STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Killer Mike and Method Man Join Stephen Colbert to Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of ‘Lord of the Rings’

The late-night talk show host gathered an all-star group to rap about the Shire.

Stephen Colbert is an ultra-fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic saga, Lord of the Rings, and this includes The Hobbit as well.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the epic fantasy masterpiece, the late-night TV talk show host put together his own Fellowship of the Ring to rap about the success of the Shire.

In the clip, which you can watch below, Colbert assembled members of the original cast — Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Billy Boyd (Peregrin “Pippin” Took), Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Andy Serkis (Gollum), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), and Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) — and connected them with Method Man, Killer Mike, and Anna Kendrick.

Colbert and multiple-Grammy-Award-nominee Jon Batiste ensured to add some melodies to the madness, by creating a rap tune dubbed “#1 Trilly.”

The former Daily Show correspondent is a self-professed ‘Ringer’ and an enormous Tolkien fan who can recite entire passages from the novels. With the music video done in less than a week, Colbert must’ve had a vision from the One Ring to learn that he won’t be on air for the actual anniversary, which is next week. 

RELATED: Idris Elba Discusses Being A Norse God in ‘Thor’ Marvel Movie

Method Man, who is no stranger to the camera, has been angling for a way to get into a fantasy big blockbuster picture, and it seems like he will be encouraged by the nerd community to do exactly that after this rap video clocked in over 1.6 million views through the weekend. Killer Mike shares just how hard it is to even see a Black person in these movies, but the fun is had by all nonetheless.

The music video is one momentous event after Colbert hosted a trio of cinema-only Lord of the Rings cast reunions earlier this year. Taking place as part of Alamo Drafthouse’s free series that encouraged cinephiles to return to their local indie theaters, Colbert will next highlight the Tolkien-verse once the Amazon Prime series based on The Lord of the Rings, as well as Tolkien’s The Hobbit, premieres on Sept. 2, 2022, and takes place thousands of years before the events of both titles.

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.