When will James Corden ever learn? It seems like every time he gets all nostalgic for how music used to be, some huge pop star bum-rushes him with The Filharmonic to lay a vocal smackdown on the Late Late Show host. On Thursday night (Jan. 16) it was Camila Cabello's turn to put Corden in his place. The Cats star gushed about the good old days of 2009, when music was king, blathering on and on about Lou Bega's "Mambo No .5," Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle," TLC's "No Scrubs" and all the other wall-to-wall smashes in the year that Camila was still in diapoers.
"How many songs from this year will hold up and people will remember in 20 years time?" Corden bloviated, running off just a handful of songs folks might remember in 2040: Lizzo's "Juice" and Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" among them. And that's it. Cabello begged to differ, busting out from backstage to remind the non-plussed talker that she makes music today.
"How about we settle this, James, between you and I, right here, right now?" she challenged. Bad move, James. Camilla busted out a sultry take on Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," as Corden hit back with Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca." Eye-roll, yawn, "Ricky Martin? OK boomer," Camila retorted to the self-described "Mature Millenial."
James doubled-down with Santana's super-smash "Smooth," which didn't impress Camila much. She retorted with a spicy run through boyfriend Shawn Mendes' "If I Can't Have You" that left Corden feeling defeated. "That was incredible, all right you win, maybe music is better today," he said. Cabello soothed his hurt musical feelings by offering to do a duet on her hit "Señorita," which seemed to make it all better.
Cabello recently joined the performer lineup for the upcoming 2020 Grammy Awards (Jan. 26), joining a packed roster that includes Tyler, The Creator, the Jonas Brothers, H.E.R., Rosalía, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Wilson, Run-DMC and Aerosmith, as well as Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Demi Lovato, Lizzo, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani. The 62nd annual Grammy Awards are set to air Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS.
Watch the "Riff-Off" below.