This post won't appeal to everyone, but even if you don't listen to rap music -- and "joke" rap at that -- the group best known for last year's novelty smash Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell has a new mix tape out, and to promote it they've created not a music video but a game. Regardless of whether you listen to classical or klezmer, hip-hop or happy hardcore, this is a very clever way of getting people to listen to a song repeatedly.
In fact, this approach will almost certainly be ripped off by a larger recording artist soon. But whereas this game adopts a NES 8-bit style and features NYC in-jokes like yuppie gentrifiers on the 7 train ((Some of these yuppies are probably Himanshu and Victor's Wesleyan classmates.)) and douchebags in Murray Hill, you can bet some record label will rip off this idea for something decidedly mainstream (and boring). The game lasts the length of the song, and if you don't complete the mission by the time the song is over, you have to start over -- and listen to the song again. Coming soon to a Lady Gaga or Katy Perry or Justin Bieber single! And the ad agency that rips off this idea will win all sorts of awards.
Since I can't embed the game itself, I'll include this funny little trailer (NSFW language) for their mixtape, which you can get free here .
I happen to think there's a lot more to the group than mere stoner jokes (social commentary, even), but I suspect their appeal is limited to minority-friendly urbanites of my generation. I know: only a few people are going to find this funny. But this so-called "joke rap" is the future. MARK MY WORDS!
Link: Who's that Brooown
