In an interview with Pitchfork, Rivers Cuomo talks about Weezer’s new album, and does not back down from the Lil’ Wayne feature. I can respect a man who sticks to his guns, I just can’t respect s***ty music. Again, maybe I am wrong and this song will be the best ever…but I doubt it. Rivers calls the song his favorite on the album and says he first bonded with Wayne over Ninja Turtles:
“The first time I really became aware of him was when he worked the Ninja Turtles into the song “Kush”. Let me look up the lyrics online. … Ok, he says, “I feel like I’m racing a bunch of little turtles/ Keep a bandana like the Ninja Turtles.” First of all, he rhymes “turtles” with “turtles,” which is crazy! Second, he pronounces “turtles” with this real hard “R” so he sounds super nerdy, which is something you don’t often hear from black rappers. Third, he references the Ninja Turtles! That’s another thing you don’t often hear.”
For those that didn’t read my last post concerning Weezer and Weezy F. Baby (catch up here), the song they did together is called “Can’t Stop Partying”. The title doesn’t suggest a deep and inquistive track, but I guess titles can be misleading and Rivers said he had trouble really keying in on the existentialism of it all.
“But, more importantly, he really tapped into the spirit of the song, which I really struggled with at first. There was no sense of irony or darkness or tension in the first draft I heard from Jermaine. It was purely “whoo-hoo, let’s drink, get stoned, and get it on,” which is a fine sentiment, but I couldn’t honestly put that out and have it be the end of the story. So I ended up turning the music into something dark and beautiful and haunting, which gave it a different meaning without changing the lyrics. Lil Wayne picked up on that and developed it with his rap.”
Cuomo has Wayne’s rap memorized, and Weezy ends his verse with “I hope the killer doesn’t take the life of the party”…Award that man a Pulitzer! Anyway, props to Pitchfork…I wish we could get an interview with Weezer…I’m going to go back and cry into my Subway Chili now…
Read the full interview here.