Weird Al graciously agreed to answer a few questions for us about R. Kelly and the Coolio controversy.

USOUNDS: I watched UHF yesterday, and had really lucid dreams involving Spatula City last night. What’s the craziest dream you’ve ever had? Also, did you get to nail Fran Drescher?

Weird Al: I dreamed that I was riding through a field of wheat on a radioactive unicorn with Kenny G. And, none of your business.

USOUNDS: What albums are currently in heavy rotation for you? Are you able to not think about parodying when you are simply trying to kick back and enjoy some funky tunes? Or is parodying more of an innate habit making this impossible?

Weird Al: I can certainly listen to and enjoy music without continually thinking, “Hmm… now how can I screw THIS one up?” I try to listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but my favorite artists would probably fall under the banner of quirky alternative rock – stuff like Ben Folds, Cake, The Presidents of the United States of America…

USOUNDS: You have quite a few friends on MySpace. But Gnarls Barkley has 226,942 more friends than you do right now. There’s really no question here.

Weird Al: Then I really have no answer.

USOUNDS: Rumor has it that when you released Michael Jackson’s parody song “Fat”, he purchased thousands upon thousands of copies of it. When my mom hears about this, she said it was “silly to buy records you’re not going to listen to”. Why does my mom resent your success?

Weird Al: I’ve never heard that rumor before, but if it’s true… wow. And I think your mom is just being rational, so I don’t take any offense at all.

USOUNDS: At what point during the Coolio controversy were you sick of people asking you about the Coolio controversy?

Weird Al: About 3 days into it.

USOUNDS: Flea said your parody of two Red Hot Chili Peppers’ songs “Bedrock Anthem” wasn’t very funny. Would you like to tell him that a 40 year old in his underwear isn’t very funny either? Can we tell him?

Weird Al: Sure, be my guest.

USOUNDS: Your new album, Straight Outta Lynwood was released on September 26th. I read that you take on an R. Kelly song. I know that you are into asking for permission for song parodies, but did you have any trouble with this one, or does Kelly have a better sense of humor than Prince?

Weird Al: R. Kelly was great about it. In fact, he agreed to a lowered publishing rate so that I could afford to include a 12th song on my album. So if you run into him, you can thank him for not only making my R. Kelly parody possible, but also my Taylor Hicks parody.

USOUNDS: Did you enjoy Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet?

Weird Al: Yeah, I thought it was great. It reminded me of one of my own songs – “Albuquerque” – which is extremely convoluted and bizarre and goes on forever. “Trapped In The Closet” is like an R&B “Albuquerque.” It was really a challenge to do a parody of “Trapped” – I mean, how do you make that song more weird and ridiculous than it is already?

USOUNDS: And finally – Weird Al, why do children love to dance?

Weird Al: I’m pretty sure it’s because of a chemical imbalance in their brains.

USOUNDS: Thanks so much, we wish you the best of luck with everything!

Weird Al: No no no no no no no no no no no… thank YOU!!