DaBaby made his Saturday Night Live debut last night and true to his burgeoning reputation as one of the most innovative and energetic performers in hip-hop today, he made sure it would be a night no one would forget. The Charlotte rapper brought special guests Jabbawockeez to light up the stage during an exuberant rendition of his breakout hit “Suge” and recreate his “Bop On Broadway” flash mob video. A crowd of female backup dancers rip through the video’s forceful choreography behind him but despite the chaos, DaBaby remains the center of attention.
In something of a departure for the usual rap performances that have graced the SNL stage, DaBaby utilized a headset mic rather than a handheld one and it was easy to see why he needed it. As he ran across the stage chased by his dancers then launched into his assertive dancing, a handheld mic would surely be at risk. He actually performs the entire video choreography from the “Bop” video and yes, the dancer from the video makes an appearance here to twerk in a handstand. The choreo for his “Suge” performance finds him swapping out his wardrobe and making light of his other growing reputation for strongarming other rappers like the hit’s namesake. Given that both songs come from two different albums, he might be the first SNL performer to have performed hits from two albums released in the same year.
Neither of DaBaby’s reputations is unfounded; recently, he delivered a performance via FaceTime after missing a set due to plane troubles and he’s seemingly done his best to audition for inclusion in a Def Jam Vendetta revival by beating up both rival rappers and fans all of 2019. Hopefully, he’ll get to do more of the former and a lot less of the latter in 2020.
Check out DaBaby’s forceful “Bop” performance up top and “Suge” just below.
