Every performance of the “The Star-Spangled Banner” exists on a spectrum that’s been years in the making. On one end, you’ve got culturally defining performances like Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV or Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. On the other, you’ve got Fergie and whatever that was in 2018. (Honorable mentions to both Chaka Khan and Rachel Platten.)
As of this weekend, we have a new touchpoint on the scale: pretty bad but also pretty endearing. Flavor Flav’s stab at the notoriously difficult ballad may exist closer to the Fergie side of things than the Whitney, but by god did he give it his all.
This past weekend, the rapper, Public Enemy founder, and VH1 star stopped by the Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin to perform the patriotic tune ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks’ match against the Atlanta Hawks. Attacking it a cappella, Flavor Flav—clad in his signature big clock necklace, of course—gave a performance that was shaky at times and triumphant at others, complete with a triple “of the brave” coda at the end.
As it is wont to do, the internet had some... mixed opinions. “NO BOY,” wrote one fan, quoting the rapper’s iconic catchphrase. “Someone paint this entire song then put it in the Louvre,” wrote another.
For Flavor Flav himself, however, singing the anthem was a welcome chance to step (way) outside his comfort zone, despite what anyone says. “Nervous AF to try something new and it’s a crazy difficult song,” he wrote in response to one tweet pointing out that he seemed anxious at the start of the game even though he was usually calm, cool, and collected on stage.
“The anthem was a long time bucket list item,,, that was fun!” he said in another post in response to the backlash. “I can’t live my life worried about what people might say about me. 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 if you stop trying.”