Superbad may not be everyone’s favorite comedy, but the way it captured a moment in time resonated with many people, no matter their position or status in life. Seth Rogen can attest to that, as he has had both Kanye West and Eminem quote the movie to him on separate occasions. Can anybody else say that? Probably not.
Rogen refuses to make Superbad 2 despite Judd Apatow wanting to, and part of that may be because the original movie could potentially lose the aura that made it so quotable to some of the biggest rappers on the planet (along with millions of others around the globe). As the actor shared with Complex, Ye once crashed his workout to recite lines from the movie:
I used to work out with the same personal trainer as Kanye West, and my session was right before his. And he showed up like 20 minutes early, and it’s a room like this like, with gym equipment. It’s in a guy’s garage essentially. And, for 20 minutes, while I worked out with the trainer, Kanye literally just stood right next to me reciting scenes from Superbad word for word.
Maybe it was that experience that caused him to have regrets later on about some of the lines he wrote for the movie, or times have changed. It’s also funny to hear Seth Rogen has another notable story to share about Kanye West, as the actor famously was one of the first people to listen to West’s album Yeezus ahead of its release (via Reddit).
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As mentioned, West isn’t the only rapper to quote Superbad to Seth Rogen. He also brought up Eminem, and added there’s a couple others beyond that:
And I worked with Eminem once and he’s like, ‘I know the entire movie Superbad word for word, literally. I can recite you the entire movie.’ And then he started doing it to prove it. That’s actually happened to me a few times by rappers. [laughs]
Eminem had a cameo role in the controversial movie The Interview, so I wonder if that’s when he talked to Rogen about his love of Superbad. I’d love to hear some of the other rappers who have talked about the movie to him over the years, as I can’t even begin to guess which artists were influenced by the shared universal experience of being a teen guy.
Or at least, it used to be. Younger writers on CinemaBlend have lamented that the movie is a product of its time, so it’s entirely possible that it doesn’t resonate with a certain type of male these days like it used to. Even so, it maintains a legacy as being one of the best comedies of all time, though I’d be curious to know the median age of those responsible for giving that title before jumping on board.
It’s all the more reason I’d love to see a follow-up sequel, or maybe even see Superbad remade for a new generation. Good movies about high school are hard to come by, which may be why movies like Mean Girls and Clueless and Superbad stand the test of time and continue to be a part of pop culture. That said, I’m not sure the other two get as much cred from rappers, though I could be wrong about that.
Superbad is available to stream right now over on Tubi. The fact it’s available to watch for free has me contemplating a rewatch for the first time since my teens, though part of me is afraid it won’t hold up. I guess the only way to find out is to watch anyway!