Watch Donald Glover Host and Perform on 'SNL'
Live from New York, it’s Donald Glover. The actor-rapper pulled double duty as host and musical guest on a laugh-filled episode of “Saturday Night Live.”
Fittingly, Gambino debuted a new track called “Saturday” on the show. After being introduced by Zoë Kravitz, Gambino rocked out with his live band in a party atmosphere. “Saturday,” he sang, “All I want to do is make you dance, girl.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3x-LVkYhlA
Additionally, Gambino premiered his new single “This Is America.” Introduced by actor Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Glover performed the song with a group of young students in school uniforms dancing beside him. The set ended with an eye-catching laser light display.
Glover kicked off the episode with a special monologue about his “SNL” auditions. While obsessed with the fact that he didn’t end up being in the cast, he tried to show that he can “do anything.” The monologue didn’t work out for him, and it ended with vomit out of a clarinet.
Glover wasn’t afraid of addressing current events in the episode. “A Kanye Place” depicted Yeezy’s pro-Trump tweets. Also featuring Strong, Thompson, Beck Bennett, and Aidy Bryant, the clip referenced “Lift Yourself,” West’s slavery comments, and the outrage that followed.
Although Glover addressed topical events, he also went back in time. Playing an R&B singer named Raz P. Berry, Donald paid tribute to ’80s music videos. “I tried to cut my own damn thing off,” he tells his unfaithful girlfriend. “I couldn’t do it because I passed out just from holding the knife.” Later, he realizes he wasn’t talking to his girlfriend at all.
Donald also got in the sheets with “SNL” cast member Melissa Villaseñor in a skit called “Dirty Talk.” Laying in bed, Donald tried to spice things up with inappropriate language in the bedroom. However, his girlfriend didn’t seem to understand the concept, leading to confusion-filled banter between the sheets.
Later, Glover teamed up with Thompson and Redd again for “Prison Job.” Playing inmates, the guys shared horrifying and depressing jail stories. But in between these horrific details, they handled friendly customer service calls like pros.
Throwing on his Star Wars garb for this episode, the star of the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story also played Lando Calrissian in “Landos Summit.” The summit for black people in space results in only four participants. Thompson, Redd, and Leslie Jones add remarks at the event, which was originally prepared for hundreds, and Lando ends things with a performance.
That’s not all. Glover also joined Heidi Gardner and Pete Davidson for a sketch about Barbie’s Instagram captions. Glover, Gardener, and Davidson offered a series of ill-fated captions and left without a job. Elsewhere on the show, Glover also played Jurassic Park’s dinosaur-egg-eating lawyer in a losing case and a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers not named LeBron James. The latter sketch was cut for time, but appears online.