MC Stephen Colbert proved that he's no slouch when it comes to big-upping the Guggenheim on Tuesday night. The host of "The Colbert Report" also gave some much-needed love to the burbs as he dropped a few verses about abandoning the city of dreams for the land of manicured lawns and man caves during a duet with Alicia Keys on "Empire State of Mind Pt. II (Broken Down)" on his show.
"This song, it's the greatest hit, it's going to take over 'New York, New York' and take that thing, throw it in the trash," Colbert told Keys in an interview before her performance, in reference to the original version from Jay's album. "I only have one beef with it: There's not enough about the suburbs in it. It's mostly about the city itself. What about the bridge and tunnel crowd, don't they get a shout-out?"
Keys started out her performance parked at the piano as usual for what appeared to be a sedate run through the New York love song from her new album, The Element of Freedom. Singing about her pocketful of dreams, seeing her name in lights and crooning the instantly recognizable hook from the original version on Jay's The Blueprint 3, Keys was unexpectedly joined halfway in by Colbert, sporting a gray suit over a dapper pin-striped gray hoodie.
"I love New York/ King of all the cities/ Lived up by the Guggenheim till I got some kiddies/ Moved to Connecticut, bye George Pataki," Colbert rapped in a stiff-upper-lip cadence in what has been deemed the "Empire State of Mind (Upper Middle Class Remix)."
"Shoppin' mall is close, my community is gated/ My shorties are all private-school educated/ Home theater system, 60-inch plasma," he continued, eyes glued to the teleprompter to keep up with his wicked stilted flow. "Clean suburban air, much better for my asthma/ Still hit the city, Times Square, keep it real/ Hard Rock Cafe for the appetizer deal/ M&M Store, Disney Store, I'm in heaven/ I own this town from 41st to 47/ Take you to 'The Lion King,' that show is fantastic/ Leave half an hour early so I can beat the traffic/ I can get home really fast, driver rocks an E-Z Pass/ Land of cheaper gas and the upper middle class."
Keys then came soaring back in with the chorus as Colbert waved his hands in the air, executed some deft spin moves and awkward finger snaps and briefly joined her with some of his signature falsetto harmonies.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down | ||||
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