State Champ Radio The Tonight Show
Doja Cat likes to play around. And during her visit to The Tonight Show on Wednesday night (May 1), the “Paint the Town Red” singer/rapper was in an especially playful mood while discussing the wild outfits her dancers wear on the tour in support of her Scarlet album. Previewing the hair-forward upcoming European leg of her Scarlet tour, Doja told host Jimmy Fallon, “I wanted it to be modeled after hair, that’s the theme, hair, so it’s going to be a very hairy show.”
Fallon noted that last month Doja became the first female rapper to headline Coachella, cueing up a clip of a performance of “Demons” from that gig during which her dancers bopped around stage in gigantic, white-fur-covered yeti-like costumes. That naturally led to Doja offering Fallon a chance to get in on the action by modeling one of the hair suits, which he awkwardly pulled on, unable to properly cinch up the furry pants.
What followed was a hirsute Fallon bopping and bouncing along to the Roots’ funky beat as he learned some of Doja stage choreo, waving his arms and grabbing the air while holding up the pants with one hand.
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The interview also touched on Doja’s early performance “dance battles” as a kid and the dance crew she was in as a teenager, as well as her memory of her first-ever concert: Earth, Wind & Fire. While checking out her mom’s favorite band, the then five-year-old Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini was unexpectedly given her first spotlight. “It sounds like a lie, but I was pulled up on stage because we were in the front and, like a tiny little peanut like this going ‘ahhhh!!!’… I get it,” she laughed.
Her second show as just as epic, also with her mom: Beyoncé. That time, though, mother and daughter were as far as possible from the stage in the rafters, with only Bey’s whipping hair visible from that nosebleed vantage. “Saw a tiny little Beyoncé, but it was great,” she said.
Doja returned later in the show for an intense performance of the slow-burn Scarlet deluxe edition track “Acknowledge Me,” joined by an angelic six-member choir and full band on a smoke-shrouded stage during which she, of course, wore a white hair coat over white bodysuit.
Watch Fallon’s hairy dance and the “Acknowledge Me” performance below.
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Grupo Frontera delivered an emotionally charged showcase of their single “Ya Pedo Quién Sabe” on Thursday night’s (April 4) Tonight Show. Proudly representing the Rio Grande Valley by performing in front of a neon 956 sign — the area code of the borderland region they’re from — the band appeared rocking their usual black cowboy hats, with […]
Zayn has long been a man of few words. The former One Direction singer and solo star made a surprise appearance on The Tonight Show on Wednesday night (March 13), and in keeping with his let-the-music-do-the-talking demeanor, the 31-year-old’s mid-monologue walk-on was silent, but heady. Carrying a coffee mug and a note card, Zayn casually […]
British comedian Jack Whitehall was, ostensibly, on The Tonight Show on Thursday night (Feb. 1) to plug his new Netflix special, Settle Down. And while that made it a special occasion, Whitehall said his appearance also marked an even more very significant milestone.
“Some of you will know, today is a very, very important day for another reason,” Whitehall told host Jimmy Fallon after chiding him for not mentioning the important date in the monologue earlier. “The first of February, Jimmy, today, is the 30th birthday of Mr. Harry Styles!” Whitehall, who has had some legendary run-ins with the “Watermelon Sugar” singer on U.K. TV over the years encouraged the audience to wish Harry a happy day, confident that Styles would see his kind gesture, because, as he noted, “he watches all of my late-night appearances.”
Saying he had planned to leave Styles a personal voice note later that night, Fallon twisted the comedian’s arm to read the very special tribute he penned for the singer. By chance, Whitehall had his little pink journal in his breast pocket, which he pulled out to workshop his Harry homage for the studio audience. “Just tell me if you think this is too much,” Whitehall said of the poem titled: “Turning 30 in Styles.”
“Harry, oh sweet Harry, you are a man of utter class
My north, my south, my if, my when
My elbow and my ass
I first saw you on X-Factor
The silly reality show way back in 2010
Nearly three Simon Cowell faces ago
A twinkle in your eyes, your hair looked like a mop
A high-pitched little voice, your testicles yet to drop
You dazzled the world with your boy band One Direction
An unstoppable rise, like an unwanted morning … [asking if he can say that word on late night TV]
The day the band broke up, I screamed, I cursed, I cried
I hadn’t been that sad since the day Mufasa died…”
Watch Whitehall read his poetic tribute to Styles on The Tonight Show below.
