Lil Wayne Lights Up the Stage with Opening Performance at 2023 MTV VMAs

The rap giant performed some of his signature hits as he toasted hip-hop's milestone 50th anniversary

Lil Wayne just reminded the 2023 MTV VMAs audience why he's one of the greatest.

The legendary New Orleans rapper, 40, made his presence known at the annual award show to celebrate something even bigger than just the VMAs this year — the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

During his opening performance on the main stage in New Jersey, Wayne ran through some of his hits, including Tha Carter V cut "Uproar" and new single "Kat Food."

Wayne opened his two-song medley set with the 2018 hit while rocking a black hoodie and sunglasses, as he ran around a red-tinted stage set up. For his second track, "Kat Food," Weezy hopped in the crowd to help kick off the show with a little more excitement, all while his dancers did their thing on stage. Once he wrapped, Wayne made sure to give each dancer a hug before stepping away.

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Presenting right after his performance, close friend and fellow Young Money great Nicki Minaj called Wayne the "greatest rapper of all time."

On Tuesday, a few other rap heavyweights are set to toast the hip-hop milestone, which was widely recognized in August with celebrations set to continue throughout the year. Joining Weezy as VMA performers in the rap realm on Tuesday night are rap icons DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, LL Cool J.

Check out PEOPLE's full MTV VMAs coverage to get the latest news on music’s big night.

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The VMAs hip-hop salute comes over a month after much of the music world toasted 50 years of hip-hop, exactly five decades after pioneer DJ Kool Herc spun records at an apartment building in the Bronx. Since then, the genre's biggest names have shared what the birthday means to them, with over 30 of artists opening up about the milestone to PEOPLE.

"At first the feeling was like, 'This is me.' It wasn't like, 'Here's this thing called hip-hop and they rap.' It wasn't that. You heard it and immediately every cell and atom in your body said, 'This is me,'" VMA performer DMC — of legendary rap group Run-DMC — said at the time.

"It was, 'Yo, this is me. This sound is how I feel. It's scary. It's New York. It's crime and heroin and gangs, but that sound is how I really feel inside. Everything else is just a front to cope and make it through.' So I was a little Catholic school kid. I was nerdy and geeky. But to sum it up, it made me feel powerful."

Related: 2023 MTV VMAs: See the Complete Winners List

Wayne himself has been involved in a few hip-hop celebrations of his own this year, including a massive, decades-spanning show at Yankee Stadium last month alongside the likes of Nas and Run-DMC.

And just two weeks back, Weezy released the new single, titled "Kat Food" — which arrived months after his 18-track career-retrospective I Am Music compilation LP.

The 2023 MTV VMAs are airing live from The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Tuesday, Sept. 12 on CBS and BET, BET Her, VH1, Comedy Central, CMT, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network. Viewers can also catch the show through an MTV.com live stream or on Paramount+.

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Read the original article on People.