In a change of pace, Chance The Rapper returned to the Saturday Night Live stage for a third time, but this go-around his visit served the purpose of flexing his acting chops while Eminem stepped in as the evening's musical guest Saturday night [November 18].
While anticipation built itself up in the days preceding Saturday night's airing, thanks to a few promo clips featuring SNL cast member Leslie Jones where Eminem tried his hand at giving Chance a new name in addition to Chance revealing on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show that he had his hand in crafting at least five different sketches with a little help from Donald Glover, the latest iteration of Saturday Night Live did not disappoint.
In his monologue, Chano declared his intent to capitalize on a Thanksgiving hit the way Mariah Carey has laid claim to Christmas with her quintessential "All I Want For Christmas."
“Mariah Carey is at that tree-lighting every year singing 'All I Want For Christmas Is You,' and it’s not because she loves giant trees,” he remarked. “It’s because she loves having a third assistant whose only job is yelling at the second assistant.”
Playing on his strength, Chance soon broke out into song to make his point with a new jingle. "It's Thanksgiving Time, the one day a year where you invite the folks, that you normally fear," he sang. "It's Thanksgiving Time, where you are forced to see every single bad apple on your whole family tree."
He'd go on to star in a few comedic sketches, nailing roles that include a pizza delivery guy, a member of a Boyz II Men-esque boy band performing a ballad addressed to an unsuspecting receiver, and even Steve Harvey's son in "Family Feud."
Soon enough, a highly anticipated performance from Eminem would be up on rotation as the emcee took to the stage to perform his newly-released "Walk On Water." While it was speculated that he'd premiere a new single in promotion of his forthcoming RƎVIVAL album, Em instead opted to reach back in the vault and deliver renditions of his "Stan," and "Love The Way You Lie," bringing on Skylar Grey to sing the hook that, although notably sung by Rihanna, was originally penned and performed by Grey herself.