley featuring Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and LL Cool J to honor five decades of the groundbreaking genre.

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The tribute performance, which was the final act of the 2023 VMAs on Tuesday night (Sept. 12), brought an array of styles and flows to the stage of the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five kicked off the affair with the legendary “The Message,” and a few minutes later, Minaj was owning the stage with “Itty Bitty Piggy,” demonstrating the evolution of the art form within a single performance.

Meanwhile, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick slung rhymes and unmatched beatboxing, and when Weezy hit the stage, he seemed to shadowbox with the “A Milli” beat, bouncing around the stage and making the Prudential Center finish his “Orville Redenbacher” punchline. LL Cool J, spitting furiously in a sparkly getup, brought the performance back to the old school with “I’m Bad” and “Mama Said Knock You Out,” and he stayed onstage as Darryl McDaniels to run through some Run-D.M.C. classics.

The medley ended with all of the performers onstage, rocking out to “Walk This Way” and embracing as the Newark crowd cheered.

Prior to the 50th anniversary performance, Nicki Minaj hosted the 2023 Video Music Awards, as well as performed her new top 40 hit “Last Time I Saw You” and an unreleased track from her upcoming Pink Friday 2 album. Lil Wayne also kicked off the VMAs with a performance of “Uproar” and “Kat Food.”

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