Whether you're new to the Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated Andy Samberg or you're looking for the latest Andy news, images, and videos, come here to find out about the king of The Lonely Island, Saturday Night Live, Lazy Sunday, Laser Cats, Junk in a Box, Dear Sister, Hot Rod, J**z in My Pants, I'm on a Boat, Mother Lover, On the Ground, and Shy Ronnie. Next movies: What's Your Number, and Friends with Benefits.
What can I saw about Incredibad other than that I wish it was twice as long? The quality of parody/comedy music has never been this high.
As you likely know by now, The Lonely Island is Akiva Schaffer, SNL's Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone. Much of their music was written for the SNL Digital Shorts, which have easily been the best thing about Saturday Night Live over the last few years. Incredibad is not only hilarious but musically accessible, with high production values and a slew of ridiculous guests like Justin Timberlake, T-Pain, Natalie Portman, Jack Black, and more. Hearing Norah Jones sing about Chex Mix™ and mistaking a woman for a bag of trash is priceless.
The "classics" are on this album, including "Natalie's Rap" and "Lazy Sunday" (The Chronicle of Narnia)...
The album comes with a bonus DVD of some of the SNL shorts...
Hands down, this is the funniest album of the year, and I hope to hear more from The Lonely Island in the future.
Article from Time magazine. Our thoughts at the end...
One of the rap songs up for a Grammy this year is about love. Another, lust. A third artist considers success and fame; yet another offers a heartfelt memorial to a musician's slain friend. And then there's a song about being on a boat.
"I'm on a Boat," a satirical number by Andy Samberg's comedy troupe Lonely Island, is somehow competing against the likes of Justin Timberlake, Rihanna and Jay-Z in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category for the 2010 Grammys. Originally a Saturday Night Live digital short, the song mocks some of the very artists that it will compete against this January. For that reason, the Recording Academy's announcement of the nominees on Dec. 2 seemed more like a game of "One of these things is not like the other." "We weren't expecting it at all," Samberg says of the selection. "The main reason for this is that we don't consider ourselves musicians."
(See TIME's top 10 Grammy moments.)
Until recently, the Grammys wouldn't have either. The Recording Academy has always placed its funny nominees — Weird Al Yankovic, Flight of the Conchords — in the Best Comedy Album category. Samberg and writing partner Akiva Schaffer are the first comedians to compete with actual musicians. Their spoof of hip-hop grandstanding has been viewed nearly 38 million times on YouTube and appears on Lonely Island's comedy album Incredibad, along with other SNL digital shorts such as "Dick in a Box," "Like a Boss" and a rap song Natalie Portman performed when she hosted SNL back in 2006. Samberg says he has no idea why "I'm on a Boat" is considered legitimate music. "The Grammys didn't give us a reason," he says. "Although having T-Pain on there helps tremendously."
T-Pain makes so many guest appearances — including on Jamie Foxx's alcoholic anthem "Blame It," for which he earned another Grammy nod this year — that it's nearly impossible to turn on the radio without hearing his digitally altered vocals on someone else's song. In fact, his participation is what makes the "I'm on a Boat" satire so spot-on. Well, that and the fact that the video directly parodies actual rap videos, like Akon's yacht dance in "I'm So Paid."
"There's not any kind of magical formulation" to the Grammy nomination process, says Bill Freimuth, the Recording Academy's vice president of awards. Lonely Island's record company, Universal Republic, submitted the track, which was then approved by a screening committee. "They listened to it and said, 'Well, there's rapping and there's singing. Sure, why not?' " After that, the academy's 12,000 voting members gave "I'm on a Boat" the nomination. Freimuth agrees with Samberg about the T-Pain bump, saying the Auto-Tune master's participation "gave it that much more legitimacy" as a real song.
True, the lyrics — "I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat/ Everybody look at me/ 'cause I'm sailing on a boat" — are ridiculous. But they're not that far off from Foxx's "Fill another cup/ Feelin' on your butt." This year, those songs are some of the best the music industry has to offer.
Yes, it should have been nominated. So it's a silly song. Big deal. There shouldn't be stipulations about how serious the lyrics are. It should be about the music. If they think Andy Samberg and T-Payne made a Grammy-worthy song that's of high quality, then it's a worthy nomination (and I agree that it's a high quality song).
Andy Samberg got nominated for a Grammy. This goes with his two Emmy nominations and one Emmy win. Move over Taylor Swift! Andy Samberg is going for a Grammy!
The Californian trio - dubbed by critics as the world’s “funniest comedy team for the internet generation” – has now landed a three-album deal with Universal Republic.
So with some of the biggest names in America clambering to get a piece of The Lonely Island, is there any chance they’d try to get Obama on board?
"I really hope he has better things to do than hang out with us making songs," they laughed.
Cult YouTube, iTunes hit by The Lonely Island shunned by radio
No. 1 iTunes video, 30 million YouTube hits Group earns Universal Republic record deal
THIRTY MILLION people have played it on YouTube, it's the most downloaded video track on Australian iTunes and it features cameos from Justin Timberlake and Molly Sims.
But J--- In My Pants, by The Lonely Island, is a song you're unlikely to ever hear on Australian radio.
It’s just too rude.
