At this stage, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the “Lazy Sunday” video from SNL. (If you haven’t — say what? — watch it here.) I didn’t see it on TV on December 17, but I saw it on the Internet a day or two later. Over the week, it was clear that the video was making the rounds; I even got an e-mail about it from a friend who never sends me that sort of thing.
I was in New York City over the weekend and I saw a story in the Daily News. Three days later, it hit the New York Times, and I knew it was big.
It really is funny. My favorite part is this verse:
Well, let’s hit up Yahoo! Maps
And find the dopest route
I prefer MapQuest
That’s a good one too
Google Maps is the best
True dat
Double true!
There seemed little point about me weighing in until I read this post over on PopLicks. Oliver Wang linked to articles on Slate and the Village Voice blog that suggested that this video had meaning in reference to actual rap music. What?
You know what kind of idiot suggests something like that? An idiot who knows nothing about hip-hop and probably hates hip-hop. “Lazy Sunday” is funny because the lyrics and music are sharp and authentic, but the song is about the most mundane things in the world; in other words, the form is gangsta, but the content is the polar opposite. Gangsta rap discusses money and brand names, uses colorful metaphors and displays a competitive edge. “Lazy Sunday” does all of those things, but at a ridiculously lower level and from a world view that is white and middle class. That said, the skit would still have been funny even if black cast members Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson had performed it.
Next point: Funny rap songs go way back. Rap songs that are funny because the lyrics make unusual references — ditto. Lyrics from white rappers that reflect the white experience — yep. Nothing particularly unusual about this at all; go listen to some MC Paul Barman or Beastie Boys for evidence. Chris Parnell has been doing his rap shtick for some time; he does it well. What kicked “Lazy Sunday” up a notch was that the production of the video was really good and the lyrics, instead of focusing on a love affair with Jennifer Garner, as Parnell once did, were extraordinarily prosaic. There’s that marvelous pun: “The Chronic (what?) cles of Narnia.” Dr. Dre meets C.S. Lewis.
Final point: Many commentators used the skit as a sign of a potential renaissance at Saturday Night Live. Uhhhhh… No. You think one two-minute skit is going to make a difference? When the show’s next live episode airs, do you think there will be no more lame skits featuring weak one-note characters pounding an idiotic catch phrase into the ground? No more weak hosts? No more Horatio Sanz cracking up on-air?
The Weekend Update segment improved with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, but remains inconsistent. The best character sketches start with a funny idea and then have to be able to riff for five minutes. The worst feature a really unfunny idea and then slowly strangle it to death.
If we see more creativity from the staff at SNL, then that will be a good thing. If we see one single rip-off of “Lazy Sunday,” then God save us all.
Best skit I’ve seen lately was a parody of Glengarry Glen Ross set at the North Pole, with Alec Baldwin as an elf called in to shape up the workshop. They had that sucker buried in the 12:50 a.m. slot.
And I got a video iPod for Christmas. NBC put the “Lazy Sunday” skit up for free on iTunes. Looks nice, although you can’t really tell from the crappy picture I’ve taken.