If your “Reasons to Love Riz Ahmed” list wasn’t already long enough based on his recent appearances on “Girls” or in “Rogue One,” his bit on “The Late Late Show” should add a new bullet point.
The British actor joined host James Corden Monday night for a good, old-fashioned rap battle. While Corden certainly has musical chops, Ahmed’s rap experience — both solo as Riz MC and as one-half of the duo Swet Shop Boys — naturally tipped the scales in his favor.
Both stars had lines ripped straight from the headlines, like Corden’s early one: “This is a blood bath, it’s not a fair fight / It’s like you were overbooked on a United Air flight.”
Ahmed served up a verbal right hook in response, comparing the late-night host to a low-rent version of the White House press secretary: “I speak the truth, you’re a liar / He’s like Sean Spicer mixed with a singing Uber driver.”
In a major mic-drop moment, the actor told Corden he simply ripped off Graham Norton’s act.
“I wouldn’t start this war if Kendall Jenner brought out Pepsis,” Ahmed said in his final lines, managing to squeeze just one more relevant pop culture tidbit into the mix.
Their battle is a delight to watch — which you can do so above — but Riz, what would Paul-Louis think?
