February | 2009 | Amalgam Digital Blog

Being a vocal rap fan with many friends who are not can give me a weird sense of when an album is about to cross over. I remember being a high school sophomore bumping ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘The Mask’ and having my private school classmates start to ask me if I ever heard of a group called the Fugees. One even used a hard G sound, which was surprisingly funny. That album then blew up crazily behind ‘Killing Me Softly.’

In the past couple of weeks I’ve gotten the same inquiries about one of the more unique trios making rap these days, The Lonely Island Boys, consisting of SNL phenom Andy Samburg and writers and Akiva Shaffer and Jorma Taccone. The group existed pre-SNL until Lorne Michaels recognized the talent and scooped them up. Considering that their shorts are given weekly bump on SNL and have some impressive guest appearances (Timberlake, Norah, T-Pain, Portman), the crossover appeal is evident.

Strangely enough, it seems that my hip-hop friends appreciate the album more than casual observers. Whereas most of the SNL skits have crossover appeal, much of the Incredibad album is geared toward diehard hip-hop fans, both celebrating and poking fun at the past.

A look at their video library:

You’ve Already Seen
Lazy Sunday f/ Chris Parnell: Clever and impressive.
Dick In A Box (uncensored, requires login): Timberlake’s image improved so greatly after this one.
Jizzed In My Pants

Must See Now
We Like Sportz: I find this to be hilarious. Despite being a sports fan, the stereotypical sports fan is annoying.
On A Boat f/ T-Pain: “I got a nautical themed pashmina afghan” versus “Fuck land, I’m on a boat motherfucker” versus “Believe me when I say I fucked a mermaid.” Tough to call who shines most.
Ras Trent: We all went to school with one new Rasta. This is brilliant.

For Fans
Just 2 Guyz
Stork Patrol: Their homage to Tony Starks circa Ice Cream.
Natalie Raps: Peep Parnell’s use of the word “Okeedoke.”

For Andy Samburg’s Relatives Only
Space Olympics
Iran So Far