during quarantine with her viral videos,
and I slid into her DMs and said,
"You gotta be on my show,"
and I think she thought I was joking, but--
[laughs]
You thought I was joking? [laughs]
You played yourself,
because coming all the way from Nairobi,
making her late night debut,
please welcome the one, the only Elsa Majimbo!
Hello! - Hi, Lilly!
- I am living for this moment, Elsa.
Living. - [sighs]
For me, this is just-- ugh, my--
everything I've imagined, here, right now.
- Do you remember in the middle of quarantine,
I DMed you and I said, "I would love for you to be on my show."
And now here we are. Fast forward.
We manifested it, baby. Here you are.
- Oh! We manifested it. - That's right.
- Happy about it. Excited about it.
- And it's your late night debut.
Where are you right now in the world?
- I am in Kenya.
- Kenya. Habari gani?
I practiced. - Nzuri.
- Oh, good. I'm so glad. I'm so glad.
- Yeah, I see you practiced.
- You know, I said, I had to come correct.
I had to come correct for you, Elsa.
I had to. Let's get into this. - [laughs]
- Now, you know, quarantine has been
so boring for a lot of people,
and one common thread a lot of people have is,
they turn to you.
You went from 7,000 to 2 million followers
since last March, which is amazing.
How are you taking this all in?
- Um, I love it.
First of all,
I get so many-- I get free clothes.
I get money. It's amazing. - I love that.
And so when you first started posting videos--
like I said, you started from 7,000 followers--
your friends and family, did they understand
what you were doing, or were they like,
"What are you doing with these videos?"
- My family saw my videos before they blew up,
and they saw it one week before I blew up,
and they told me, they're like, "We disapprove.
"It's a no from us.
You don't have our blessing."
And I was sad for a while, and then after three days,
I was like, "Um, excuse me.
"I can do whatever I want.
I'm a grown-ass woman. I can do whatever I want."
So I continued doing the videos.
And a few days later, I blew up,
and they were like, "We're so proud of you.
Our daughter. You've done so well."
[both laugh] - "We supported you all along."
- "We were always there for you!"
- Now, if you're living under a rock for some reason
and you haven't seen one of Elsa's videos,
this is one of my favorites.
Check it out.
- You know I won't pick up, but you call.
What is this audacity? [laughs]
Where does it come from?
You can call me three times.
On purpose. [laughs]
I ignore you the first time, but you're just confirming.
[laughs]
You wanna see if I'm playing or if I'm for real.
[laughs]
I'm not going to pick up.
I was never going to pick up.
It's not in the agenda. It was never in the plan.
I don't know why you think
calling again would change that.
[laughs]
I've seen it!
I've seen the call! [laughs]
Actually, I'm watching it as it happens.
[laughs]
It's not me, it's you.
You keep on calling.
I can sing to the ringtone.
I can hum.
[hums ringtone]
I can even dance.
So call even ten times.
For me, it's a concert.
[laughs]
[both laugh]
- Oh, I love it so much!
I love it so, so-- [laughs]
And I love that you love it. I love how much you love it.
- This vid--they make me laugh so hard.
I binge-watch my own videos. It's amazing.
- No, what I love is that
you talk about so many things that are so relatable.
When we played that video, the whole crew was laughing
because we can all relate to, like--oh, my God, yes.
We have that friend that's annoying.
You talk a lot about not picking up calls.
You have videos that are talking about
how you don't miss anyone during quarantine.
So I gotta ask, do you ever get in trouble with your friends
because of the videos you make?
- You know, the first times I used to make them,
they thought I was joking and are laughing
with the rest of the people in the comments section,
and I was like, "Dude, no.
I'm actually telling you what's up."
And, you know, the other day,
I told my friend I'm in Nigeria,
and then the only person I like
and the only person I hang out with
called me to go get cake,
so I went with him,
and when we were at the mall,
I saw the guy I told, "I'm in Nigeria."
I saw him in the mall.
And he texted me, he was like,
"Hey, I think I saw you today."
I was like, "Dude, I'm in Nigeria!
What are you talking about?"
So it just-- [laughs]
They get mad, but they get over it.
- You know what I love about this is that
most people lie saying, like, "Hey, sorry, I'm busy.
I have a lot of work," but you're just like,
"Oh, I'm in another country."
This is your go-to lie.
"I'm in another country."
The boldness!
So let me ask you this:
when you went viral during the pandemic,
tell me all the people that slid into your DMs.
I know I did.
- Ooh! Ooh.
My biggest fangirling moment is Rihanna.
The other--two days ago,
it was Rihanna's birthday, right?
And she told me-- I was like, "Hey."
