Natalie's Rap

Pop-ups (33 · 3 fan picks from YouTube comments)

1. Fans point here

   3:11

   1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 7 likes.

   I had managed to avoid it this whole time, this whole like two and a half years. What was the worst part of it? The brain fog was legit, but I will say if I knew it was going to end, if it wasn't scary, it was not… — Akiva

2. Portman's rap as a host milestone

   4:23

   This is presented as the first host becoming a major star of a digital short. Portman's appearance is framed as the start of the celebrity-rap wave that followed.

   This is our first real host being a major part of a digital short in a way that it pops.

3. Portman pitches a rap

   7:09

   Portman came to the writers, said she wanted to rap, and started spitting Lil' Kim-style bars that convinced the team to build the short around her.

   And she wanted to do a rap song, as I recall.

4. Homage to Eazy-E's No More Questions

   11:27

   The interview-into-song structure and several direct quotes come from Eazy-E's "No More Questions," making this an homage rather than a ripoff.

   that's from Eazy-E's No More Questions, though, we should say.

5. Carte blanche on the lyrics

   14:05

   Portman apparently gave the writers free rein to go as dirty as they liked, with Akiva supplying much of the filthiest material.

   One detail here is not in the transcript.

   I think it was carte blanche.

6. Jeff Zucker shout-out

   15:05

   The line about rolling up on NBC to smack Jeff Zucker was a bit Andy said he was proud of; Seth notes the audience understood who ran the network then.

   Roll up on NBC and smack the shit out of Jeff Zucker.

7. Red bar censorship

   16:09

   The censors' concern led to the red bar over Portman's mouth; the team found beeps were often more jarring than the bars.

   I do remember that's why we added the red bar over her mouth.

8. Aired before Fall Out Boy

   19:11

   The short aired second-to-last, right before musical guest Fall Out Boy performed.

   it played second to last.

9. The great dork shortage of 2006

   20:59

   The hosts joke that the cast had to scrape together dorks for the short, with Jorma stepping in last minute. The bit is a running joke about the crowd of SNL writers appearing on camera.

   It was the great dork shortage of 2006.

10. The Harvard verse

    21:33

    Seth singles out the Harvard verse as his favorite moment of the song. The verse plays on Natalie Portman's real-life Harvard education.

    Then the wonderful verse about Harvard, which I feel like is my favorite moment of this song.

11. Sir Mix-a-Lot callback

    22:09

    The verse echoes Sir Mix-a-Lot's 'My Posse's on Broadway,' which the hosts say they were watching long before 'Baby Got Back' made him famous.

    Yeah, you got a deaf posse and you got a bunch of dudes.

12. Who wrote the shit line?

    22:59

    The hosts guess among themselves who wrote the 'take a shit' lyric, with Andy and Jorma floated as likely authors. Akiva suggests Andy was quoting Jorma's real-life speech.

    I would guess that Andy wrote it, but he was quoting Yorm from real life.

13. Fans point here

    26:42

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 3 likes.

    And now another wonderful thing happens at this point in the song. And I feel like this is your 13th show. So I'm getting to know you gentlemen now. It's March. Met you in September on the show. It's late in the song.… — Seth

14. Andy's Viking costume

    27:55

    Andy admits the Viking look was a nervous choice: he was singing and felt unsure of his voice, so a character helped. Akiva notes the early draft was all about Odin.

    I think you were nervous about singing in the beginning.

15. Genius footnote on the Viking

    31:16

    Akiva reads Genius's explanation of the Viking verse, which claims Andy serves as a witness to Natalie's drug use.

    For Andy Samberg serves as a witness that can prove that Natalie is just as heavy on the drugs use

16. The smooch question

    32:17

    Natalie's final question asks which Hollywood guy she would steal a smooch from, a closing bit that lands on Chris Parnell.

    If you could steal a smooch from any guy in Hollywood, who would it be?

17. V for Vendetta extras

    32:47

    The video was added to the V for Vendetta Blu-ray extras, a random placement since the film has nothing to do with the rap. Alan Moore reportedly liked this rap on the extras.

    One of the weirder things to me about this video was that they asked us to then put it onto the V for Vendetta Blu-ray DVD extras.

18. Seth's Corner opens

    33:47

    Seth's Corner is the podcast segment where Seth talks about the parts of that week's SNL episode he wrote.

    Hey, can we take a quick trip to Seth's Corner?
    Seth's Corner

19. Seth and Liz

    34:14

    Seth explains that he went to college with Liz, Akiva's wife, and worked with her at a comedy theater in Amsterdam before joining SNL, so he knew her first.

    I went to college with Keev's wife, and then we worked together.

20. Fans point here

    34:32

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 15 likes.

    By a long time, you knew her first. Was there ever tension? Come on. We're shock jocks. Oh, no. Four shock jocks. I thought this was Seth. This is not shock jock time. This is Seth's corner. You keep your shock jocks…

21. Jamba Juice sketch

    34:49

    Seth and Liz wrote the Jamba Juice sketch about amped-up employees at the chain, a sketch that was the first out of the monologue.

    So Liz and I wrote Jamba Juice.

22. Smoke Alarm: Seth's lost sketch

    35:11

    Seth calls Smoke Alarm his proudest sketch. The commercial parody aired in the Lance Armstrong episode, and Parnell replaced Seth in the final version.

    I'm taking this to Lorne. I think the sketch I'm proudest of in this show actually aired after Natalie's rap called Smoke Alarm.

23. Seth's original role

    36:06

    The original Smoke Alarm script had Seth and Fred. Parnell took the role of a best-of-the-80s CD pitchman instead.

    Now, I pulled the original script and it breaks my heart because then it cuts to Fred and Parnell.

24. Why Smoke Alarm is hard to find

    37:05

    Smoke Alarm is hard to find online because of music rights. Electric Avenue cannot be cleared for free, so the sketch stays off the internet.

    You can't clear Electric Avenue.

25. Placeholder song idea

    37:27

    The hosts joke about writing a placeholder song for the podcast whenever music clearance blocks a clip.

    Should we write like a sort of placeholder song that we play when you guys run into some music clearance issues?

26. The cut Toy Collector sketch

    37:42

    Seth's favorite cut sketch has Natalie working a comic shop while Fred and Horatio, playing Spanish-speaking toy collectors, buy every boxed collectible.

    Do you remember the collector's sketch where Natalie worked in a sort of like a comic book shop

27. McFarlane spawn

    39:23

    The toy shop sketch's list includes McFarlane spawn figures, and the cast actually bought the real items at a comic book store.

    Had to get that McFarlane spawn.

28. No Ringo

    39:34

    The collectors want the Yellow Submarine Beatles figures but not Ringo. Seth later corrects himself after receiving the script, admitting they did want Ringo.

    I believe a joke was they wanted all three of those, but not Ringo.

29. Natalie forgot the sketch

    40:50

    Natalie had no memory of the cut Toy Collector sketch when Seth brought it up on his show.

    I should note that Natalie, when she was on my show, I mentioned that sketch, and she also did not have any memory of it.

30. One-timers club

    41:12

    Andy and Seth joke about belonging to the SNL one-timers club, with a jacket and a hanky as perks.

    Now, Andy, you and I are both in the one-timers club.

31. Asa Tacone's beat

    41:21

    Jorma's brother Asa Tacone, of Electric Guest, made the beat for Natalie's Rap.

    Can we give a shout out to my brother for making the beat for Natalie's rap, right?

32. YouTube and NBC takedowns

    42:34

    Akiva recalls that Natalie's Rap was posted on YouTube by a random user, reaching 500,000 views by Monday. NBC then took it down and buried it.

    And then NBC took it down right away and just buried it deep.

33. Viral videos quarantined

    42:37

    The hosts were frustrated that they were asked to make viral shorts only to have NBC quarantine them. NBC.com had no video yet and Hulu did not exist.

    We were upset at the time that we were being asked to make things that were viral and then quarantine them.

34. Digital short power rankings

    43:46

    Seth announces a running power ranking of digital short hosts, with Natalie currently at the top.

    we'll keep a running power ranking, but obviously right now Natalie, and she might hold the spot for a long time, is the top host

35. Natalie's Rap as a success

    44:11

    The hosts remember Natalie's Rap as their first big hit after Lazy Sunday and a relief that it did not turn them into one-hit wonders.

    You don't want to be a one hit wonder.

36. Doppelganger teaser

    45:05

    Seth teases the next digital short, Doppelganger, which he says will feature him in most of the sketch.

    It's back to back for Myers. Doppelgangers up.