The track - about an unfortunate recurring case of premature ejaculation – includes the lines: "Checked my phone and saw you rang and I / J---ED IN MY PANTS / Open my window and a breeze rolls in and I / J--- IN MY PANTS / When Bruce Willis was dead at the end of sixth sense I / J---ED IN MY PANTS".
Sydney's mainstream broadcast giant, Nova 969, played the song just twice during the week, both times late in the evening.
On Nova and Sea FM stations nationally, the song was aired 10 times - in total.
The Lonely Island - Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer - confirmed radio stations were also avoiding the cult hit in the US.
"It's selling really well on iTunes and it's received millions and millions of hits on YouTube, but I don't think many radio stations are actually playing it because it's so dirty," they told news.com.au.
"We do have a clean version which we've been sending out, where they bleep out the ‘j---.’ There's some moaning that goes over the ‘j---.’ It's me and Andy going "errrrrr, in my pants," but we're not sure how many are playing it," said writer and singer Jorma Taccone.
Nova 969 music director Toni Pipicelli said the song's strong following on YouTube could mean increased play.
“It's great talking point with our listeners, and with it now doing so well on the iTunes charts, we’re giving it some more spot play,” she said.
The Lonely Island describe the track as “pretty harmless”, and say that’s borne out by the lack of protest from Christian and family groups.
"There has been surprisingly little fanfare. I mean, who's going to mess with the guy in the corner ji--ing in his pants, you just feel bad for him, you just want to stay out of his way. Hopefully most people will just see that it's all in decent fun."
They say the reason for the song's success is simple.
"People are really immature. I think it’s the combination of a hilarious concept, married with a hot beat. That level of sarcasm is never going to come out in print."
The trio said while “cleaning up the song” dimished its comedic appeal, they were willing to do it to get their music to a broader audience.
"The main reason we're making this record is so kids can listen to it and I think if they can still get the joke and it remains something that parents deem appropriate for them to hear then its a win, if it's a little softened up, it's because it's for people who should hear it a little softened up."
The lack of airplay hasn't put the celebs off either.
The Lonely Island album Incredibad features Justin Timberlake as the star of their hit D--- in a Box, Natalie Portman has her own rap song called Natalie’s Rap, T-Pain collaborated with them on I'm On A Boat and other celebrities such as Jack Black, Norah Jones, and Julian Casablancas of The Strokes have joined in.
The Californian trio - dubbed by critics as the world’s “funniest comedy team for the internet generation” – has now landed a three-album deal with Universal Republic.
So with some of the biggest names in America clambering to get a piece of The Lonely Island, is there any chance they’d try to get Obama on board?
"I really hope he has better things to do than hang out with us making songs," they laughed.
When Andy Samberg was a kid, one of his most frequently played CDs wasn't by a musical act, but by his comedic hero, Adam Sandler.
"Sandler's first album, I probably listened to like a million times," Samberg says of Sandler's 1993 CD "They're All Gonna Laugh at You!"
"It's like summer camp for me, discovering that with all my friends. ... It was truly inspirational."
Samberg hopes to have a similar affect on people with this month's release of "Incredibad," a new CD/DVD he released with his writing partners Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, childhood friends collectively known as the Lonely Island. While the Lonely Island may not be a household name, the clips the group has produced for "Saturday Night Live" have become viral sensations, like "... in a Box," which featured Justin Timberlake.
Those songs are included on "Incredibad," along with a DVD with shorts from the show, as well as new material.
It was the Lonely Island's digital short film "Lazy Sunday" that lit the spark for Samberg's career. When "Saturday Night Live" aired it in December 2005, Samberg was basically unknown. Within a week, the video -- a geeky, hip-hop paean to "The Chronicles of Narnia" -- was viewed more than a million times on the Internet. Since then, the Lonely Island's shorts, like Natalie Portman's "Natalie's Rap," have become instant Internet hits. (Their new single, "I'm on a Boat" featuring T-Pain has topped iTunes' music video chart.)
The new CD/DVD features their greatest hits as well as new collaborations with Jack Black and Norah Jones.
Andy Samberg of Saturday Night Live doesn't rely strictly on the televised medium to make people laugh. His hilarious, musical digital shorts on SNL, such as the viral, white hip-hop romp "Lazy Sunday" from a few years back and the equally hysterical "D--- in a Box" jam with Justin Timberlake spurned he and his writing cohorts to release an album under the moniker The Lonely Island. The Island even duets with T-Pain on their debut, Incredibad.
If that's not enough, Samberg is also starring in the hilarious comedy, I Love You, Man, alongside Paul Rudd. In between all of their comic exploits, we chatted with Andy and Lonely Island about what rocks their worlds. Here's what Samberg and his fellow Islanders (who are also SNL writers) are rocking in their iTunes.
Andy Samberg's Playlist:
1. Beirut — March of the Zapotec
2. Fever Ray
3. T-Pain
Akiva Schaffer's Playlist:
1. Lil Wayne's
Jorma Taccone's Playlist:
1. Julieta Venegas
Jorma claims that Julieta is atop his playlist, saying, "I want to work with her! I'm trying to figure out my way into her heart."
Maybe he should just try the old "D---- in a Box" trick?
