American stand-up comedian, impressionist, actor, and singer/rapper Jay Pharoah is best known for his impersonations of prominent celebrities, such as Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Eddie Murphy, Kanye West, and Chris Rock. In fact, his impression of Obama on YouTube was what catapulted him to fame in his early days. He later joined the popular NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live and continued to perform with them for six seasons. The Chesapeake native had also modeled one of his characters on his high school principal. His comedy ranges from political satire and racial humor to jokes on pop culture and sexuality. He has appeared in quite a few movies and series, too, such as White Famous, Resort to Love, and Unsane, and has also lent his voice to many animated films/series, such as Sing, BoJack Horseman, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. Of late, he has diversified into music, too, and has released a hip-hop/rap EP.
