GloRilla performed ‘Yeah Glo!’ and a medley of tracks from 2024’s ‘Glorious’ on Saturday Night Live – watch footage of the performance below.
- READ MORE: GloRilla – ‘Glorious’ review: an empowering if uneven debut
Last night (January 18), the Memphis rapper and NME 100 alumni made her debut on the show as a musical guest. Introduced by Dave Chappelle, she sang ‘Yeah Glo!’ first, beginning the performance in front of bars wearing an orange prison jumpsuit before an outfit change.
Taken from her 2024 mixtape ‘Ehhthang Ehhthang’, ‘Yeah Glo!’ is now a Grammy nominee for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. The runaway success of the song – which earned nominations at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards and made it to the Billboard Hot 100 – took the rapper by surprise.
Off the back of an endorsement from LeBron James, who was seen singing along to the track, GloRilla said its success – which earned her kudos from Beyonce – was unexpected.
“I was shocked,” she later told the Associated Press. “I knew it was a good song. Every time I played it for people, they loved it. I didn’t know it would go as crazy as it did.”
In turn, Busta Rhymes also applauded the artist for her “unfiltered” authenticity, describing her energy as “a different type of beautiful” – something he wanted to acknowledge she “evolves to her Beyoncé level”.
Later in her ‘SNL’ appearence, GloRilla paired ‘Whatchu Kno About Me’, written alongside rapper Sexyy Red, with ‘Let Her Cook’ from her debut album.
GloRilla released her long-awaited debut ‘Glorious’ last year, which NME gave three stars. “As a body of work, ‘Glorious’ is uneven,” read NME‘s review, “there are a handful of certified hits and a bunch of questionable additions that suggest better quality control was needed here.
“But, with her undeniable energy and beautiful message of girl power, it’s still worth a listen, even if it doesn’t live up to the expectations that her attention-grabbing singles previously set.”
