Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon's "History of Rap 5"
Hot damn. History has been made again, and by History, I mean 'History Of Rap Part 5' as performed by BFFs Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon mere moments ago on the capper to the new Tonight Show's inaugural week. You knew when you saw Justin Timberlake on the bill for this week they were gonna give the people what they want. Just knew it. The mega-medley did not disappoint, kicking off with LL Cool J's "I'm Bad" (that's the 2nd explicit reference to doing "the wop" on the Tonight Show by the way--and we're only 5 days in!) running through some hits from the Yo! MTV Raps and G-Funk era, without skipping over some of your more forgotten MCs (Skee-Lo and Pos K are glad to see those performance royalties right about now, I'd wager).
By far the money shot of the whole thing, though, was the surprise nod to Ini Kamoze with the unexpected "Hot Stepper"--though I couldn't tell you if it was Fallon's comically abysmal Jamaican accent or Timberlake's manic energy on the "Murdera!" ad libs that really sell it. The new Fallon digital team is so on it they are dropping these videos in more or less real time (not even waiting for the West Coast!) so as I blog this I'm actually missing JT's "real" performance in the next segment. In the words of Grand Puba: Gotta go, gotta go (maybe he'll make Part 6). Enjoy below and scroll down for the full tracklist:
LL Cool J -- I'm Bad
Run DMC -- Beats to the Rhyme
Crazy Calls - Wait for the Beep
Beastie Boys -- Fight For Your Right
Tone Loc -- Wild Thing
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - Fresh Prince Theme
Salt N' Pepa -- Whatta Man
Positive K -- I Got A Man
The Notorious B.I.G. - Big Poppa
Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg - Dre Day
Warren G feat. Nate Dogg - Regulate
N.W.A. -- Straight Outta Compton
Ini Kamoze - Hot Stepper
Outkast - So Fresh, So Clean
Busta Rhymes feat. P. Diddy & Pharrell -- Pass the Courvoisier, Part II
Kris Kross - Jump
Skee-Lo -- I Wish
Jay Z - 99 Problems
Ludacris -- Move Bitch (Get Out the Way)
Drake -- Started From the Bottom
Kendrick Lamar -- Swimming Pools (Drank)
Kanye West feat. T-Pain -- Good Life
Run DMC -- Walk This Way
