We’ve Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.

Over the weekend, South Park aired a new special called “The End Of Obesity,” parodying the recent popularity of weight loss drugs like Ozempic. A running joke in the episode is an Ozempic alternative called Lizzo. “This is a prescription used along with listening to her songs and watching her music videos to become happy with how you look,” reads the fine print on an ad in the show.

Three years ago, the legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart died of brain cancer at 67. When Peart died, Rush hadn’t played any live shows since 2015. Earlier this week, though, Peart’s surviving bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson got together to play music in front of people for the first time since Peart’s passing. Naturally, this emotional occasion happened at the South Park 25th-anniversary show.

Last night, the 25th anniversary of South Park was celebrated with a concert at Red Rock Amphitheatre in Colorado. Primus, who composed the show’s theme song, and Ween, who have appeared in the cartoon, were both on hand to perform both their own songs and songs that series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have written over the years. Ween and Primus played together and separately, and both Parker and Stone came out to play with them.

Logic's "1-800-273-8255" is now the highest-charing phone number in music history (with Tommy Tutone's blessing). Last night, South Park does what it always does when something becomes super popular: They made fun of it. They parodied Logic's well-meaning but on-the-nose song about suicide prevention, with Cartman standing in for the musician. Check it out below.

Last night, season 21 of South Park debuted with an episode making fun of digital home assistants like Alexa and Google Home. On the episode, we learn those programs are taking away too many jobs, so a court orders people to hire out-of-work white folks to do the jobs of those assistants instead. And in one inspired moment, Jim Bob, Cartman's home assistant, does a twangy acoustic cover of Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." It is ridiculous. Watch below.

Desiigner's recent single "Tiimmy Turner" referenced one animated TV show in The Fairly OddParents, and a new remix from DJ Premier references a very different animated TV show. "As a DJ, when a song is poppin', one thing we do is remix it," Premier says at the beginning of the track, and as 2DopeBoyz points out, the producer's "Preemix" version features vocals from South Park's Timmy. Hear it below.

South Park closed out its 18th season with a slew of musical "guest stars" that have generated a lot of criticism and discussion this year. There's a hologram of Kurt Cobain, performances from Taylor Swift and Iggy Azalea, and Stan's dad resurfaces as Lorde, again. There are several duets throughout -- Azalea performs "A Holly Jolly Christmas" alongside an Elvis hologram, and Swift is faced with the obscenely uncomfortable task of singing "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Bill Cosby. It's weird, it's fucked up, it's South Park. You can watch the entire episode below.

Last week's South Park episode "The Cissy" revealed that Lorde was actually Stan's dad, Randy Marsh, living a double life as a female geologist. It culminated in the debut of "Push," a song featuring the notable hook "Ya Ya Ya/I am Lorde/Ya Ya Ya/I am Lorde." When the pop star got wind of the tribute, she expressed her approval and even sang a bit of it in an interview. Now South Park has released the full song, which reportedly features Sia on vocals. It does sound like Sia, but she hasn't commented on it. Listen below.

For two straight weeks, South Park has built jokes around the New Zealand teenage pop phenom Lorde, cooking up a strange story about how Stan's dad Randy Marsh is actually Lorde. Apparently, Lorde is not a South Park fan, but she's still flattered that the show found her to be a worthy target of satire. Below, watch the two episodes and see Lorde's reaction.

Back in 2009, South Park aired an episode based around the idea that Kanye West is actually a gay fish, or that he's so insecure that a joke about him being a gay fish would be enough to plunge him into an identity crisis. That episode, one of the most famous in the show's history, led to a shockingly honest and non-pissed blog response from Kanye, though he did later threaten to "choke a South Park writer with a fish stick" on record. (This was the same album where Kanye said "Fuck SNL and they whole staff." Bill Hader: twice dissed!) Well, Kanye now has more reason to get weirdly, conflictedly upset. Last night's South Park season finale, titled "The Hobbit," featured the return of Kanye, now a "recovering gay fish" engaged to Kim Kardashian. This one, built around ideas of Photoshop and body-image issues, is more targeted at Kim than at Kanye, but there's still plenty of stuff in there, including a "Bound 2" parody. (If that response time strikes you as impressive, there's also a bit about Time naming Pope Francis as its Man Of The Year. That happened yesterday.) Watch a clip below.

The post Kanye West Is A Gay Fish first appeared on Stereogum.

