Kid Cudi's musical performance on Saturday Night Live on April 10 featured a visual tribute to late grunge king Kurt Cobain.
Cudi was the music guest on the latest episode of the long-running sketch comedy show, where he performed two cuts off his latest album, Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, including "Sad People" and "Tequila Shots." For his performance of "Sad People," the Ohio rapper donned a spaghetti strap floral dress made by Virgil Abloh's famed Off-White imprint. The choice of wardrobe was a nod to the Nirvana front man who was famously pictured wearing a similar dress.
During his second performance of "Tequila Shots," Cudder wore a similar green sweater to the one Cobain wore during Nirvana's performance on MTV Unplugged on Nov. 18, 1993. Under it, Cudi wore a shirt that featured the face of late comedian Chris Farley. Cobain died on April 5, 1994 from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following a years long struggle with mental issues and drug dependence. Farley, a former actor on SNL, died from a drug overdose at the age of 33 in December 1997.
Cudi has talked openly about his own struggles with suicide in the past. Some people saw Cudi's move as a silent statement about suicide prevention. "Kid Cudi pulling the ultimate Kurt Cobain tribute on #SNL on the week of this death," one person wrote on Twitter. "@KidCudi all about love and suicide prevention and awareness!!!"
Cudi also participated in a skit on the episode entitled "Weird Little Flute" where the rapper and comedians Chris Redd and Pete Davidson posed as new era hip-hop artists who jokingly rhyme about the flute sound that has been abundant in rap music recently. See the hilarious sketch below.
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