It’s Important You Remember That Joe Pesci Is a Rapper

"It’s the b****** that’ll get ya."

There are many pleasures to be found in Martin Scorsese’s groundbreaking new Netflix film The Irishman (getting a select run in cinemas as we speak). But chief among them has to be the return of retired Oscar-winning thespian (and Home Alone star) Joe Pesci.

As we wrote in our review of the 209-minute gangster epic, "Pesci brings an inscrutable stillness here, as a man who's threatening for his unsaid insinuations, and the power we and he know he can wield." He could very well be in line for his second Oscar because of it.

But who cares about that because Pesci today announced the release of a new album, which reminded us that, oh yeah, 76-year-old Joe Pesci is a rapper!

Anyone who’s seen Jersey Boys will know Pesci was friends with Franki Valli and the Four Seasons back in the day. In fact, before he was known as a diminutive yet imposing acting powerhouse, he was Little Joe, and he even released an album of standards titled Little Joe Sure Can Sing in 1968.

It would be 30 years until he dropped another record, which he did in the persona of his character from My Cousin Vinny. The album, Vincent Laguardia Gambini Sings for You, isn’t as well regarded as his performances (and that includes his turn in Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag), but it did provide him with an outlet to rap about being a gangster, bribing jurors and burying people alive.

He does all of that—and much more—on "Wise Guy", a hip-hop brag co-written by Cory Rooney, who also penned Jennifer Lopez’ "Love Don’t Cost a Thing" and Destiny’s Child’s "Independent Woman" (ever heard of 'em?).

So, as we welcome Pesci back, let us enjoy (the extremely explicit) "Wise Guy", in which he informs us "it’s the b***** that’ll get ya".