The Grammy Awards 2023 caught the eye for many reasons. However, the most eye-catching spectacle on offer was the all-star performance that celebrated hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. Executive produced by Questlove and introduced by LL Cool J, the 12-minute performance featured heroes such as Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Run-DMC and Ice-T.
Speaking to AllHipHop in a new interview, Ice-T looked back on the event and revealed that he had “a lot of anxiety” going into it because it was such an expansive production.
“It was a great feeling,” he said. “I can’t lie. I had a lot of anxiety going into it because it was such a big production. And, were they able to pull it off? We went and we did a rehearsal. It was a three-hour rehearsal for a 12-minute spot. When they run it live, it just goes. The way it was set up was as a medley, where everybody had to come in on point. There were no mistakes allowed.”
“If you missed your cue, you were going to be off-beat because they weren’t going to stop that show, and you didn’t want to embarrass yourself on live TV. But everybody was really in the zone leading up to it. You can see that.”
He continued, “Basically, you saw 27 professionals, people who have been doing it for so long that there was nobody scared or nothing. I think everybody was on point. I had a good set, the people reacted well and I had a good time. It was just fun. The sad thing was I said it was the best time to see all these people and it wasn’t a funeral. We never really come together like that with so many different groups in one place, unless it’s for a sad reason. So, it was a good vibe.”