Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake Perform History of Rap 6 Live On The Tonight Show
Yep. Soon as we saw that Justin Timberlake would be a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this evening, History Of Rap 6 was pretty much guaranteed to go down. Not mad at all though! For the sixth time, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake collaborate for the cultural phenomenon they call The History of Rap. Late night TV's most dynamic rapping duo run through hits from LL COOL J, Whodini, Slick Rick, Public Enemy, NWA (very briefly), Salt-N-Pepa, MC Hammer, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Wu-Tang, Snow, Nelly, Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, Fetty Wap, and many more more. As always, the segment is sold mainly by the sheer intensity of Jimmy and Justin's sincere, juvenile joy at shouting the lyrics and nailing the video-dance moves to their favorite Yo! MTV Raps and Hot 97 anthems in classic hip-hop karaoke style (doesn't matter where you stand on cultural appropriation, R. Kelly or the state of black music, if you are gonna sit here in this comments section and say that you have never hugged your best friend while yelling "REMIX TO IGNITION" you are a goddamn lie.) But as with previous 5 History of Rap installments more than, half that fun is watching the two Js put The Roots through their virtuoso paces, as they recreate the best "TV Track" mixes that never were for your favorite 12"s with flawless precision--you have to give the Legendary equal comedy credits on these, when you consider just how much the humor rests on the instant nostalgia and recognition value of each vamp and drum break. The pause to analyze Snow's pseudo-patois on "Informer"--a break which is mostly a vehicle to say "licky boom boom down" deadpan about a hundred times--is still the best part, though. We don't care what you say, we hope Jimmy and Justin have 6 more History of Rap routines in them. At least. Watch the hilarity ensue below:
