Taylor Bennett Gets Emotional During ‘Good Morning America’ Debut
Taylor Bennett was a mixed bag of emotions early this morning (Aug. 16). Today, the 21-year-old rapper made his Good Morning America debut and couldn't hide his excitement once he sat down with XXL backstage.
Fresh off the GMA stage, Tay took a second to reflect on the positive occurrences in his life as of late. “I’m all over the fuckin’ place," he admits. "It’s crazy and it also almost feels like a dream a lot of times because I always wanted to do this shit. When I was a kid, yo; before I knew Good Morning America was called Good Morning America, and I just knew that’s the show that my grandparents and my parents watched everyday." Shortly afterward, he shares some celebratory news, revealing, “I’m finna have a son, I’m doing GMA. All these things [are] really happening for me at this time in my life.”
The national, early-morning news show also resonates with the Chicago native because of comedian Jonah Hill's gut-busting performance in one of Taylor's choice films. “One of my favorite movies is Get Him to the Greek, and there’s this very funny-ass scene where he performs on Good Morning America and is running through the whole office and shit, throwing up on shit because he’s fucked up," he details.
Bennett's first appearance on GMA was irrefutably successful. With Taylor Bennett Entertainment signees' Bianca Shaw and Zxxk by his side and a legion of devoted fans watching, the Be Yourself rapper performed his introspective EP's title track and the melodious "Rock 'N' Roll"—the video for the latter made XXL's list for best hip-hop videos of 2018 today—as he and Chance The Rapper's father, politician Ken Bennett, danced along on the sidelines.
“Yo, I’m so happy and I’m so proud of Bianca," Taylor says of his label's Chi-Town songbird. "She’s a strong Black woman, she has an amazing voice and she’s extremely intelligent. When you know that you have somebody like that on stage with you or you just know that there’s somebody like that in your life, it definitely makes you want to push yourself.”
Sadly, as Taylor began to rattle off about the importance of music in history, "Respect" by Aretha Franklin began to play on ABC News, as the network regretfully announced the Queen of Soul passed following her battle with advanced pancreatic cancer.
"Oh my God!” the rhymer shouts, holding back tears. “Just know, though—this is how God works and this is how important it was—I was about to say that artists have a timeline that they live through that will let us reflect back on history" he states as he points to the screen. "That’s what music is."
See Photos of Chance The Rapper's Different Looks Over the Years