Ahead of Kanye West’s appearance on an upcoming episode of American Idol‘s final season, we now have the first look at the marquee rapper pretending to audition for the reality singing competition.
“My name is Kanye, and I’m from the South Side of Chicago,” begins the 21-time Grammy-winner to American Idol judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, and Harry Connick Jr. “I always wanted to rap, but nobody really believes in me, so I wanted to try some things out.”
Co-starring in the skit is West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, who does a believable backstage interview with host Ryan Seacrest. “I’m not nervous, because I really do believe in him,” said the reality TV personality. “I didn’t give him any advice on singing, rapping. I hope they really believe in him.”
Then, after explaining that he wanted to “do something original,” West begins an a capella version of his 2005 hit Gold Digger. And J-Lo — swaying, dancing, and singing along in her judge chair — is loving it. At the end, the judges don’t think twice before giving him the Golden Ticket but we’ll have to watch to see if he appears on future American Idol episodes.
The 15th and final season of American Idol premieres tomorrow night (January 6) on Fox at 8 p.m. EST. “My only hope [for the final season] is that we can bookend the first year — with Kelly winning and becoming an international superstar — and find someone who can make a really big name for themselves,” said Connick Jr. to Entertainment Weekly.
As for Kanye, the acclaimed rapper dropped a new single called Facts on New Year’s Eve. It’s unclear if the song will be on his highly anticipated follow-up to his last full-length Yeezus. He hasn’t released much information about the new record, called Swish, although he did recently compare it to “a sonic painting” in a recently interview with L.A. radio station Real 92.3 (via Billboard).
