Lonely Island is back on “Saturday Night Live” with their first song since 2018. Andy Samberg was joined by groupmate Akiva Schaffer on “Sushi Glory Hole,” which sings the praises of an app that allows users to find sushi in a hole in a bathroom in New York (a combination of words that admittedly isn’t the most appealing).
The pair presented their idea to a panel featuring Maya Rudolph, who asked them, “Gentlemen, what do you have for us today?” at the top of the segment. After they introduced the song, the duo leapt into a rap about the perceived wonders of eating sushi in bathrooms.
As they rapped lines that encourage listeners to “drop to your knees and get ready for some fish,” the men traversed New York bars and restaurants that apparently serve as hosts for such an activity. Lest a listener feel a little nervous about eating raw fish in a grimy public restroom, they reassured, “You got nothing to fear. It’s not weird. It’s sushi being fed through a hole in the wall.”
Not weird at all.
In addition to Rudolph, cast members Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang served as investors who appeared completely disgusted by the pitch.
“Sushi Glory Hole” is the first digital short that’s appeared on “SNL” since season 43 — seven seasons back — when The Lonely Island and Natalie Portman collaborated on “Natalie’s Rap 2,” a follow-up to the actress’ “Natalie’s Rap.” Samberg was known for gleefully pushing the digital short format throughout his tenure on the show and spawned memorable hits such as “D–k in a Box” and “Lazy Sunday.”
While they no longer are presented as “digital shorts” most of the time, the show has incorporated more pre-produced music videos and other similar segments into the show, now that a sketch being designed for a digital audience isn’t the unique, unexpected project it once was.
You can watch the “Sushi Glory Hole” digital short in the video above.