Snoop Dogg and Eminem gave an unusual performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, visiting the metaverse and rapping as 3D avatars of their NFTs.
The performance, which was broadcast on screens around New Jersey’s Prudential Center, featured surreal visuals as the famed rappers alternated between 3D reconstructions of themselves and their “bored ape” NFTs.
The duo performed their new song, From the D 2 to the LBC.
The act began with the couple smoking from a massive “joint” before devolving into what appears to be a very intense high.
Audience members were taken on a journey with the performers, with the video depicting odd surroundings and destinations such as a big pinball machine.
Without holding back on the strange visuals, the live show resembled the music video for From the D 2 to the LBC, which featured the same ape characters as the rappers. Slim Shady and Snoop Dogg have both publicly stated that they have been involved in the NFT world since the craze began, dealing in one-of-a-kind JPEGs.
The performance was a first for the VMAs, which appear to be experimenting with augmented reality, as actor Johnny Depp emerged as a 3D astronaut above the audience right before the song.
The award for “Best Metaverse Performance” debuted in 2022, with Korean girl group “BLACKPINK” taking home the prize for their AR performance in the video game “Player Unknowns Battlegrounds.”