Dua Lipa dove deep into the scorching-hot rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar on “Saturday Night Live.”
On the latest episode, Lipa appeared alongside Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner and Devon Walker as morning talk show hosts who attempt to explain the diss tracks that have taken over the music world in the last few days to their viewers.
Lipa played a culture critic who has been locked away “for the past 48 hours trying to piece it all together.” She appeared in front of a white board plastered with portraits of the two rappers and yarn connecting Post-It notes with phrases like “shoe size,” “feet” and “OVO.”
Drake and Lamar’s back-and-forth diss tracks have been dominating social media, particularly in the last 36 hours when Lamar released three songs targeting Drake. Things got personal as the two traded barbs about their families and personal lives. However, Lamar seems to have gained the upper hand and final word with his especially scorching lyrics about Drake allegedly hiding a secret daughter from the public eye.
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Lipa explained some of Drake’s Canadian slang and how Tupac Shakur’s estate is involved in the rap beef. Gardner and Day’s characters brought out cutouts of Drake’s and Lamar’s faces, but before things could fall apart further their morning show cuts to commercial.
Lipa is making her third appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” after being the musical guest for Natalie Portman in 2018 and Kristen Wiig in 2020. This latest episode marks her hosting debut. It’s the second time this season that a performer pulled double duty as host and musical guest, following Bad Bunny in the second episode.
Lipa made her acting debut in last year’s blockbuster “Barbie” opposite Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, “Saturday Night Live” alum Kate McKinnon and more stars. The singer had a cameo as Mermaid Barbie, sporting a brightly colored wig and a mermaid tail in the plastic ocean. She followed that up this year with director Matthew Vaughn’s spy thriller “Argylle,” about a novelist who gets roped into a James Bond-esque adventure. Lipa was LaGrange, a fictional character who had a steamy dance with the literary spy protagonist, played by Henry Cavill.
On Friday, Lipa released her third studio album “Radical Optimism,” following her Grammy-winning 2021 album “Future Nostalgia.” She won best pop vocal album for her sophomore release, and most recently she earned two Grammy nominations for “Dance the Night” from “Barbie.” She’s earned a total of 10 Grammy noms and three wins in her career, including best new artist in 2019.
Coming up next to close out this season of “Saturday Night Live” is alum Maya Rudolph hosting with musical guest Vampire Weekend next Saturday, followed by Jake Gyllenhaal with Sabrina Carpenter to close out Season 49.
