We can always count on Major League Baseball (MLB) to deliver some of the most uncomfortable musical performances to ever grace live television. After all, this year alone had already brought that Ingrid Andress rendition of the national anthem, for which she proceeded to claim she was drunk and checked into rehab after it was widely mocked.
Last night (October 28), Bronx rapper Fat Joe took to the mound (in Timberlands, no less) to perform his 2016 Remy Ma collaboration "All the Way Up" ahead of the third World Series game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. (Spoiler alert: the Dodgers continued their three-game sweep.)
Obviously how the game was played had very little to do with the Fat Joe performance that preceded it, but you could certainly argue (and many, many have) that it set the tone for his home team's loss.
If Reddit comments are to be believed, there seems to have potentially been differences in audio quality based on which broadcast of the game people were watching — but it's hard to imagine any channel being able to polish Fat Joe's breathless attempts to keep up with his backing track, the vocals on which were louder than his own live ones for some reason.
When the series began in Los Angeles, the Dodgers had Ice Cube perform, unknowingly entering an East vs. West Coast rap battle that he won with ease. As many commenters have remarked, Fat Joe's cadence has historically been crisp on record, so it's hard to say how much technical difficulties in a setting that's notably tough to perform in played into the awkwardness.
If you're into cringe, you can watch the MC's full rendition of "All the Way Up" — complete with an absolutely unearned mic drop that earned everyone's gratitude — for yourself below. Maybe we should add whoever's idea it was to book this guy to our list of worst-ever musician pitches?