Millions of views on YouTube, three hit singles and an Emmy. The Lonely Island has accomplished this and more, recently releasing a complete comedy album after their creation out of a small group of friends in Berkeley, Calif.
The album “Incredibad” is the first release by The Lonely Island. The CD/DVD combo was released on Feb. 10 and debuted at the No. 1 spot on iTunes and as the No. 1 comedy album on Billboard.
The first song by The Lonely Island that I was introduced to on this album was one of the original “Saturday Night Live” Digital Shorts, “Lazy Sunday.” My brother told me that I would enjoy the creativity and lyrics.
I was rather impressed by the first sample of the comedic group. The pop culture references, the lyrics that I can recall at a moment’s notice and the beat drew me in further.
The recent YouTube phenomenon and prerelease singles, “J**Z In My Pants” and “I’m On A Boat,” also get excellent reviews from me. Both songs feature hit hip-hop artists contributing to the authentic feeling of a legitimate hip-hop album.
“J**Z In My Pants” features Justin Timberlake for the video and some background audio. For those who have not been swept up by the YouTube video or heard someone humming the song, this song is about sexual prematurity in various situations. Besides the title catching my attention, the beats and lyrics make this song one to continue humming as you walk down the mall, no matter how awkward that may be.
“I’m On A Boat” features T-Pain, whose appearance makes the song a great track. The lyrics for this song are quite simple, as they mirror the title of the track to the letter. Although the group loves lacing the song with profanity, I feel that it helps to parody an actual hip-hop song very well and could not be done correctly without said profanity.
A few of the lesser-known songs on the album are quite good as well.
“Boombox” strikes me as a song that could actually be used in a dance club. I also enjoyed the theme of taking a boom box into various buildings and getting the occupants to dance. The beats put on this album impressed me because, setting aside the lyrics, they led me to believe this could be a legitimate hip-hop album.
“Space Olympics” was a futuristic song, which had fun lyrics and an interesting plot.
“Sax Man” featured Jack Black trying to get a saxophonist to play, but to no avail. The results prove to be quite amusing.
The only cons I see to this album are the skits and one or two of the actual songs. The skits seem childish to me, but to another listener could be comedy gold.
The story line in “Incredibad” just seemed downright weird, which describes how the band’s group mates came to be a group.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the album and I look forward to any future releases or productions that The Lonely Island produces.