When they aren’t pushing rival comedians down the stars Showgirls-style or coaching more monster voice out of Nicki Minaj (“She would go in there and make it all grimy and awesome,†Jorma Taccone recalls ), the gang is keeping it nice on Lonely Island’s Turtleneck & Chains album, due out May 10. “We’ve always subscribed to comedy that, when at all possible, isn’t making fun of other people. So the alternative to that is making fun of ourselves. At least we’re in control of that,†says Andy Samberg.
And is there anything sweeter than the dulcet voice of one Mr. Michael Bolton, who provided guest vocals on the “Jack Sparrow,†the album’s epic Pirates of the Carribean ballad? “He’s the king. He’s awesome. And we wrote this stupid song and begged him to do it. We just kept sticking with it and stalking him, like, please do it, please do it,†Samberg gushes about Bolton. “And then when it finally came together and he was in the studio, it was like, the angels singing from the heaven, the clouds opened up and sunlight shone down on us.â€