Emmys 2021 opener: See Rita Wilson showcase her rap skills, Biz Markie tribute

Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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Rita Wilson’s moonlighting hobby as a rapper received its biggest platform yet when she busted a few rhymes and moves during the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.

On Sunday, Wilson joined a lineup including host Cedric the Entertainer, Tracee Ellis Ross and “Ted Lasso” star Brendan Hunt to zip through an Emmy-fied version of the late Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend,” retooled as a love letter to TV.

“Who knew, who knew they had so much TV?” she rapped, adding in a joke about getting HBO Max for free and throwing in a shoutout to “Sesame Street.” "So many characters I love. In fact, that's Bert and Ernie's business, we don't care about that," she continued, bouncing and waving her hand in the air.

Wilson also rhymed during her red carpet interview with E!'s Karamo Brown, throwing out a few lines of Jay-Z's "Tom Ford" (she wore a suit by the designer on the carpet).

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These, of course, were not Wilson’s first forays with a microphone. The singer-actress famously surprised, well, everyone, when she posted an Instagram video last year showcasing her nimble skills on Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray.”

Titled "Quarantine Stir Crazy See It To Believe It," the video garnered about 2 million views.

Wilson has explained that she learned the Naughty By Nature tongue-twister for her role in the 2020 film, “Boy Genius,” and said it took her a month to learn.

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"I thought, well, I'm either going to get completely trashed for this and people will think it's insane, and Naughty By Nature will be, like, trolling me on the Internet. I really didn't know. But I did have a moment of, like, here goes, when I pushed send," Wilson told NPR.

She also shared her lyrical dexterity when she appeared as a guest panelist on “The Masked Singer” in April.

Wilson's turn in the song prompted an outpouring of support and bemusement online.

Some viewers also used Wilson's stint to take digs at Chet, her aspiring rapper son with husband Tom Hanks.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rita Wilson raps in Emmy Awards opening with Cedric the Entertainer