Brow Beat

To cap off a week-long stint appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake and his hosting buddy returned to a familiar (and beloved) routine: performing a great mash up of popular rap songs in roughly chronological order. They’ve collaborated on such nostalgia-tinged medleys no less than three times before, so why not go for a fourth round?

Spinning through 25 songs in about five minutes, Timberlake and Fallon clearly haven’t lost any of their enthusiasm for trading rhymes, starting with the Sugarhill Gang’s classic “Apache” and ending with a rousing finale of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” As long as they continue to pick a diverse list of deep cuts and mainstream hits, “The History of Rap” can have as many lesson plans in its curriculum as Timberlake, Fallon and The Roots see fit.