Oh Shit, Look At Idris Elba Rapping

Oh Shit, Look At Idris Elba Rapping

Over the years, the way-too-handsome movie star Idris Elba has had a bunch of side hustles in music. He DJs in Ibiza whenever he can, he co-produced the intro track from Jay-Z’s American Gangster album, and every once in a while, he raps. (I liked him on the remix to Skepta’s “Shutdown.”) In a couple of weeks, the grime site GRM Daily will stage its virtual Rated Awards ceremony, and Elba will co-host with the model Jourdan Dunn. In the lead-up to the big event, Idris Elba is out here rapping.

GRM Daily has a regular freestyle-video series called Daily Duppy. There’s nothing complicated about it. Rappers head into the black-and-yellow studio and talk their shit, and the GRM Daily people add their own graphics to illustrate some of the better punchlines. Today, Idris Elba jumped in the booth, and he handled himself nicely.

In his freestyle, Elba doesn’t do any breathtaking technical rapping. Mostly, he gets by on sheer charisma and on having a cool voice, two crucial assets for any rapper. But Elba also gets off some good lines: “48 years old, and I could beat up your dad.” I also like how he brags about being in Marvel and DC movies and having Margot Robbie’s number in his phone. Watch the freestyle below.

The Rated Awards go down 9/16.

more from New Music