Review: Live from Federal City, Hatsune Miku and Drizzy 2.0 Change 22nd-Century Music Forever
Labor Day 2120 saw Vocaloid heroine Hatsune Miku and legendary rap superstar Drake’s virtual avatar Drizzy 2.0 beamed into a VR-enabled crowd at National Mall in the city of Federal Square, Douglass for a unique concert and celebratory event surrounding their ubiquitously popular “MM 2020” single and album collaboration. Impressively, the show counted the currently feuding 65th United States President Belicalis Cephus and business magnate Jeffrey Bezos V (sporting as per usual a seemingly impossibly curved-brimmed black, “JBV” baseball cap with gold Washington Post New Roman-lettering) in attendance. Outside of the Secret Service physically separating both parties and their administrative hangers-on from a near-fracas, the event occurred without violence. Inarguably, the three-hour concert and celebration fundamentally changed music and American history forever.
The issues at hand regarding both city management and the music industry that led to the “MM 2020” concert event are notable and should be foremost considered.
At issue is the matter of resurrecting and restoring the city’s once federally-controlled National Mall, which had been mainly left closed to the public and inoperable since the COVID-19 and COVID-25 pandemics and subsequent Youth Revolution. Following this tragedy, parts of the capital were famously taken over once again (like in 1995) by a United States Congress-led Federal Control Board. For twenty years, The Disney Corporation assumed control of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Mall on behalf of Congress before the District of Columbia eventually reclaimed both. on the Youth Revolution’s 30th anniversary. This interactive concert experience, sponsored by The Disney Corporation, celebrates their stewardship decades ago.
As well, America’s music industry has been a tumultuous space so far in 2120.
In 2100, Billboard instituted the “Virtual Reality Performance Act” in partnership with National Independent Venue Association. This rule change to the Billboard charts demanded that Vocaloid and avatar performers could only chart with a mix of first-run material and one “classic” release per year. In effect, this reflected the sheer number of Asian Vocaloid pop acts, avatars of deceased American pop acts, and the surge of sexually explicit, “deep fake” virtual reality performers creating at-home, live concert experiences. Eighty-four percent fewer human performers than a century ago were in Billboard’s Hot 100 charts. With the growth of 2D-streaming and VR performances in the post-COVID era, it essentially evolved how hit songs emerged, while permanently closing numerous, largely human-driven, live performance venues.
The “MM2020” concert, in being held in a real-time space enhanced for extraordinary levels of heretofore unseen or experienced types VR enhancement, is a unique standout presenting an intriguing sense of what the future of 2D and VR-enabled performances could become.
By last year, Hatsune Miku, a 113-year-old Japanese Vocaloid performer, was on the cusp of her 1000th Billboard number-one single on the Hot 100 charts. Similarly, Drizzy 2.0 (the avatar version of Canadian rapper Drake) -- whose OVO Sound label partnered with HBO VR when the emcee died at age 100 in 2086 -- was on the cusp of a similar honor.
Hatsune Miku has averaged roughly ten number-one Billboard singles over the past 99 years. Drizzy 2.0’s release as a playable avatar via Hulu’s VR platform in 2087 led to countless performances in living rooms, bedrooms, and public and private spaces worldwide. All 500 of his Billboard charting singles and features (with non-Drake guest and lead performers included as avatars within those songs-as-experiences) were available for engagement. This rollout led to all of these songs reaching number one in the past century. Plus, 500 new “Drizzy 2.0” songs -- developed as AI-generated songs culled from fan-created YouTube clips of freestyles over existing classic Drake material -- used in film and commercial advertising also reached the top of the charts.
Exactly 35,000 of the last 36,525 days have seen Drizzy 2.0 or Hatsune Miku represented somewhere in Billboard’s top-five singles. Thus, their single “MM 2020” -- Roman numerals to celebrate their recording accomplishments, and 2020 to never forget the lessons learned from that dark shadow of a decade from which America continues to emerge, daily.
The concert could be engaged via Apple’s vPhone XX VR headsets. For a greater price than the event’s $10,500 entry fee, $1.5 million+ VIP “gaming hotspots” could be entered. These highlighted the revived Pokemon Go franchise and hosted a “Disney vs Nintendo Battle Royale.” This concept featured pro-wrestling-style “battles” between Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars characters versus fighting heroes from Nintendo’s new Capcom and World Wrestling Entertainment properties.
On a seasonably warm, 114-degree September evening, under overcast skies, Drizzy 2.0 performed on both a hovering stage from which he could hop down and “engage with” crowds gathered along the National Mall. 2.0’s performance was partially sponsored by Hulu VR’s just-released “I Love The 2010s” throwback performance module. Thus, Nicki Minaj’s 2012 duet “Moment for Life” was performed on the roof of the National Gallery of Art, and Rick Ross and French Montana’s 2014’s duet “Stay Schemin’” occurred near the Infinity Sculpture at the Museum of American History.
A pre-recorded set of Drake’s “app dance” era throwbacks “Hotline Bling,” “In My Feelings,” and “Toosie Slide” was also well received. The crowd of 50,000 app-engaged fans and the 10,000 interacting via Microsoft Xbox 2100’s downloadable map overlay of the event at home danced and sang in unison with Drizzy 2.0’s choreographed routine. Moments like Drizzy 2.0’s “Deep Cover 2020” performance with Topp Dogg, Pac 4 Ever, Master Dre, and B.I.G., the avatars of Snoop Dogg, 2 Pac, Dr. Dre, and the just-created digital projection of the Notorious B.I.G. were exciting as well. “Deep Cover 2020” is now accessible for immersive experience via Hulu’s HBO VR channel.
However, the real star of the show -- and what seems to be literally every show for the past century -- was Hatsune Miku. In two hours, she performed snippets of 50 of her most-beloved number-one singles, including her duet of “I Will Always Love You” with “Nippy,” the Yamaha Corporation’s successful attempt at synthesizing Whitney Houston’s iconic, five-octave voice. Moreover, ‘Yoncé, the Beyoncé avatar owned by Disney and the legendary artist’s trust, was a special guest for a “competitive,” thirty-minute back-and-forth showcase of Beyoncé’s greatest hits. Virtual representations of many of the long-deceased pop icon’s legendary clothing choices were highlighted, alongside guest appearances from Hova (Jay-Z’s avatar), and never-before-seen virtual versions of iconic South Korean K-pop artists BTS, CL, and BlackPink.
The show ended with Hatsune Miku and Drizzy 2.0’s hook-driven, Tik Tok-sponsored, K-pop meets trap single “MM 2020.” If you’re not tuned into the now-iconic Chinese-borne social media app, the song is riding its constant 15-second plays via the app’s users to the top of the pop charts. As previously mentioned, this occurrence has led to the thousandth Billboard number-one hit for either performer. “Tik Tok forever honey honey / Donnie Trump dummy dummy / Hat-Drizzy makin’ money / it ain’t even funny / Ay boy, what’s the future? / MM 2020!” was recited in unison by both children and adults dancing what appeared to be a cross between Chubby Checker’s 160-year-old “Twist,” followed by the “hop over your leg” dance maneuver popularized in late 1980s rap music.
In a 2029 interview, Drake told of a musical future where a synthesized electrical artist with the complexity and richness of a whole orchestra would emancipate the universe and take over the world. Two digitized human-like forms who have controlled music for 100 years dissed a former American President while a current American President danced a note-perfect Tik Tok step in a space once controlled by a 200-year old entertainment conglomerate. Moreover, Drake’s future, as shown by his avatar everywhere on the National Mall, is now.
