The official Hip-Hop 50 celebration may have wrapped up last year, but LL kept the hip-hop history lesson going at the 2024 MTV VMAs. His medley performance not only included songs from his newly released fourteenth studio album, The FORCE, but also encompassed many of his signature hits going back to his glory days in hip-hop’s Golden Age. Opening with “Headsprung” (remixed with the now-familiar Mohawks sample, “The Champ,” rather than its original Timbaland-produced beat) then transforming into Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise” (with a surprise appearance from Chuck D himself), the veteran performer also went through “Rock The Bells” before hitting newer songs like “Passion” and “Proclivities” before returning to another classic: “Doin’ It.” You can watch the full performance above.
Ironically, LL’s performance was nearly upstaged during a shot of the audience featuring a woman standing motionless, staring at the stage, and grinning in such an eerie way, that it seems almost certain that she was an actor planted to promote the upcoming horror thriller Smile 2. Unfortunately, though, LL didn’t perform “Murdergram Deux,” his collaboration with Eminem, who also performed tonight to open the VMAs, but probably did leave before LL’s performance.
You can still check out a full list of VMA winners here.