Kid Cudi Wears Dress in Tribute to Kurt Cobain During SNL Performance
Kid Cudi's musical performance on Saturday Night Live this weekend featured a visual tribute to late grunge king Kurt Cobain.
The lauded rapper was the musical guest on the Saturday night (April 10) episode of the long-running sketch comedy show, on which 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," Kid Cudi donned a spaghetti strap floral dress made by Virgil Abloh's famed Off-White designer clothing line. The choice of wardrobe was a nod to the Nirvana front man who was famously pictured wearing a similar dress. Kurt Cobain's death anniversary is on April 5, five days before this episode aired.
During his second performance of "Tequila Shots," Cudder wore a green cardigan similar 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, who was a SNL regular during his career.
Cobain died on April 5, 1994, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following a long struggle with mental health issues and drug dependence. Farley, a former actor on SNL, died from a drug overdose at the age of 33 on Dec. 18, 1997.
Cudi has talked openly about his own struggles with suicide in the past. Some people saw Cudi's move in wearing the clothing in tribute to both Cobain and Farley 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!!!"
On Sunday (April 11), the Ohio-bred rhymer revealed that he went to Virgil Abloh to have the dress specially made. "Virgil designed the dress for me. I told him I wanted to show love to Kurt w a floral print sundress and this man made a masterpiece. Thank You @virgilabloh ur a fuckin genius!! Love you man we did it!!!," Cudi tweeted.
He also announced that a collaboration between himself and Off-White is on the way. "Im doin a collection w Off White and the dress will be included!!," Cudi wrote on Twitter.
Cudi also participated in a skit on the episode titled "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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