--- title: Watch Shawn Mendes and James Corden Battle It Out A Cappella description: The 'Stitches' singer and show host sang hits from the 90s and today. Mendes also confirmed an upcoming collaboration with Niall Horan. canonical: https://time.com/4513023/shawn-mendes-james-corden/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-29T15:13:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:37:09.868Z og:title: This James Corden-Shawn Mendes Song Battle Is Pure Magic og:description: The Canadian singer and comedian sang hits from the 90s and today in a riff-off. og:url: https://time.com/4513023/shawn-mendes-james-corden/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This James Corden-Shawn Mendes Song Battle Is Pure Magic twitter:description: The Canadian singer and comedian sang hits from the 90s and today in a riff-off. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Shawn Mendes and James Corden Sing TLC 'No Scrubs' in the Ultimate Battle  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 29, 2016 3:13 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 29, 2016 3:13 PM UTC It’s no secret that James Corden has [a soft spot for the music of the ’90s](http://time.com/4511588/watch-james-corden-bring-the-backstreet-boys-back-in-a-big-way/?iid=sr-link1). But on Wednesday, his [guest Shawn Mendes](http://time.com/3820772/shawn-mendes-handwritten-itunes-download-debut-album/?iid=sr-link1) (teen heartthrob, Vine superstar, and “Stitches” singer) seemed a little cut up about it, insisting that contemporary music is really great now. “I mean James, if you really think this is a fact, you think music was better back then, I think it’s really great now, we should put this to the test,” Mendes offered, interrupting Corden’s monologue to make his point—and reminding Corden that he’s been producing music these days, too. (Mendes just dropped a [new album, _Illuminate_.](http://time.com/4475058/new-music-2016-albums/?iid=sr-link4)) “I should warn you, I’ve got hits from before you were born,” Corden countered. But Mendes was unfazed. With a little help from the backing of the a cappella group The Filharmonic, the two got down to a proper battle of the decades, bringing up favorites from the Spice Girls, Sia, TLC, and other hitmakers. Corden also chatted with the young star [about some exciting upcoming music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2gZ-pNSRLM)—namely, a duet in the works with One Direction’s Niall Horan. While the Irish singer’s former bandmates [Harry Styles](http://time.com/4381224/harry-styles-one-direction-solo-record-deal/?iid=sr-link1), [Liam Payne](http://time.com/4417442/one-direction-liam-payne-solo/?iid=sr-link3), and [Zayn Malik](http://time.com/4199569/zayn-malik-pillowtalk-video-gigi-hadid/?iid=sr-link2) already have announced solo music careers, this would be the first confirmed independent outing for Horan. Watch them battle it out above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4513023/shawn-mendes-james-corden/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4513023/shawn-mendes-james-corden/"},"headline":"Watch Shawn Mendes and James Corden Sing TLC 'No Scrubs' in the Ultimate Battle","datePublished":"2016-09-29T15:13:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:09.868Z","description":"Better then, or better now?","url":"https://time.com/4513023/shawn-mendes-james-corden/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Television","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4513023/shawn-mendes-james-corden/","name":"Watch Shawn Mendes and James Corden Sing TLC 'No Scrubs' in the Ultimate Battle"}}]}] ```