Keke Palmer Drops Her Iconic "I'm a Motha" Line in Usher's "Boyfriend" Video

Usher and Keke Palmer are ready to break the internet again. On Aug. 16, the "Good Good" singer released his new single "Boyfriend" along with a Vegas-set music video starring the "Nope" actor. In the visual, Palmer assists Usher by singing along to lyrics like, "Somebody said that your boyfriend's lookin' for me / Oh, that's cool, that's cool / Well, he should know I'm pretty easy to find / Just look for me wherever he sees you." The two also show off some impressive moves as they dance around a casino in matching outfits.

The day before the video dropped, Usher posted a trailer for it on social media and wrote, "When fantasies become reality..." He followed that up with another promo post on Aug. 16, writing on Twitter, "Nothing that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas..." alongside a link to the video. Palmer posted a clip of the video on Instagram as well, penning a caption about the full-circle moment for her.

"Usher! I remember when I was 12 and auditioned for 'In The Mix' 🤣 You have been killing it all my life. As a true lover of the arts, your talent and craftsmanship are a rare combination that I aspire to achieve as a performer," she wrote. "You are a living legend who is worthy of awe! Thank you for encouraging me and seeing me as the entertainer I am. I know I'm a gUrL but when I watched your videos, I never wanted to be the girl in them, I wanted to be YOU. Thank you for making a dream come true."

Usher and Palmer's video arrives a few weeks after they set social media ablaze when the former serenaded the "Big Boss" artist at his Las Vegas residency on Fourth of July weekend. Fans raved over their interaction at the show, but Palmer's boyfriend, Darius Jackson, seemed less than thrilled as he took to Twitter to criticize Palmer's attire.

In a since-deleted tweet, Jackson quoted a clip of Usher and Palmer's encounter and wrote, "It's the outfit tho.. you a mom," in response to the sheer thong dress the mother of their son, Leodis, wore. In another tweet, Jackson added, "We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn't want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is. This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case."

Neither Palmer nor Jackson has formally addressed the online incident yet (aside from Palmer's "I'm a motha" merch), but the former seemingly referenced it in Usher's new video. In the final scene, Palmer wakes up in a hotel bed to a phone call about missing a show, responding with a sly smile, "I'm so tired, I'm a motha after all."

Usher weighed in with his thoughts as well in a People interview published on Aug. 4. The singer said the "pop moment" was "worth talking about" and added, "I think everybody's vision or a version of what they felt happened there just leads you back to just really having a good time in Las Vegas. And that's what I hope came out of it. Rather, it was a conversation of what was going on with us having fun in front of the audience or conversation about that song."

Usher also said, "Every night I'm thinking about how the world now is going to react to this moment that I'll have with whoever I'm choosing to sing to . . . it was fun to have at least conversation going and we just keep it light. I don't see anything negative happening in Las Vegas."

Watch Usher and Palmer's "Boyfriend" video above.