I was like, "Happy Birthday."
And she was like, "Oh, my gosh!"
She's like, "I love you, queen."
I took a screenshot
and I made it my profile picture on Twitter.
And I was like, "This"--
I was like, "I'm never changing this."
So definitely Rihanna the hardest.
Naomi--oh, Naomi's was crazy.
The first time I texted her, I asked her, I was like,
"What's the one fashion advice you can give me?"
And she was like, "Never wear Crocs.
"Crocs are ugly.
They're, like, the worst thing to ever happen."
And I was like, "Mm-hmm. Girl, yeah."
And at that moment, I was wearing Crocs.
And the next week, we were going on vacation with her,
so I told my brother, I was like,
"No matter what you do, don't carry Crocs."
I was like, "If you carry Crocs,
you will stay home."
- Wait, you went on vacation with Naomi Campbell?
How did that happen?
- She just--she was like, "Oh, hey."
She was like, "I'm coming to Kenya.
Do you wanna chill with me?"
I was like, "Oh."
I was like, "Yeah. Oh, of course.
"I'm just-- I guess I can swing by.
I guess I can just"-- - Guess I can pencil it in.
I'll check my schedule. Let you know.
[both laugh] That is incredible.
You know another thing I love about you,
besides the fact that you're so funny
is, I love how outspoken you are
just about, like, getting the bag,
and you embrace how great you are.
You're like, "Yeah, I'm great and I make money,"
and I love that because so often in the industry,
women are not encouraged-- especially women of color,
not encouraged to be like that.
- I'm navigating
how I'm going to kill the patriarchy.
I'm just looking at everyone,
I'm looking at everything,
and I just hate how men will be elevated
for doing the bare minimum,
and then women,
they do the most incredible things,
and they're still put down for it.
It's nonsensical. It's completely insane.
- You know what we need to do?
We need to get the patriarchy out the door,
which is crazy 'cause our door just flew open.
[both laugh]
Patriarchy, get out! Get out!
You not welcome here. Elsa's kicking you out.
- Get out.
No more. No more.
- That, and the house is haunted.
- [laughs]
- No, I completely agree,
and I love that you're so outspoken,
and I think it's a message to all other women out there,
especially young women, like, embrace it.
If you're great, say you're great.
Own how funny you are, own the bag, own the paycheck,
because we idolize men for that all the time.
- Today, I received the Icy Park box
from Adidas and Beyoncé.
And I posted the top,
and there's a man who commented,
"It's getting tiring how much you're bragging."
And I was like, "Literally, if a man did this,
"all of you would be saying how amazing he is
"and how great he's doing,
but when I do it, I'm bragging."
- Right. - Ah!
- Don't let them get to you, girl.
You keep doing you. You know why they're mad?
Because they didn't get a package from Beyoncé!
That's why.
- They didn't get a package from Beyoncé!
- And you know what else?
I didn't get a package from Beyoncé.
[both laugh]
Elsa, I know that you are working--
'cause we talked about this in the DMs--
that you are working towards moving to LA.
Is that correct? - Yes, I am.
- Okay, let me ask you,
have you ever been to North America?
- I have never been to America in general.
- Okay.
What is your perception of America?
Like, what do you think it's going to be like?
And how have you formed this picture of America?
Is it through social media? Or what do you think it is?
- First of all, America is very messy.
It's just a very messy country.
Everything you guys do, from the presidential debate
to--just everything,
to the McDonald's kind of every other day,
it's just-- it's a crazy country,
and I think it's also an adventure,
even though you guys have insane taxes.
I was looking at your taxes and I was like,
"Oh, my goodness, do I really wanna move here?"
Like, everything is just-- it's crazy.
But I think it's a very-- it's a land of opportunity,
and many people go there to get the bag,
and I'm going there to get my bag.
- Ayy!
So you're trying to get your visa.
Who has written you visa recommendation letters?
- Oh, my God, so many dope people.
Usain. Usain Bolt came through.
Virgil. Oh, my God, love him.
Yara Shahidi. Keri Shahidi. It's just--it's amazing.
Naomi, she's also--
Bozoma Saint John, and it's amazing.
And, of course, you.
You.
And when I told you, you were like,
"Oh, [bleep], girl, anything."
I remember the first time when you told me,
"Girl, anything you need,"
and I remember I had so many things in the mind,
and I was like, "Oh, since she offered"...
and I'm just so grateful
that I'm surrounded by all these dope people
who want to see me shine.
- Well, it's an honor.
Of course I offered, and my offer wasn't empty,
but it's funny that the list of people
who have written you visa recommendations
sounds like a Met Gala invite list also.
Like, truly. - [laughs]