Lonely Island, a comedy group made up of three white-boy rappers from Berkeley (Andy Samberg, Akiva Shaffer, and Jorma Taccone), was established in 2001, and began generating a buzz in the online community by posting short comedic segments on YouTube. In 2005, Samberg became a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live, and Taccone and Shaffer joined the show’s writing staff. Although Samberg’s time on the SNL set was limited in his first year, Lonely Island began recording “Digital Shorts,” which were aired during live shows, with Shaffer directing, Taccone writing and producing music and Samberg starring. One of the first sketches, “Lazy Sunday,” involves Samberg and cast member Chris Parnell describing their trip to go see “The Chronicles of Narnia,” in a hilarious parody of hardcore rap. “We’re bout to get taken to a dream world of magic,” yells Parnell before the movie starts. It became an online sensation, getting millions of views on YouTube before NBC had it taken down for copyright violation. Nevertheless, they continued to produce shorts, winning an Emmy for “Dick in a Box,” a nineties R&B sex ballad featuring Samberg and Justin Timberlake. The group organized their comedic efforts on their debut album Incredibad, which is a successful and colorful foray into yet another medium for their brash humor.

Half of Incredibad is composed of songs written and recorded for various sketches on SNL, which is a testament to the quality of Taccone’s production. Natalie Portman spits hot fire on “Natalie’s Rap,” an almost-Compton-worthy ode to late 80s gangster rap that completely shatters her Harvard-grad, good-girl image. She raps about driving while intoxicated, death by nitrous, smoking weed, and finally gets fed up and hits her interviewer with a chair. As is the trend these days, there are a considerable number of legitimate musicians that lend their talent to Incredibad. Rapper E-40 is the voice of Santana on “Santana DVX”: “I’m like no other, one of a kind, my sparkling wine…Santana DVX make you wanna have sex.” Elsewhere, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes sings on “Boombox;” a veteran of the musical comedy genre, Jack Black, tears it up in classic Tenacious D fashion on “Sax Man;” T-Pain (ironically) mocks hip hop materialism in “I’m on a Boat;” and Norah Jones is featured on the gross-out narrative of “Dreamgirl.” “Ras Trent,” which pokes fun at rich, white college students pretending to be Rastafarians, is produced by the reggae legends Sly and Robbie. It’s apparent that the album wouldn’t be as potent or musically viable without all of these artists adding their distinct flavors to the mix.

That said, Samberg’s singing voice can be grating—it’s clear that his talent is humor and not trying to stay on pitch. Incredibad’s primary hindrance is the low-quality production of songs that had been written pre-SNL.

Clocking in at just over forty-two minutes, the trio’s debut album has nineteen songs, with only two stretching over the three minute-mark. The satire doesn’t dwell too far under the surface; the songs are short because the stories aren’t deep or complex. Lonely Island draws most of its laughs from crude humor and shock value. From observations on Santana DVX: “a horse drank a bottle and fucked a cow,” to T-Pain’s bold confession: “Believe me when I say…I fucked a mermaid,” to a day in Samberg’s life: “…meet a giant fish [like a boss], fuck his brains out [like a boss]…” The album succeeds when you find yourself laughing out loud.

But really, Lonely Island isn’t trying to make bank. They’ve been producing a steady stream of material since 2001, including three rejected full-length TV pilots, music videos, and even a movie (Hot Rod). Their passion is evident: they’re just three guys having way too much fun doing what they enjoy. 3 out of 5 stars.

(By the way, Santana DVX is only $48.99 a bottle!)