In addition to being an Oscar-winning actor, a style icon, and a Global Elephant Ambassador, it turns out Lupita Nyong’o is also a pretty good rapper. To celebrate reaching three million followers on Instagram, Nyong’o uploaded a stylish black and white video to the photo-sharing platform in which she drops a few autobiographical verses as her alter ego “Troublemaker.” She manages to not embarrass herself even a little bit, which is quite the feat for a former Yale Drama student uploading a rap video.
Rapping over an instrumental version of Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind,” Nyong’o name-drops her current project (Queen Of Katwe), her beauty campaign (Lancôme), and her wildlife conservation work. Plus she casually mentions that she speaks four languages. Thankfully, however, Nyong’o isn’t suddenly revealing a Lin-Manuel Miranda-esque ability to freestyle, which would really be too much talent for one person to handle. The lyrics were written by her fellow Yale graduate Robyn Hood/Miriam A. Hyman, who has Nyong’o wryly acknowledge, “Disney on the books, so you know I stay paid.”