#raaaaaaaandy

Aziz Ansari in Funny People as Randy

Aziz Ansari in Funny People as Randy

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SIDETRACKED

(Side Projects, Solo Albums, and Other Detours)

Raaaaaaaandy - "AAAAAAAANGRY"

While the critical response to Judd Apatow's 2009 film Funny People was decidedly mixed, there was one part of the film that got the approval of nearly everyone who saw it: the character of Randy (or, as he prefers, RAAAAAAAANDY). Played by Aziz Ansari (of Parks and Recreation, Human Giant, and the R Kelly story fame), Randy is a singular yet strangely familiar combination of all of the worst parts of Dane Cook and every bad idea for a punchline that Lil Wayne ever had. He's a comedian whose gimmick is that he's backed by a DJ, and his sets are full of call-and-response crowd-baiting, and air horn sound effects. In short, Randy's a character who's clearly infatuated with everything about hip hop, save actual, you know, rapping.

After the film's premiere, Ansari continued to expand the character, going so far as perform a large section of his comedy special Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening in character as Randy. Then, in early 2010 he announced (via his Tumblr and the Evil Empire) that he was working on a Randy mixtape with TV on the Radio member and general super-producer Dave Sitek. Between the character's clear affinity for hip hop, and Ansari's already proven ability to expand the character, the move made a surprising amount of sense.

Yet, evidently, it simply was not meant to be. Ultimately only two tracks were ever released from the tape which was originally supposed to drop in February 2010. I've been unable to find any information explaining why the project was delayed or abandoned, but I do think it's safe to say that it has been scrapped. There hasn't been an update on it in three years, and both of its primary creative forces (Ansari and Sitek) have clearly moved on to other endeavors.

But, although we'll never have a full Randy mixtape, at least we have a couple of solid tracks from it. While the second ("Baby Baby" which claims that Justin Beiber stole the song "Baby" from Randy) is very funny, I've always been partial to the track that accompanied the initial announcement, "AAAAAAAANGRY." The conceit of the track is that Randy is calling out all of the rappers who promised to send in guest verses for his tape, but never got around to recording anything. While it isn't really a rap song in the exact same way that Randy's shows aren't really rap concerts, it's still worth a listen.

What I really love about this track is how specific Ansari gets with his insults and jokes. It's clear that he's a big hip hop fan himself, as most of the humor hinges on rap-world inside jokes, like how Dr. Dre is never gonna finish Detox or how MF DOOM sometimes sends impostors to perform shows for him. Of course, the track does have plenty of humor that doesn't require a bookcase full of back issues of Ego Trip or a Dat Piff account, its best moments are inside baseball jokes about Black Star reunions and Clipse ad-libs. While the character of Randy is clearly satirizing some aspects of hip hop culture, "AAAAAAAANGRY" makes it clear that it's a culture that Ansari has a deep affection for.