Keke Palmer Showcases All Her Talents — and Baby Leo — at Dynamic Big Boss Tour Concert in New York City
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The multi-hyphenate superstar proved herself as the next Cher in the making as she brought her Big Boss Tour to NYC's Webster Hall on Monday
Is there anything Keke Palmer can't do?
The 30-year-old multi-hyphenate superstar proved herself as the next Cher in the making as she brought her Big Boss Tour to Webster Hall in New York City on Monday, showcasing her talents as a singer, dancer, actress, personality and more in a dynamic and electrifying live experience.
Throughout the show, the performer delivered high-energy renditions of songs from 2007's "Bottoms Up" to her latest album Big Boss, released earlier this year via her own Big Bosses Entertainment company alongside an autobiographical film about her music journey on her network, KeyTV.
But referring to the live event simply as a concert would understate its content — the production may as well be called The Keke Palmer Variety Hour.
Before Palmer hit the stage, she didn't have an opening act. Instead, a large video screen played original sketch comedy videos featuring characters from her one-woman series Turnt Up with The Taylors discussing her career and hilariously trying to steal her spotlight. Two DJs also kept the party going until her performance officially kicked off around 8:30 p.m.
After starting the show with 2016's "Hands Free," the Nope star — alongside four dancers — welcomed fans to the Big Boss Tour and noted that "it's been such a long time" since she last toured.
"Big Boss represents so much for me, especially as it pertains to my journey in the music industry. Honey, mama now can cut all the checks," said Palmer with a laugh. "I'm very blessed and grateful to be able to have this tour and to be able to invest in myself in this way, and to come out here and see y’all and thank y’all for all the love you have shown me all these years."
She spoke about the Big Boss film and how it chronicles her experiences with overbearing figures in the music industry, some of whom have attempted to take advantage of her at different points in her career.
"The gag motherf---ing is, they're always trying to get the last laugh," said Palmer, referencing one of her own memes. "I don't care if you're a singer, or a teacher, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or you do DoorDash, whatever it is. We know what it's like to work with people that don't like us and that we don't like. But the gag is, when you stay focused on what it is you’re trying to do, you will always get the last laugh."
Detailing her past encounters with people who've turned out to be "a wolf in sheep's clothing," she told the crowd about lessons she's learned: "Everybody's not gonna come up to you and say, ‘Hey, I'm trying to take advantage of you,’ but what you feel is what you know, and that's what I learned that I have to follow — what I feel, my instincts."
Palmer's personal life — especially new motherhood with son Leodis Andrellton, born in February — played a major role in the show, as she then spoke directly to someone who's helped her as of late: "I have to give a very special shout-out to Miss Beth up here. This is my lactation consultant. She got me through being a mother."
In that moment, she seemed to reference recent criticism from co-parent Darius Jackson, who criticized the outfit she wore to watch Usher perform at his Las Vegas Residency in July, writing on X (formerly Twitter) at the time, "It's the outfit tho.. you a mom."
Having recently attended Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour together, the pair appear to be on good terms nonetheless, which was also represented in the Webster Hall concert through a slideshow featuring pictures of Jackson with both Palmer and baby Leo as she performed her song "I Care."
Related: Keke Palmer Plays Coy About Relationship Status with Darius Jackson: 'Mind Y'all's Business'
The first half of the show wrapped with a ballroom moment featuring surprise appearances by four dancers — Malik Miyake-Mugler, Smokey Marc Jacobs, Dee Boujee and Divo Couture — from HBO's voguing competition series Legendary, on which Palmer was a judge for season 3.
While she changed into a second outfit, clips from her roles in projects including Akeelah and the Bee, True Jackson, V.P., Ice Age: Collision Course, Lightyear and Nope, among others, played on the screen to ravenous applause from the crowd.
Following her return to the stage, Palmer performed an unreleased song titled "Ungorgeous," which she said was recorded "about 12 years ago" but feels pertinent to her life today — perhaps as a result of the relationship drama.
"You used to tell me I’m beautiful / But now I don’t even know no more / It’s like you’re trying to be difficult / You never used to do this before," she sings on the mid-tempo pop track, teased on TikTok last month.
Of the song's fresh personal meaning, Palmer said, "We don't like to go through hard times. We don't like to go through ups and downs and the ways that life takes us, but boy, when we do, do we have a testimony."
"For me, so much has happened since I did that song," she explained after performing the track. "I mean, I got a baby, I turned 30. I got a family. You know, I've experienced things. A lot of the things you'll see in the Big Boss movie and some I keep to my heart because they’re too painful to share. But the truth of what I'm saying is sometimes we gotta let it out, y'all."
Palmer continued, "We wanna be so happy all the time and keep everything so bottled up, but it's not true. It's like that movie Inside Out — you gotta let it go to get through it! And for me, that’s what ‘Ungorgeous’ is. It’s an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, I'm just not feeling it,’ and to share it with you guys, it means a lot because if you know how that feels, let me get an ‘Amen.’"
Later, in an unexpected moment, she exited the stage and entered the crowd to play a game with fans. Alongside a security guard, she went to the merchandise booth and asked audience members trivia questions about her career — including Scream Queens, Ice Age and That's My Jam — in exchange for free t-shirts.
Before the show came to a close, Palmer left the stage, and a pre-shot video played of her backstage with her mom Sharon (who was in the audience) holding baby Leo as they speculated on his favorite songs from the performance. "He loved ‘Hands Free,’ and then he loved ‘Waiting,'" said Sharon in the sweet skit.
As the singer returned to the stage, she declared, "It ain't over, motherf---ers." Appropriately, Palmer ended the set with her song "Bossy," again displaying her position as a skilled performer across countless mediums — as well as a powerful woman, mother and all-around boss.
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