Pop Culture

The Lonely Island's Rejected Oscars Song Is a Hilarious Banger

'Popstar' deserved an Oscar, by the way.

Like me, The Lonely Island wrote a song they hoped would be included in this year's Oscars broadcast but was apparently rejected for being too costly to pull off.

Monday, the artful trio—comprised of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer—shared a demo version of their should-have-been-aired cut "Why Not Me." As the title suggests, the four-minute track sees everyone from Pennywise to Dominic Toretto lamenting their lack of awards recognition.

"We were asked to write a song for this year's Academy Awards," the Lonely Island inhabitants said when uploading the demo. "Unfortunately, it wasn't chosen because it was 'financially and logistically impossible,' so for fun we thought we'd share the rough storyboards of what would have been a fully shot, star-studded music video of exorbitant cost. All vocals and visuals are temp, so please use your imagination and enjoy!" The track was composed by Greg Chun and features vocals by Chun, Baraka May, and the Lonely Island.

If you're hitting up San Francisco for Clusterfest in June, there's a chance you'll see the Island dudes run through this track during their first-ever live performance. Desus Nice and the Kid Mero, Trevor Noah, Maria Bamford, Third Eye Blind, and Tiffany Haddish are also on the lineup. Attend.

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