In an evening of excellent impressions (Miley vs. Katie Holmes? Shello! Prutty kewl), new SNL cast member Jay Pharoah stood out for both who he took on in his Thanksgiving-themed Weekend Update segment—Jay-Z, Drake, Biggie Smalls—and how on-point his impersonations were.
Close your eyes and listen to the Hova celebrate turkey thighs and Beyonce’s badonk! Marvel as “Drake” nails his sing-songy Canadian cadences in honor of drunk uncles and fat cousins! Bounce along as the Notorious, posthumous B.I.G. lisps a loving tale of candied yams and “biscuits for days”! It’s all after the jump:
SNL‘s audience may not be the ideal demographic for Pharaoh’s impressions—at least, those not of figures as mainstreamed as his Will Smith and Denzel—but for hip-hop fans raised on Jay, Biggie, et al, it’s a hat trick worth its weight in Hulu replays.
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He was incredible! I am so glad he is on SNL! His impersonations are unbelievable good for him!
His Jay Z was excellent. Drake is too obscure for most. His Biggie, however, was terrible. The only bad impression he’s done in what’s been a breakout year.
Not Drake… DRE!!! And it was awesome.
Never mind ^^^ lol
I obviously am a huge rap enthusiast
It’s definitely Drake. I don’t think Dre is on Young Money
Agreed on all fronts. Jay-Z was spotless. Unsure if Drake/Dray/Dre is a person or a group and don’t care. Biggie was negligible.
Wonder if this dude can actually ‘act’ or do something other than impersonate?
He’s lame. Not funny at all. Why they bother to keep him in a sketch comedy show is beyond me – he only does impressions.
jay pharoah is insane. insanely FUNNY. i mean Hilarious! <3 his work.
He is unreal at impressions. Seriously, I mean spot on. I still can’t get over how funny his Denzel was in that faux Unstoppable trailer. Hilarious!!!
His Jay Z was unbelievably good. I could have listened to him do that all day! There really isn’t so much to imitate with Drake, but it was interesting. His Biggie sounded slightly more like Biz Markie, but it was a great effort all around.
I agree that his Jay-Z was right on target. I’m not nearly familiar enough with Drake’s work to say what he did or did not get right. His Biggie, though, yes, he nailed the lisp, was not deep or sleepy enough to pass as the genuine article. Was it better than I could do? Yes. But that doesn’t make it ready for prime time.
His Drake was pretty good visually since Drake sings/raps with his damn hands. But his Biggie was not good. His Jay Z was perfect though.
Drake is too obscure for me, but his Jay-Z killed.
YouTube his Obama impression…uncanny. Why he isn’t replacing Fred Armisen as Obama is a puzzle. Pharoah doesn’t just do an impression–you can close your eyes and thinks it’s the real deal.
His Jay Z was great! But Drizzi and Biggie were too different to be recognizable. With Drake I think you have to put in a bit of Lil Wayne’s voice.
I’m still unsure about this guy. I don’t find him funny. Hammond did impressions and was hilarious. He played with the characters, he did the opposite of how they would act. His Denzel and will smith, jay-z is amazing, but those will get old fast and he’s not in any sketches which alludes to that fact that he isn’t that funny
great stuff minus the race related stuff. I just want to see a black guy on tv who isn’t forced to pull the race card to get his material across. Just let him be a funny guy who happens to be black, not other way round.
What’s with the fingernails?