The Video Music Awards were also significant because of how MTV had a category for the Best Metaverse Performance — a crucial development.
The metaverse took center stage at MTV's Video Music Awards on Sunday night.
Snoop Dogg and Eminem took to the floor for their first performances at the VMAs in over a decade — and began by sitting on a sofa while smoking an exceedingly large joint.
They were then transformed into animated versions of themselves within the metaverse, surrounded by brightly colored graphics.
And in a significant moment for the NFT industry, their Bored Apes also made an appearance too — just like they do in the video for their hit song From The D 2 The LBC.
It was the ultimate homage to their first collaboration since the early 2000s — and toward the end of the song, both stars were transported back to the sofa to finish what they started.
They then began to start performing in person — accompanied by a band — with Snoop spitting bars while adorned in a luscious fur coat.
Above the real-life stage, their Bored Ape avatars could be seen nodding along to the music too.
The crowd in New Jersey went wild for the performance — and it's fair to say that, for many of the people watching from home, this would have been the first time they had encountered Bored Apes… or a metaverse.
Not everyone was enthusiastic about what they saw, though. On the Eminem subreddit, one fan wrote that they wanted the rapper to retire, writing:
"This VMA performance has honestly made me laugh at how pathetic it was. The NFT ape performance was not only cringe as f*** but the animation was also f****** dogs*** lmao."
Who Won the Metaverse Award?
The VMAs were also significant because of how MTV had a category for the Best Metaverse Performance — a crucial development that shows how this technology is setting the stage for live concerts to take place virtually.
It was a star-studded list of nominations to say the least — with Ariana Grande, BTS, Charli XCX and Justin Bieber among those in the running for a gong.
But it was BLACKPINK who were crowned the winners, and they told their fans:
"We had so much fun on this project so we're very glad that everybody enjoyed it and we're very grateful for our fans."
The South Korean girl band had performed BLACKPINK The Virtual with the help of PUBG Mobile — seeing off competition from other big metaverse brands including Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox.
Players who had watched their performance were able to dance and cheer to the music, and were even treated to a brand-new song.
It'll be interesting to see whether this award ceremony makes a return next year, and which A-listers will be battling to take home the prize.
