I remember when Chance the Rapper hosted Saturday Night Live. Not once, but twice: in 2017 and in 2019.
I remember I was surprised to see him “play” a different role from the one he usually plays: the host instead of the musical guest (he introduced Eminem in 2017 and himself in 2019). I will forever laugh at skits like “Sports Announcer” and the follow-up “E-Sports Reporter,” “Family Feud: Harvey Family Thanksgiving” and “Rap History.” He did a great job.
Earlier this year, Lizzo hosted the show and, in true Lizzolian fashion, presented herself as the musical guest to promote “About Damn Time” and “Special,” tracks out of her last album Special. In her monologue, she joked about how shocked she was that she was dressed (for once) and mentioned how she used to live in her car for a period, giving us more insights into who Lizzo really is.
To be fair, though, it’s no mystery that Lizzo was already a very versatile artist: from playing the flute while twerking to flawlessly singing and rapping while dancing, she also hosted her own Ted Talk titled “Lizzo: The Black history of twerking — and how it taught me self-love” and created her own reality show for Amazon Prime to find her next plus-sized dancer, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. In just a few words, Lizzo is a one-woman show.
The latest SNL musical host was Megan Thee Stallion, whom I would’ve never expected to see on that stage making a full display of her outgoing personality and her Texan accent. (Although I later saw the video where she helps Jimmy Fallon deliver his monologue, so she had sort of done it already.)
And let’s not forget that these stars do not just talk for 5 minutes at the beginning of the show but they also need to be funny enough to star in the SNL skits. It’s less surprising to see an actor or actress display their comedic side in these skits while wearing a bunch of different wigs and imitating all sorts of accents (after all, it’s their job), but a rapper? A singer? It’s not granted that they’ll be able to capture the audience’s attention just like actors do.
SNL has also announced that the host AND musical guest on October 29th will be no less than Jack Harlow, and I’m honestly very excited. Though his second album Come Home The Kids Miss You was not a game-changer for me, I’m curious to see how he will do live speaking instead of rapping. And then he’ll also rap, of course. It’s also great to see how these hosts/musical guests are integrating music in their skits, as we saw before with Chance the Rapper, and I hope Jack will do the same.
The rise of these celebrities hosting SNL proves how music stars are no longer just performers but also comedians, public speakers and more. They are emblematic of how today’s artists want to be more central to pop culture as a whole than their industry alone. Rihanna, who became the youngest self-made billionaire, also happens to be a popstar besides a businesswoman. It’s no coincidence that a lot of musicians are launching their own beauty products (like Lady Gaga with her Haus Labs for Sephora).
Personally, I think it’s great that so many music icons are launching their own side businesses while still working on new music, and I hope SNL will continue their series of “musical hosts,” artists capable of switching from speaking to comedy to performing in just a matter of seconds.
Cover image credits: Saturday Night Live
Art Kills 
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