We have to catch our breath when trying to list off all 30 artists on Lil Dicky’s latest track “Earth.” The comedian/rapper stopped by On Air With Ryan Seacrest on Monday, April 22, aka Earth Day, and dished on how he pulled the song together with just about all of the biggest names in music.
“I always wanted to be a comedian believe it or not, that was always my dream,” Lil Dicky, whose real name is David, explained of his career. “I was always the class clown and I loved making people laugh … I dreamed of being in the NBA too and of being a rapper, but those felt not feasible … and then when I graduated college I was like, ‘What attempt am I going to make to get noticed for being funny?’ … And I started making funny rap songs with the hope of being noticed for being a funny guy and as I did that I just got better and better at rapping.”
In fact, the rapper from Pennsylvania previously had a 9 to 5 job at an ad agency and realized he could make a career for himself rapping after he used his skill while delivering a report to the ad agency CEO.
“It was a Doritos’ account I worked on and I had to give this report on how our ads were affecting chip sales,” Lil Dicky explained. “It was the one chance that my email could go to the CEO of the ad agency … so one time instead of doing it as a Word document, I just told them about the chip sales as an MP3 — as a rap song — and they went crazy,” he shared. “They put me in the creative department and I was like ‘Wait a minute, why don’t I do this with my funny ideas?’”
His latest hit, “Earth,” he actually started recording at the same time as first breakthrough jam “Freaky Friday” featuring Chris Brown.
“[‘Earth’] really started with just the core nugget of an idea that I just wanted to make a song about animals where different artists played different animals and it wasn’t this environmental climate change type of thing,” he explained. “And then I’m in the studio working … and it just sounds terrible so I’m like ‘These animals have to say something, but what are they talking about?’ … And back then I had this vague notion and understanding about [our] environmental issues … and then I looked it up and I was blown away at the facts,” he added. “I had no idea how urgent and dire the situation was … so it went from this silly little idea to … the most important thing I’ll ever do in my life.”
To record the song, it actually took 2 to 3 years.
“I kept saying ’10 minutes max guys,’” he added of how he convinced each artist to record their lyrics, which were also written and produced by pal Benny Blanco.
“Benny Blanco deserves so much credit,” Lil Dicky concluded. “This is just as much his song as it is mine and he’s my best friend, like, truly. … This song really was spawned out of a best friendship which I think is also interesting.”
Watch back the full interview in the video above and head to welovetheearth.org for more information on how you too can get involved in saving our planet.
Artists featured:
Justin Bieber as a monkey
Ariana Grande as a zebra
Halsey as a lion cub
Zac Brown as a cow
Wiz Khalifa as a skunk
Brendon Urie as a pig
Hailee Steinfeld as a mushroom
Snoop Dogg as a weed plant
Kevin Hart as Kanye West
Adam Levine as a vulture
Shawn Mendes as a rhino
Charlie Puth as a giraffe
Sia as a kangaroo
Miley Cyrus as an elephant
Lil Jon as a clam
Miguel as a squirrel
Rita Ora as a wolf
Ed Sheeran as a koala
Katy Perry as a pony
Lil Yachty as HPV
Leonardo DiCaprio as himself
As well as Meghan Trainor, Joel Embiid, Tory Lanez, John Legend, Backstreet Boys, Bad Bunny, Psy, Kris Wu.