Mike Cation knows that I can be a bit square, and he was right when he sent me the You Tube video for 13 year-old Rebecca Black's "Friday." By the time I saw it, 18 milion other views had been racked up - apparenly everyone else in the world had seen it BUT me.
If you don't know what I'm talking about (that IS possible), click HERE to watch.
I watched the video last night. My first thought was that it was catchy and cute (ala Justin Bieber, Rebecca's idol)...then I heard the lyrics and thought, "okay, this has to be a joke." I read today that some people suspect it could be a viral prank, along the lines of Joaquin Phoenix's so-called performance art. "Nothing this perfectly horrible could be unintentional," one commenter recently told Rolling Stone. The lyrics are so dumb they're funny:
"Kickin’ in the front seat
Sittin’ in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?"
I also love the part where she runs down the days in order.
"Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday...
Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after...wards"
Haters have posted vicious things about the 13 year-old and the song. It's disgusting how the anonymity of the internet brings the worst out in people who'd NEVER (have the guts to) say anything face-to-face. But Rebecca has her share of fans, too. Chris Brown: "Honest opinion? It was great. I'll be jammin' to it on Friday, Friday," he sang. Simon Cowell called the song "brilliant." I think he's mostly just enjoying how angry some people are at its success.
How did "Friday!" come to be? Here's how it all happened, according to Bohemian:
The answer is Ark Music Factory, a Los Angeles-based company operating as an industry hybrid of Maurice Starr and John Bennett Ramsey. Their casting calls are perfect bait for starry-eyed parents: “If you are a great singer without any material and you want to get discovered,” one reads, “then Ark Music Factory is looking for you.”
The formula is simple: They’ll fly your child between the specified ages of 13-17 to Los Angeles, write her a “hit,” record it in super-compressed Autotuned production, shoot an edge detection-overlay video and BAM! Maybe your kid can notch up a couple thousand YouTube views while you watch your dreams of being a pop-star parent percolate.
Does that explain Willow Smith?
So, all that aside - what's to say about the song/video? It made me smile and even laugh a little. Totally ignorant, but fun. I might even put it on my MP3 player. I don't care how it came about or what her parents' motives are - we are in the age of self-promotion and internet superstars. Plenty of people rely on auto-tune because they're really not very good underneath all the production. The girl is THIRTEEN! What do you expect, really? Charlotte Church?
Just laugh and sing along. If she becomes a star, it's because we bought her crap and allowed it to happen.
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