About six months ago, someone on a high probably made the questionable (to put it lightly) decision to feature Lil' Wayne spitting a verse on a song by American alternative rock heroes, Weezer. Then things got out of control when some other genius recruited Jermaine Dupris - of recent fame for his work with Adam "Pacman" Jones - as a co-writer and Polow Da Don ("Love In This Club") to produce it. Weezer has obviously journeyed a great distance from its great 1990s releases Weezer (The Blue Album) and Pinkerton. Their emotional angst blasted from every weird teenager's headphones, and their gigantic power chords filled our earnest hopes. The troubled days for Weezer are over. The money they've earned from album sales, concerts, and merchandise gave them a sum with which they can do only one thing: hire the ultimate hook mercenary, Lil' Wayne.
My love for Lil' Wayne only makes this abomination more difficult to stomach. No one needs to listen to more than a few seconds to understand that "Can't Stop Partying" is the lowest low of bad music. Despite all the parts' prolific and successful careers, this track belongs in the attempted pop song grave yard among (dare I say) Soulja Boy and MIMS.
The first time I listened to the track, I couldn't finish, quitting before I even got to my beloved Weezy's verse. In a recent interview with Pitchfork, Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo said he struggled with the song, but Lil' Wayne aided the band greatly: "Well, you've got the Weezer/Weezy connection. But, more importantly, he really tapped into the spirit of the song, which I really struggled with at first."
Cuomo claimed that "Can't Stop Partying" might be his favorite song on Weezer's new album Ratitude, to be released on Nov. 3 on Geffen (Unfortunately, Weezy and Weezer never met in studio). This probably shouldn't surprise me. Since 1999's Pinkerton, Weezer's downward career trajectory spiraled through miserable recent efforts, like Make Believe and The Red Album, seems to find its perfect crash landing with Jermaine Dupris and Polow Da Don.
A lot can be said trashing Weezer selling out, ditching the emotional lyrics for ones about getting drunk and high, but I've got to ask, "Why not?" The Los Angeles quartet made its artistic statement 15 years ago and has the money to hire Lil' Wayne for a hook. No one criticizing Weezer for cashing in has the cash to hire Weezy for his song. "Can't Stop Partying" is playful and doesn't ask the listener to pay the same attention that Weezer's previous efforts have, and it's because the band wanted it that way. Is "Can't Stop Partying" really that bad?
Yes. I haven't listened to Ratitude yet, but if "Can't Stop Partying" really is the best song on the record like Cuomo suggests, Weezer has asserted itself away from the realm of good music, but probably won't attain the Billboard success reached by other Weezy collaborations like current hits, Jay Sean's "Down" or Drake's "Forever."
If Weezer is content with their evolution into corporately-pushed arena rock, it's pointless to criticize the band for not coming remotely close to reaching the highs reached on its early work, that is, if it's not trying. After all, for a band once criticized as Pavement rip offs, Weezer has traveled a long way to collaborate with the biggest artist in popular music, alongside an amalgam of the most successful names in hip hop. But if Weezer believes that things like "Can't Stop Partying" deserve a place in the playlists of fans of The Blue Album, they're horribly mistaken.
Be the first to comment on this article!