Unpopular Opinions-Al Edition

Post by **weirdojace** » Thu May 07, 2009 2:41 am

I'm sick of parodies of rap songs.

Post by **OneWAY** » Thu May 07, 2009 2:47 am

Although I'm not always a huge fan of the rap stuff, his R&B is really funny and doesn't get too old.

I'm also not a huge fan of his "big" songs. I enjoy them, but that aren't quite my favorites. But I love the Truth or Dare version of Like A Surgeon.

Post by **AlejandraDD** » Thu May 07, 2009 3:38 am

I don't know if this is popular or unpopular, but I really, REALLY hate "Bob". Sorta amusing the first time I saw the video, now... I loathe it.

Post by **TMBJon** » Thu May 07, 2009 3:51 am

Jace, I agree and disagree with that...

I agree that he needs to stop pigeon-holing himself as someone who does rap parodies. All of his singles in the last ten years have been rap-based. I'd like to see Al take on a huge hit pop song (a breakout hit of this summer, probably) rather than do rap again. Also usually his rap songs have been about the juxtaposition of the hardcore lifestyle with a very nerdy concept. That joke is wearing thin, I strongly agree.

However, rap is what's popular right now, so I hope he doesn't abandon it altogether. I'd like to see one more rap parody on the album, and maybe even a style parody of a specific artist. I think he could do way better than "Gay Fish" if he wanted to go after Kanye or auto-tuned vocals.
Additionally, I would not mind at all some equivalent of the Angry White Boy Polka for rap artists. He tends to alternate between generic medley of songs and some sort of themed medley. I think doing a rap polka would be a great way to get out of the pigeon-holing I described above.

Post by **weirdojace** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:34 am

Sometimes I swear Gay Fish was ghostwritten by Al. The writing style is totally him.

I'd be okay with one rap parody being on the album. I'm just sick of them being his main focus. SOL had three rap/R&B parodies (yes I lump those together because to me they're basically the same thing), one rock parody and one pop parody. I know rap is the big thing now, but come on. There's plenty of good rock/pop targets out there too.

Post by **Big Spoon** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:37 am

weirdojace @ May 06, 2009 07:34 pm wrote: Sometimes I swear Gay Fish was ghostwritten by Al. The writing style is totally him.

I have to say, it reminds me a bit of Al, too. While I'm sure Al would never write a song, with lines like "Now I'm a mother-

gay fish," it definitely has that Al-feel to it.

Post by **weirdojace** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:39 am

Well, yeah. I'm not talking about the swearing. It's mostly the song's use of clever wordplay and all the fish puns that reminds me of his style.

Post by **TMBJon** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:39 am

Agreed, and I'm hoping the next album is less focused on rap/R&B/urban/whatever code words you want to use to mean black artists. I also kind of feel like "Straight Outta Lynwood" was intentionally themed to be more focused on that style of music than previous albums have been.

Post by **weirdojace** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:41 am

Being black has nothing to do with it.

Post by **algonacchick** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:44 am

You're right, jace. Plenty of artists doing rap/R&B/hip hop are not black. One can just use those genre labels without bringing race into it.