From the production blog:

Tonight’s episode is a sobering experience. After watching it come together I feel like maybe we flew a little too close to the nerdy sun with Guitar Hero. Maybe we should take a step back and look at the dark side of being a Guitar Hero…

South Park can usually fly pretty close to that nerdy sun when they want to, since they not only have the freedom to do (almost) whatever they want, but the honesty to bring what they’re interested in out, instead of waiting for it to be a drop-in gag at a writer’s meeting. Now that Guitar Hero’s been firmly planted in the culture industry, though, here’s what you can expect.

• SNL Digital Shorts does “We Don’t Need Another (Guitar) Hero” with Tina Turner
• College Humor does “Anonymous Commenter Hero” with old IBM keyboards
• The Soup does a lingering throw-away gag with the controller
• People does an interview with a young up-and-coming actress, and the pull quote is “I just play Guitar Hero all night!”
• Ten minute Guitar Hero bit on the Oscars
• Nation mourns photo of smiling John McCain awkwardly handling controller at Generation Dot You with Special Partner Visa event
• Momentarily becomes almost not uncool again when MIT students build Guitar Hero-playing Johnny 5 to play “We Need a Hero”
• Banjo Hero on Sitcom We’ll All Be Hating Next Fall

Then, finally, “Guitar Hero” will never, ever again mean this or this.

The post Weak Become Heroes, And Back Again first appeared on Stereogum.

Like, did you realize that Wham!’s “Last Christmas” has practically become a holiday standard? Well there’s a blog that’s dedicated solely to covers of the tune — and if there’s a blog involved, it’s gotta be true. Stereogum-reader Alex L. told us that Last Christmas promises 5 to 7 covers a day, and there are 41 already! That means “there will be around 150 covers by the big day. Who knew it was so popular?” Probably not even Georgie, Alex!

Then there’s the “humor” holiday tunes. Nothing beats “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” — but there are always new contenders. Here are two newcomers, one from Sarah Silverman and one from the South Parkers, both via Santa Vegan.

The Brofloskis (feat Cartman) – “Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel” (MP3)
A Plus D (feat Sarah Silverman) – “Give Da Jew Girl Toys” (MP3)

And of course there’s The Killers’ “A Great Big Sled,” which you guys hated, so we won’t bother telling you about the video. Instead, check out The Dan Band’s punny clip for their yuletide tune “Ho Ho Ho.” We fucking need them more than ever. There’s also that blasphemous R. Kelly claymation parody, but a homicidal, bi-curious Santa coupled with a bong-toting Jesus ain’t for everyone, we know!

So if holiday vids aren’t your thing, how about a holiday mix with a bit of Low, Sufjan, Eels, and oh so much more?

Thought so. Check Rewritable Content for the goods. Or, for a self-described “weird” take on “O Holy Night” from our bud Cale from Aloha, head to Suburban Sprawl Music.

Have we jogged your memory a bit? Good! Now let’s get a solid playlist of holiday tunes together. Which ones are your faves? If you have holiday mixes you wanna link to, feel free to post ‘em in the comments. Grab a cup of eggnog and holler!

The post That Was The Best Christmas Song Ever! first appeared on Stereogum.

'Tis the season to say "'tis the season" too much. 'Tis also the season to reflect on the year that was, eat too much, see family, and get nostalgic with your favorite holiday tunes. But since we're all about superlatives around here, we wanna know: What are the greatest Xmas songs of all time? Well, with Festivus rapidly approaching, the web has begun churning out special holiday treats for children young and old.

Like, did you realize that Wham!'s "Last Christmas" has practically become a holiday standard? Well there's a blog that's dedicated solely to covers of the tune -- and if there's a blog involved, it's gotta be true. Stereogum-reader Alex L. told us that Last Christmas promises 5 to 7 covers a day, and there are 41 already! That means "there will be around 150 covers by the big day. Who knew it was so popular?" Probably not even Georgie, Alex!

Then there's the "humor" holiday tunes. Nothing beats "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" -- but there are always new contenders. Here are two newcomers, one from Sarah Silverman and one from the South Parkers, both via Santa Vegan.

The Brofloskis (feat Cartman) - "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel" (MP3)
A Plus D (feat Sarah Silverman) - "Give Da Jew Girl Toys" (MP3)

And of course there's The Killers' "A Great Big Sled," which you guys hated, so we won't bother telling you about the video. Instead, check out The Dan Band's punny clip for their yuletide tune "Ho Ho Ho." We fucking need them more than ever. There's also that blasphemous R. Kelly claymation parody, but a homicidal, bi-curious Santa coupled with a bong-toting Jesus ain't for everyone, we know!

So if holiday vids aren't your thing, how about a holiday mix with a bit of Low, Sufjan, Eels, and oh so much more?