James Corden Name-Drops Phife Dawg and Drake in 2017 Grammy Awards Freestyle

Watch: James Corden opened the Grammys spitting bars and threw an inevitable shot at Donald Trump. #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/32uFnQzjTp

— Hardys® (@HardysMedia) February 13, 2017

James Corden is, first and foremost, a talk show host, but he assumed the role of enthusiastic rapper during his opening monologue at the 2017 Grammy Awards Sunday night (Feb. 12).

During a freestyle that lasted about two minutes, the The Late Late Show With James Corden host managed to name-drop some of the biggest names in hip-hop, with Drake, and the late, great Phife Dawg.

In his freestyle, Corden pokes fun at Drake's relationship with Rihanna, drawing more than a few laughs from the audience. In other parts, he takes a shot at President Donald Trump while spitting about the need for unity.

At another point in his verse he shouts out a few musicians that lost their lives in the last year. That's when he mentioned A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg. "The verse tonight's for people we miss/the music they made were clearly a gift/Leonard Cohen and Prince were legends in life/George Michaels/Sharon/Phife," he rapped during a multiphase opening.

In other Tribe-related news, the group is still set to perform their We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service track "Movin Backwards" with XXL Freshman Anderson .Paak will join them on stage.

Check out the Grammy Awards winners here.

14 Hip-Hop Artists on the 2017 Grammy Awards Red Carpet