The Lonely Island: Making Funny Songs Cool

A novelty hit like “Eat It” was really only funny if you were familiar with “Beat It,” but a song like “I’m on a Boat,” which features Samberg and Schaffer rapping aboard a yacht, lovingly spoofs every over-the-top hip-hop video. And if the boasts in “I’m on a Boat” are intentionally funny — has there ever been a better yachting-based taunt than “I got my swim trunks/And my flippy-floppies/I’m flipping burgers/You at Kinko’s, straight flipping copies”? — the song itself could pass as the best track in the Hot 97 rotation.

From this past weekend’s New York Times Sunday Magazine, a quick profile of the Lonely Island guys: Of course, Flight of the Conchords was making hilarious, catchy original music before Lonely Island was, but the point that original songs best parodies still stands.

The Lonely Island: Making Funny Songs Cool