Okay, I recently picked up Weird Al Yankovic's new album “Straight Outta Lynwood“, and I have to say that by and in large I found the album disappointing, but that said there are some real gems in here, and if you haven't seen the video for “White & Nerdy“ I insist you do so, I guarantee you will laugh your ass off…

White & Nerdy is a parody of Chamillionaire's rap song Ridin' (in which the phrase “ridin' dirty” is repeated during the chorus.)  I generally don't enjoy rap but I liked the beat of Chamillionaire's song, even if the subject matter is dark.  I, being a nerd and definitely out of the loop on the latest street lingo, had to go look up “riding dirty”.  Apparently it means driving while being at risk for arrest (like having illegal drugs or weapons in your car, or driving drunk, or anything like that).

Weird Al's version is a laugh riot and full of geek-references which the average nerd will get a real kick out of.  If you enjoyed Al's video for his song It's All About the Pentiums, I guarantee you'll love White & Nerdy which is IMNSHO at least twice as funny.

Other songs on “Straight Outta Lynwood” which I enjoyed were Pancreas, I'll Sue Ya, and Trapped in the Drive-Thru.  Sadly, the rest of the album did nothing for me, which is a real disappointment given how much I enjoyed Poodle Hat, Bad Hair Day, and Running With Scissors.  Interestingly the album is only available as a “DualDisc” (CD on one side, DVD on the other) and I was very disappointed to discover that the video for White & Nerdy was not included on the DVD.  Major bummer.  But I'm a hard core Weird Al fan, and there's no doubt I'll buy any album he ever makes.

Chamillionaire, the artist whose song was parodied by Yankovic, apparently loves the parody and made both it and the original song available for download on his MySpace page.  Unfortunately, the download statistics make clear that White & Nerdy has been downloaded more often than Ridin' by a margin of 25%.  Ouch!  If you're curious, here's a link to Chamillionaire's video for Ridin', but be warned, there's some nasty language in here.  Wear yer headphones if the kids are around.