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You probably didn’t have Cher wearing a fake mustache and spitting pieces of donut at Jimmy Fallon on your 2023 bingo card, but that certainly didn’t stop the Goddess of Pop from hocking a few loogies on Thursday night’s (Dec. 7) Tonight Show. During her surprise appearance, Cher acted alongside Fallon in the show’s long-running […]
Fans will soon be able to bask in all of Jung Kook’s solo glory with a very special upcoming television appearance. The “Seven” crooner will make his solo Tonight Show debut on Monday, Nov. 6, as a guest and performer. Emmy-winning host Jimmy Fallon took to the official Tonight Show Instagram to reveal the announcement. […]
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During a sit-down with The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon before their now-viral performance with The Roots, the remaining members of De La Soul recounted the band’s early days. They shared a touching moment with the enthusiastic audience.
Vincent “Maseo” Mason and Kelvin “Posdnuos” Mercer shared memories with Fallon about recording the group’s seminal debut, 3 Feet High and Rising. They also led the audience in a brief, heartfelt tribute to David “Trugoy The Dove” Jolicoeur who passed away last month at 54.
Jolicoeur died just weeks before the group’s catalog hit streaming services after years of legal disputes.
Maseo and Posdnuos told Fallon about how the group met in Amityville, Long Island and recalled their first public performance opening for Stetsasonic. “We did [one] song and I remember DMC came backstage and was like, ‘Yo, do the song again,’ it was just amazing,” Mercer said.
More recently, DJ Drama announced that he has a new Gangsta Grillz mixtape coming with the group, telling Elliot Wilson and Brian “B. Dot” Miller for a new episode of Rap Radar, “For me being a mixtape DJ I was always addicted to the new sh*t. I was a teenager in the 90’s so that’s my era; that’s what I ride around listening to” he explained. “De La Soul is coming to streaming [platforms] and I couldn’t be more excited. And we got a Gangsta Grillz coming. That’s a little sidebar.”
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At the conclusion of the interview, Maseo thanked Reservoir Media which secured the group’s six-album back catalog through its acquisition of the previous label, Tommy Boy Records in 2021. He also led the audience in thanking Trugoy the Dove.
“Can you please say for me ‘thank you, Dave?’” Mason asked the crowd.
“Thank you, Dave,” the crowd responded.
“Tonight, he’s watching,” Fallon added.
Later in the show, De La Soul and The Roots performed “Stakes Is High,” the titular Jay Dee-produced track from the group’s 1996 album. The moving performance made the rounds last week on social media with fans and other hip-hop connoisseurs calling the performance, “flawless.”
Watch the performance below.
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Chance the Rapper did a late-night triplet when he visited The Tonight Show on Monday (March 6), by participating in an interview, playing a daft game, and performing a new number.
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First up, the Chicago hip-hop star (real name: Chancelor Johnathan Bennett) sat for a chat with the NBC program’s host Jimmy Fallon, and cleared up any questions about whether Martin Short really is such a good guy.
Well, yes, apparently. Chance regaled with a tale of a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, in which he was separated from his eldest daughter, Kensli. That was until a “kind older gentleman gets up” and offered his seat to the girl. It was indeed the Martin Short. “I super freaked out,” Chance admits. “He was really, really nice and I don’t think he knows who I am. So I think he just did it…that’s a really kind gesture.”
Conversation moved on to Chance’s Black Star Line Festival in Ghana. “It was very successful,” he says of the event, held earlier this year with a lineup featuring Erykah Badu, Dave Chappelle, T-Pain, Jeremih, Sarkodie, Tobe Nwigwe, Asakaa Boys and M.anifest.
“It was magical. 52,000 people, the largest concert in the history of Ghana”. With the dust barely settled, Chance and Vic Mensa are plotting the next round for the festival in January 2024. And perhaps, this time visiting the West Indies.
“We’re actually thinking about hosting the next one in Kingston, Jamaica,” he explains. “We’re still working it out in our heads. And we love the city of Accra and Ghana and West Africa as a whole. We just want to continue to, like, create community in other spaces.”
The Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer also squeezed in some promo for season 23 of The Voice, for which he’s the newest coach. Would he have auditioned for the show if the whole Chance The Rapper thing never happened?
Sure, he would have done just fine, Chance admits confidently.
And which song would he hit, given the chance? “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going Song,” the Jennifer Hudson piece from Dreamgirls.
Chance stuck around and showed he’s a good sport by playing a round of “Peanut Butter That’s My Jam Tic-Tac-Toe,” a sticky new spot and a real mouthful.
The Coloring Book star closed it out with a solo-performance of “YAH Know”. The recording, which features King Promise, will appear on his upcoming album Star Line Gallery, expected for release later this year.
Watch the performance below.
Rita Ora proudly showed off her wedding ring on The Tonight Show on Wednesday night (Feb. 1), finally sharing her joy, and the honking green stone, with the world and returning to perform her new single, “You Only Love Me.” Wearing a shimmery silver half shirt and matching miniskirt, the excitable singer exploded with joy when host Jimmy Fallon mentioned her recent nuptials to director/actor Taika Waititi.
“And because I love you so much, I’ve actually never shown anyone my ring,” she said. “It’s my first time showing my ring, because I love you and I feel like you’re part of our relationship, weirdly, because we watch you every night… is that creepy?” she asked as Fallon assured her that he was happy to be a distant third wheel in their love story.
The singer then flashed the stunning square-cut emerald ring to the camera, praising Waititi for doing a good job picking it out before revealing that the Jojo Rabbit director may have had just a little bit of help. “Well, I may have… hinted in the right direction,” she admitted. “You know, because I just think, like, when you know what you want, and I felt like I really knew that I wanted to be with this person. I just wanted it to feel really right, and so I may have taken him to the shop and I may have pointed out exactly what ring I wanted.”
The singer also stuck around for a performance of her new single “You Only Love Me,” which, appropriately, opened with her sitting at a long, flower-bedecked table, wearing a pale red wedding babydoll dress and matching veil and lacy fingerless gloves. Surrounded by six dancers in matching bodysuits, the performance was a kind of mini wedding ceremony, complete with bouquets getting tossed, rose petals on the ground and a scene-ending recorded message from her hubby saying, “This is how I am, this is how you are.”
Ora said her new album is due out later this year and hinted that it was inspired by the whirlwind past two years. “My life has changed so drastically,” she said. “And making a decision to really spend the rest of your life with someone is a kind of big decision. And so it got me writing again and I just really got inspired by love.”
Watch the interview and the performance below.
If you want something done, ask a busy person. Selena Gomez is that person.
The pop artist and actor has crammed it in of late. She stars in Only Murders in the Building alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short; helms the cooking show Selena + Chef; and takes the lead on the documentary My Mind & Me, a personal story on mental health, seven years in the making.
The Apple TV+ series My Mind & Me spawned a single of the same name, and an official music video.
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There’s more music to come, says Gomez, who’s keen to switch gears and get back to a party vibe.
On Monday night (Dec. 5), Gomez stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a chat about her hectic schedule.
Does the new single suggest there’s more music coming? “That’s accurate,” she tells Fallon. “Finally.”
Gomez’s last studio album was 2020’s Rare, which, like its two predecessors, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
“I’m so used to writing sad-girl songs,” she tells Fallon, noting recording session are taking place in New York City. “But I’m ready to have some fun and I think people are going to like it.”
Don’t expect 2023 to be a cruise. Filming for season 3 of Only Murders will kick off in January, Gomez admits during her stint on the late-night couch.
Are the two Martins rubbing off on her? Sure, she’s a little snarky, a little grumpy, otherwise not so much. Gomez also recounts her “oh my god” moment when Meryl Streep came over to say “hi” and kiss her hand (“it was such a surreal moment”).
The artist spoke at some length about her charity work and advocacy, and the purpose it gives her. “I do know I won’t stop this fight until the day I die. I think mental health is incredibly important and should be focused on.”
Watch below.
Gomez stuck around to play a round of “Egg Roulette” with Fallon, a game in which the host and guest take turns smashing eggs on their own heads without knowing which are hard-boiled and which are raw.
If she was having flashbacks, the blame could be attributed to playing “Hot Ones” with Fallon in 2019, an eating game, she recounts, that ended with her barfing in her dressing room.
