We're Back!


"We're Back!" is the first track and third single from The Lonely Island's second album Turtleneck & Chain. The song was first performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on April 1, 2011 while the album was released on May 10, 2011. The video contains a cameo appearance from Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera.

Composition and theme

The song consists of a form of call and response between Jorma Taccone on one hand, and Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg responding with brief rhymes. These rhymes center around sexual and scatological themes, including erectile dysfunction, genital odors, incontinence and STDs. A comic effect is achieved by the contrast between the self-aggrandizing style typical of mainstream hip hop music, and the self-deprecating lyrical content. A typical exchange goes:
The song prominently features a sped-up sample from "That's How It Is" by Laura Lee.

Reception

Within a few days of its release, the video for the song had received over a million hits on YouTube. Salon.com's Drew Grant found the song "not as catchy as some of their other work", but still appreciated its way of "subverting the standard conventions of hip-hop". Jay Hathaway of Urlesque called the track "the most gangsta ode to erectile dysfunction ever".