Unless you’ve been living under a rock these past few months, you’ve probably seen (or at least heard about) Marvel’s Black Panther. And fans of the movie know that the best character in Wakanda isn’t King T’Challa (sorry, Chadwick!)—it’s his younger sister, tech-wizard and jokester Princess Shuri, played by the fabulous Letitia Wright.
The 24-year-old actress appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, where she was roped into the “Wheel of Freestyle” challenge. She was faced with some serious competition in Tariq Trotter aka Black Thought—an accomplished rapper and the MC of The Roots, Fallon’s house band. Past competitors in this challenge include Lin-Manuel Miranda and Common, so Wright understandably looked nervous to partake.
Faced with fitting “disco,” “Red Lobster” and “vibranium” into one flow, her lines included, “Let’s go grab some food at Red Lobster / Roots, tell me how I can win an Oscar” and then a second later, “I said Red Lobster, better tick it off!” when the ding didn’t go off to acknowledge her completion of the task.
The funniest part, though, was her second challenge, which had to include “hammer,” “burrito” and “Benedict Cumberbatch.” She rapped, “In and out of portals like Dr. Strange / aka Benedict Cumberbatch / coming through the hatch!” Maybe that line won’t win her any Grammys, but hats off to this fierce lady for managing to rhyme Cumberbatch with anything on the spot.
Wright, aka MC Underbite, has been known to spit some bars in the past, as evidenced on her Black Panther co-star Lupita Nyong’o’s Instagram.
I think it’s safe to say, while Wright may only play a princess in the movies, but she will always be my queen.