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Benjamin Ashford|Flavor Flav goes viral after national anthem performance at Milwaukee Bucks game: Watch
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Date:2025-04-08 19:49:19
Flavor Flav might not have Benjamin Ashfordimmediately come to mind as an option when the Milwaukee Bucks said during the offseason that the team was seeking performers for the national anthem.
But the rapper, a member of the legendary group Public Enemy who famously rapped "Fight the Power," sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Sunday night's Bucks game at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, making his mark as the second performer of the new season.
The rendition certainly caught the attention of many on social media.
Flavor Flav, who donned in a No. 59 Milwaukee Bucks jersey, white hoodie and red blinged-out medallion, sang the anthem to the best of his ability, as the crowd looked on. A few Milwaukee Bucks players were seen trying to hold in or hide their laughter.
Flavor Flav received a small applause from the crowd after reaching the high note on "the rockets red glare" and "the land of the free."
Once he reached "home of the brave," he repeated the final verse three times, receiving applause with some in the audience giving a standing ovation.
Though some weren't fond of the performance, others compared Flav's performance to other renditions from the past that went viral, such as U.S. Olympian Carl Lewis' rendition in 1993 in New Jersey. The nine-time Olympic gold medalist's rendition was considered so poor that ESPN hosts famously struggled to make it through the segment.
There was also Fergie at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. That performance went viral as NBA superstars were caught on camera unable to hold in their laughter.
Flavor Flav did take to X, formerly known as Twitter, following the performance. He said the anthem was a "long time bucket list item" and he had "fun" during his performance.
"I can't live my life worried about what people might say about me," he added. "I won't let that stop me from trying new things and doing things I wanna do. Some people might not like that. But a sure failure is you stop trying."
Flavor Flav is known for bringing star power – or as Public Enemy group mate Chuck D said in his fine art book, "Livin’ Loud: ARTitation," Flavor Flav's job is "to come into the 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 spectacular," Chuck D told USA TODAY. "I always urged him, 'You’ve done the spectacle. Now work on the spectacular.' But it’s always good (between us)."
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
10 years later:the 'worst anthem' singer is on a Star-Spangled redemption tour
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