The comedy/hip-hop trio Lonely Island are getting ready to embark on their first-ever multi-city tour and today they’ve shared a song that will likely be heard at those concerts.
“Oakland Nights” pays homage to the Oakland A’s iconic duo of the Bash Brothers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. The song is part of a larger project, a Netflix special called The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience. The movie is a piece of alternate history fiction in which the two sluggers recorded a hip-hop album. It’s also a great excuse for Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer to wear some amazing vintage A’s-themed outfits. The video has guest stars Maya Rudolph and Jenny Slate and Sterling K Brown. Brown portrays Sia in the video, who is a guest vocalist on the track – he even wears a two-tone wig like the pop star. The rest of the special will feature Hannah Simone, Jim O’Heir and HAIM.
The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is The Lonely Island’s follow up to the 2016 film Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. The group also released a video for “Uniform On.” The clip kicks off with a shot of a BART train somewhere in the East Bay before cutting to a scene with the two ballers in uniform. The two-minute clip isn’t long, but packs a lot of content. Lines like “She grabbed me by the bat / Now it’s going, going gone!” are funny, but honestly wouldn’t be out of place in a non-comedy rap song. That’s sort of the point, as the Netflix special features the two record-setting home-run hitters (who were nicknamed the Bash Brothers) earnestly recording a braggadocious rap record.
Things do get a bit more over-the-top with McGwire/Schaffer’s verse, referencing his “one ton jimmy” and “itty bitty sack” – a reference to the fact that McGwire would later admit to steroid use (as did Canseco). In the notes of the video, the group point out they have great taste in baseball teams and are lifelong fans of the A’s.
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