Kelis Appears in Michael Cera’s Short Film, ‘Brazzaville Teen-Ager’

Although Michael Cera is known for his roles in 'Arrested Development,' 'Juno' and 'Superbad,' he's recently been flexing his directing muscles. In his new short film, 'Brazzaville Teen-Ager,' a movie adaptation of Jay Friedman’s 1966 black comedy, Cera convinces his boss to record backup vocals for a new Kelis song in order to save his ailing father.

"The only thing that could possibly save my father is if you sing the backup vocals on a Kelis recording -- doing the 'oooh ooh oohs' and every other line of the chorus," Cera asks his boss.

According to Cera's character, Gunther, the track, also entitled 'Brazzaville Teen-Ager,' is about "Kelis writing a letter to her boyfriend saying how nice it was to spend the summer with him and how sad she is now that he's been sent and stationed in Brazzaville." Another track on this supposed album is 'Far-off Timbuktu,' which was originally called 'Far-off Mali' but changed due to possible sexual orientation allegations.

Although hesitant, his boss agrees to the request and gets in the studio with Kelis, who appears in the film. Former Das Racist member Heem also makes a cameo in the short, playing a sound engineer during the recording of the song. The short is saturated with dry humor, which we're used to getting from Cera, but what's funnier is how we are led to believe that this collaboration actually exists.

As the first film off JASH -- Cera's new YouTube network with fellow comedians Sarah Silverman, Tim Heidecker, Eric Warehaim, and Reggie Watts -- this is a 19-plus minute clip that will break up your work day or be a short visual that gives you some laughs.

Watch Kelis in 'Brazzaville Teen-Ager'