Leonardo DiCaprio’s birthday rap is being likened to Kendall Roy’s in ‘Succession’

15 November, 2023

Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy in 'Succession'

A video of Leonardo DiCaprio rapping at his 49th birthday party has been compared to a famous scene from Succession in which Kendall Roy raps at his father’s shindig.

DiCaprio celebrated his birthday on Saturday (November 11) with some of Hollywood’s and the music industry’s star names including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Zoë Kravitz, Channing Tatum and Snoop Dogg at a party held in Beverly Hills.

At the event the actor was filmed rapping to the 1994 song ‘DWYCK’ by Gang Starr featuring Nice & Smooth while guests and dozens of birthday balloons surrounded him.

You can watch the video first shared by TMZ below.

On Reddit, many people have likened the moment to Succession‘s Kendall Roy (played by Jeremy Strong) rapping on a series two (2019) episode of the show called Dundee.

“How Kendall Roy of him,” one user wrote on Reddit in response to the clip of DiCaprio, while another replied, “L TO THE OG”.

“L TO THE OG” is in reference to the song performed in the episode in question by Kendall, who is the heir to his father Logan Roy’s media and entertainment conglomerate.

“First thing I thought when I saw this,” another replied, also nodding to Succession.

Another person wrote: “I opened this thread literally praying this would be the top comment.”

Although Kendall’s rap in the satirical comedy-drama series was designed for maximum cringe, other Reddit users noted how surprised they were to not find DiCaprio’s spitting as toe-curling.

“I don’t find this cringe. It’s his birthday party. He’s having fun and everyone is enjoying themselves,” one user wrote, while another said: “Ppl r rlly saying he’s not allowed to have fun bc of his age? I don’t find this cringe at all. It’s his birthday.”

Another person wrote: “I was fully expecting to cringe, but honestly, it wasn’t bad. He’s just having a great time at his birthday party.”

In the HBO show Kendall performs a surprise, self-written rap at an event held in Scotland to honour his father Logan (portrayed by Brian Cox). Lyrics include, “L to the OG/ Dude be the OG“, and, “Yo, bitches be catty, but the King Kong daddy/ Rock all the haters while we go roll a fatty“.

The scene has since spawned dozens of memes making light of Kendall’s efforts.

Meanwhile, DiCaprio, who stars in the recently released film Killers Of The Flower Moon, has reportedly had his salary for the Martin Scorsese movie revealed.

According to Puck News, the actor took home $40million (£32.5million) for his performance in the lead role as Ernest Burkheart. For context, the film’s total production budget is estimated to be around $200million (£162.9million).

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