Rivers Cuomo Collaborates With Jermaine Dupri, Not for Weezer

Posted on Feb 11th 2009 2:00PM by Benjy Eisen
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With the release this past holiday season of Rivers Cuomo's second annual solo album, 'Alone II,' the Weezer frontman is almost -- almost -- crossing into territory reserved for the Ryan Adams and the Conor Obersts of the songwriting world. Not really known for being constantly prolific so much as being a consistent hit maker, Cuomo says that he doesn't write songs thinking they'll end up on a solo release.

"I'm pretty much just always writing the best song I can write and I guess I'm hoping that they'll end up on Weezer records," Cuomo tells Spinner. "But sometimes I finish a song and before I even play it for Weezer, I know that they're not going to dig it."

Case in point: 'Can't Stop Partying,' a song that resulted from a collaboration with, of all people, Jermaine Dupri -- the famed producer best known for his work with hip-hop and R&B artists including Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Usher, Janet Jackson and, well, you get the idea.

"I think it's a great song; I can't stop listening to it," Cuomo says. "But when we finished it, I thought that it was very unlikely the Weezer guys would want to do a song I wrote with Jermaine Dupri."

For songs like that, Cuomo has to go it alone. Or, in this case, 'Alone II.'

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