‘Weird Al’ Yankovic has a song for everyone

Plus, 'Louder Than A Riot' explores queerness and hypermasculinity in hip-hop

View this email online May 6, 2023 by Stephen Thompson This week, we’re thinking about what a list of Weird Al songs says about the subjectivity of criticism; plus, Louder Than A Riot examines the career of iLoveMakonnen and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces its 2023 inductees. Photo illustration by Jackie Lay/NPR/The Associated Press NPR Music has published many stories more newsworthy than this week’s ranking of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s 40 greatest songs. But we’ve never produced a feature that required me to listen to more of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s music. This week’s piece has ’em all beat on that front. Naturally, the business of ranking the-best-of-this and the-greatest-of-that is all about blowback — or, more to the point, online debate among readers. Writers want people talking about their work, and once Yankovic himself was kind enough to promote the piece, his fans were off to the races, in many cases declaring the list to have fallen short by failing to acknowledge [insert name of virtually any Weird Al song imaginable]. This is standard operating procedure in the aftermath of any ranking, but here’s what struck me: So many of his songs have loud defenders. The readers’ responses — which, don’t get me wrong, were collectively delightful and almost entirely friendly — got me thinking quite a bit about the subjectivity of music criticism. Because this process demonstrated just how many radically different reactions a single song can generate. My process for making the list started with listening to every single “Weird Al” Yankovic song in consecutive order, so naturally the next step was to do a fair bit of culling: A song might be OK but unspectacular, or it might have aged in a way that robbed it of its relevance, or it might be a parody of a song no one ever cared all that much about in the first place. Each album produced anywhere from one to seven knockout finalists for inclusion, and then I took that group and trimmed it to my final 40. It was amazing to me how many of my easy rejections slaughtered someone else’s sacred cows: I received several tweets lamenting the exclusion of early deep cuts like “Velvet Elvis” or “Stuck in a Closet With Vanna White,” or mid-tier parodies like “Living With a Hernia” — songs I’d revisited, sometimes for the first time in 20 or 30 years, and dismissed without a second thought. Obviously, I reasoned, no one would rank “The White Stuff” — a New Kids on the Block parody about the creamy filling in the center of an Oreo — among the best of the best. I was mistaken! It is, of course, a testament to “Weird Al” Yankovic’s reach, versatility and staying power that so many of his songs rank among the favorites of somebody, somewhere. And it’s so clear how much Yankovic’s records imprint themselves on the lives and minds of 12- and 13-year-old listeners: Just as 1984’s In 3-D and 1985’s Dare To Be Stupid were sacred texts for me (a fan born in 1972), later albums clearly had an identical impact on people who came along later. But it also reminded me to think about how easy it can be to sort songs into categories of “good” and “bad,” and then assume that everyone else has come to the same conclusion. Reasonable minds can and do disagree, much more often than the most hardheaded music nerds would care to admit.  So let’s gather here for just one more minute and toast the incredible, enduring legacy of “Weird Al” Yankovic on the occasion of his debut album’s 40th anniversary. There likely isn’t a nicer person in the music business, so it’s been a rare pleasure to watch the internet rise up to defend his every song. Even the ones about Oreos.   Newsletter continues after sponsor message More to read, watch and hear  On the new episode of Louder Than A Riot, Rodney Carmichael and Mano Sundaresan take a deep dive into the career of rapper iLoveMakonnen, who had a hit with “Tuesday,” his 2014 collaboration with Drake, but whose “presence as a queer artist in the hyper-masculine trenches of hip-hop has been a subject of extreme scrutiny, and at times a source of tension.” Their exploration leads them into a wider discussion of Black masculinity, as well as Makonnen’s cultural reach, influence and role in the queering of trap music. My colleague Sheldon Pearce is always a must-read — his work routinely mixes deep insight and seemingly effortless contextualization — and his highly critical review of Jack Harlow’s newest record is no different. Of Jackman, Sheldon writes, “His new album has the energy of an alternate timeline where Macklemore doubled down after winning [the Grammy for best rap album] and responded to any detractor in a hostile way. The music is a bratty retort to every negative thing he’s read about himself online. It's insufferably smug.” It’s a sharp takedown of the best-selling rapper, but it never feels gratuitous, and it provides a huge amount of well-written context for the Harlow-curious. Speaking of writers whose curiosity is matched only by their ability to place music in a larger social context, Jewly Hight has a thoughtful profile of trans singer-songwriter Mya Byrne, whose rollicking and sparkly country music comes by its howls of protest honestly. Of her new, impeccably titled album Rhinestone Tomboy, Byrne says she’s “owning a certain kind of femininity that cannot be taken away from me or dismissed. And I'm securing my place." Wednesday brought the announcement of a worthy new class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners all made the cut as performers, while Link Wray and DJ Kool Herc are sensible additions to the category of “musical influences.” (Al Kooper, Bernie Taupin, Chaka Khan and Soul Train’s Don Cornelius are also receiving honors.) Grace Widyatmadja and Hazel Cills offer some context and helpful links here, plus some great photos of these artists to match their museum-worthy careers. French musicologist Sylvie Bouissou recently completed the unfinished manuscript of Io, by 18th-century French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The opera received its world premiere in Washington, D.C., this week — a mere 280 years or so behind schedule. On this week’s All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen is joined by the ever-adventurous Lars Gotrich for a set of wild and beautiful music from the outer fringes. And Robin Hilton presides over the latest New Music Friday, which returns with an eclectic and expansive playlist of the best new albums out this week. Lara Downes talks with award-winning chef – and Top Chef contestant and judge – Kwame Onwuachi, whose Lincoln Center restaurant Tatiana just received a huge honor a mere five months into its existence. Tiny Desk Elizabeth Gillis/NPR The London band caroline is an NPR Music favorite whose self-titled debut made our list of 2022’s 50 best albums. It’s a tricky band to describe, as caroline’s eight members build fragile and hypnotic songs that are all the more haunting for their unsteadiness. The band typically performs in a circle, facing in, but that wasn’t possible behind the Tiny Desk. So caroline adjusted, while still maintaining its communal spirit in three songs that combine for an alluring 25-minute sprawl. Also this week: Saxophonist Kenny Garrett expands the definition of modern jazz in three tunes from his ambitious album Sounds from the Ancestors. One More Thing “What if you were in charge of music at King Charles III's coronation?” Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on Spotify and Apple Music What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Books, Pop Culture, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to NPR Music emails. 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