Justin Timberlake + Jimmy Fallon Perform Epic ‘History of Rap 6′
Justin Timberlake — singer, actor, frequent SNL guest star and all-around song and dance man — reunited with pal Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show on Wednesday (September 9). The two performed a fresh installment of their rap karaoke revue, History of Rap, and the sixth edition featured some more recent "history," including Kendrick Lamar.
The duo started things off with a few Jay Z bars from his "Fiesta" with R. Kelly, then launched into LL Cool J's "Rock the Bells." Then they kicked it very old-school with Whodini's "Friends" from 1984, and Jimmy showed off his best Slick Rick on "La-Di-Da-Di." Surprisingly, it took more than 40 seconds for Justin to start beatboxing this time around, and he should be applauded for his restraint.
Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" was next — they got an assist from Roots vocalist Black Thought, because two nerdy white guys (including one ex-Disney star) do need extra help selling that one. When Jimmy tore into "Straight Outta Compton" even Justin had to reign it in: "Jimmy, we've been through this before...you are not straight outta Compton. You're straight outta upstate New York."
They've covered most of Salt-N-Pepa's major hits in earlier History of Rap skits, but they finally got to "Let's Talk About Sex," and it was delightful. Songs from MC Hammer, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Wu-Tang and Biggie were cruised through at a steady clip, and then Jimmy boldly attempted the rapid-fire patois of Snow's "The Informer" while a skeptical Justin looked on. They segued into "Country Grammar" by Nelly, Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony's "Crossroads," and R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)," which it feels like they've done before? Apparently not.
Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Busta Rhyme's "Look At Me Now" was a bridge to more current hits — they even got to one of 2015's biggest rap stars, Fetty Wap. Watch the clip below to see how many recent-history hits you can identify.
The besties got hammy out in the real world this week, too, as they were caught on camera at the US Open doing the ol' waving hand dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies." Jimmy even brandished his other hand, the one with the still-bandaged finger he nearly lost, as if to explain that he can't actually wear his wedding ring right now.
Is there a rap classic you need Justin and Jimmy to cover? Let us know in the comments.
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