The Simpsons is going somewhere the 28-year old show has never gone before in 2017, with an hour-long episode featuring some amazing guest stars. The episode, a “hip-hop homage” to The Great Gatsby will air on January 15th and feature the voice talents of RZA, Snoop Dogg, Common, and one half of Key and Peele the always-great Keegan-Michael Key. In a new featurette, Key shows off a bit of the process that he went through to achieve the exact voice he decided on for his character “Jazzy James.”
At one point, he jokes that the voice veers closer to Martin Luther King, Jr. than he would like it too, which is not only funny but important in that this opens up an opportunity to have the animated show go back in time to meet MLK, Jr. and have Key voice the legendary civil rights leader. This episode though, he just gets to goof around as a “former rapper/current candle salesman.” Key and Peele might be over but it’s always good to see Keegan-Michael Key flex his comedy muscles again, even if for now it’s just a behind the scenes look at some upcoming work. Just a glimpse of his humor makes the day better, and we can imagine that it will make this special episode great as well.