Straight Outta Lynwood

Straight Outta Lynnwood has reached Billboard’s number 9

It seems that the 12th Weird Al Yankovic album will reach the status of the best album of this artist’s career. Straight Outta Lynnwood is Yankovic's most successful chart album in the U.S, and his first top ten album ever, entering the Billboard 200 at number ten, then moving up to number nine. The album’s first single White & Nerdy has also achieved mass popularity and became highest charting single since 1984's Eat It entering at #28 on the Billboard hot 100. Weird Al Yankovic is known for his humor sparkling musical parodies. During last 23 years he just can’t help mocking at the popular performers. He usually selects the songs that are in requisition of modern audience to make the parodies on, but it is rather common for him to compose the original songs using the manner or style of the chosen band.

White & Nerdy is the album’s leading song

The first song in the list of Straight Outta Lynnwood and the best album’s track is called White & Nerdy. This is a funny parody of Chamillionair’s song Ridin. Where Al ironises at nerdy teenagers creating their collective image. The second single on the album is the original track Don’t Download This Song. In this case it’s encouraging listeners to give up illegally downloading music over the Internet and buy the artists’ CD instead. It was a funny idea to make this track in the pompous 80's benefit song style like We Are The Champions or Hands Across America. Ironically, Don’t Download This Song is actually being made available to download for free from Weird Al Yankovc’s website to promote Straight Outta Lynwood. The album’s 12 tracks keep inside parodies on R. Kelly (Trapped In The Drive Thru), Green Day (Canadian Idiot), Usher (Confessions Part III) and other stuff including five Al’s original songs that imitate the style of popular bands. For example I’ll Sue Ya which is a parody of Rage Against The Machine music. Each time Al invents a new story to tell or makes it in the form of the first person narration, he always takes different subjects as well as the victims for his parodies.

Atlantic Records couldn’t let Yankovic include a parody on James Blunt in the album

The irony accompanies Al Yankovic in the entire artwork he makes and the albums cover is not an exception. This year he decided to mock at the rap scene. The album’s title is also a parody, this is a nod to the popularity of Stright Outta … rap albums titles, such as Straight Outta Ca$hville by Young Buck. Yankovic himself is from Lynwood, California, a lower class Los Angeles suburb. It is notable that cover art design was made by a successful photographer Michael Blackwell who is known by his works with current hip-hop stars. Occasionally, the album cover turned out to be the best illustration to the leading album’s song White & Nerdy. Theoretically the album was supposed to have 13 tracks instead of existing 12. The missing song You Are Pitiful is a parody for James Blunt’s You Are Beautiful, unfortunately Atlantic Records said “no” to its inclusion on the album, though Blunt himself didn’t mind. Die-hard Weird Al Yankovic fans are for sure having this album already, but Straight Outta Lynnwood eager to please everyone especially those who likes today’s popular music scene.