Timothée Chalamet is in a new movie, and you know what that means: The internet is about to be flooded with videos of his early rap career. It’s a trend that is dependably cyclical, like the seasons, or the cursed reemergence of low-rise jeans. Every time Chalamet is in the news, a new batch of people discover (or rediscover) the delightfully fun fact that he had an amateur rap career while attending NYC’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

The movie we’re referring to, of course, is Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s dark comedy about two scientists who discover a new comet on a direct collision course with Earth. Chalamet, sporting a truly brave mullet, plays a disaffected youth who befriends astronomer Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence). And though his character isn’t explicitly musical, Don’t Look Up’s ensemble cast does include Chalamet’s friend Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi, whom he has famously idolized for years. The two even performed together in 2019, when Chalamet delivered the spoken word intro to Cudi’s 2009 album Man on the Moon: The End of Day during a show in Long Beach, California. 

So, let’s talk about the phenomenon known as Lil Timmy Tim. Was he good? Not very. Does it matter? Not even a little bit. Chalamet’s musical roots can be traced all the way back to 2008, when he appeared in a video dancing to Soulja Boy’s eponymous hit song (that’s him on the left in the blue hat). He doesn’t actually sing in that one, but the moves are there, a hint of what was yet to come. 

His more famous works, however, are the product of his high school years, when he started developing a distinct persona. Enter Lil Timmy Tim, who has given us such gems as “Statistics,” a roast of the teacher who once gave him a D on an exam, and multiple stage performances at LaGuardia’s annual Rising Stars student showcase. If you only watch one of those masterpieces of cringe, let it be the “Timmy Tim” rap  from 2012, which displays the trifecta of a classic Timmy Tim performance: pink lighting, a backpack and multiple backup dancers that are wonderfully and generously committed to the bit. And the lyrics? “Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, oui je suis from France... ” talent! The magic continues with “Hell’s Kitchen Bed,” in which a gyrating Chalamet first introduces himself as “Timmy Tim, the next Slim Shady.” 

Still, don’t go thinking Chalamet’s singing abilities are limited to rap alone. He also appeared in his high school musical production of Sweet Charity (Broadway, when?), and who could forget this glimpse at the actor’s upcoming turn as a young Willy Wonka? If that’s not setting the scene for an EGOT, we don’t know what is. Come on, Lil Timmy Tim, show the world your recipe!

Chalamet (L-R) photos by: Clemens Bilan, Lionel Hahn, Jason LaVeris, Laura Cavanaugh, Frank Trapper courtesy of Getty