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Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Something "Solid" >
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
September 2006
HEATHER HEADLEY: 'March'ing On
WOOD HARRIS:  What Happened With 'The Wire'?
ALICIA KEYS: Playing 'Mommy'
BONE CRUSHER: Larger Than Life
TAVIS SMILEY: A 'Sure' Thing
THIS JUST IN: Ol' Dirty Bastard's Grand Finale
WAYNE BRADY: Tube Talk
FANTASIA: Family Feud
THIS JUST IN: Making Whoopi In Harlem
WHITNEY HOUSTON: Ready For Business
ED GORDON: Back On The Block
Notable/Quotable: Oprah Winfrey
AARON MCGRUDER: The New Dave Chappelle?
KATE MOSS: The Beeyotch Is B(l)ack
RAVEN: In Vogue, In Wal-Mart And In The Giving Spirit
BEYONCE: Back To Her Roots
MISS NEW YORK: Bitch's Brew
NINA SIMONE: Some "R&R" For The Legend
THIS JUST IN: Holly Robinson Peete Gets A Nod
MOBO AWARDS: The Truth About Beyonce
QUEEN LATIFAH: Give It To Em Queen
JAY-Z: In Good Company
USHER: Taking A Big Bite Out Of The Apple
2006 BLACK MOVIE AWARDS: And The Nominees Are
TYLER PERRY: HOST WITH THE MOST
WANDA SYKES: She Works Hard For The Money
Something "Solid" To Hit The Stage
Guess Who's B(l)ack
Notable/Quotable: Natalie Cole
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: Hot Damn!!!
BOOTZ: Is She Really The One?
RAHEEM DEVAUGHN: Road Warrior
CIARA: Ready To Give Us Some More
JANET JACKSON: Number One Stunner
Oprah For President? Hell No!!!
Diddy: Track By Track
"Sizing" Things Up With Scott Poulson Bryant
SHERYL LEE RALPH: The Show Must Go On
ISAIAH WASHINGTON: Big Brother
CHAMILLIONAIRE: "Ridin'" High
TYRA BANKS: About Her Business
Notable/Quotable: Rachael Ray
Whitney Houston Film Festival: Gone With "The Wind"
The Whitney Houston Film Festival: Family Reunion
The Whitney Houston Film Festival: On the couch
The Whitney Houston Film Festival: Kick-off
WHITNEY HOUSTON UPDATE: Court Docs Revealed
LLOYD BANKS: "Inspired by Tupac"
THIS JUST IN: Splitsville for Whitney & Bobby
LIONEL RICHIE: Look Who's Talking
BEYONCE: Still Number One!
'The Wire' Remains Intact
Notable/Quotable: Lewis Black
JAMIROQUAI: What In The World: When Hasbeen Pop Stars Attack!!!
Road Show: Neo-Soul Style
FLAVOR FLAV: Oh Negro Please
The Drama Chronicles: "Blame It On Beyonce"
CHRISTINA AGUILERA: Ummmmmmmmmmmmm
September 11, 2001: Do You Remember?
WENDY WILLIAMS: You Can't Handle "The Truth"
Feeling A Little Like Oprah
Remembering Katrina a Little More
MOS DEF: Bushwhacked !!!
Bitch Slapped: When Mainstream Media Attack
S.O.T.S.: Spotted on the Streets
MIKE JONES: Keeping Up With The Jones
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS: Who Was The Boss?
« September 2006 Archive
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
4:22:00 PM EDT
Feeling Happy
Hearing "Beep" by The Pussycat Dolls featuring will.i.am

Guess Who's B(l)ack


By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

Your eyes aren't deceiving you.

And this is no joke.

"Weird Al" Yankovic -- one of the biggest culture vultures known to pop music-- has struck again. 

This time, the 47-year-old satirist is taking on rap music (again) in the form of his new single "White & Nerdy," which is a parody of "Ridin' (Dirty)" by platinum-selling hip-hop star Chamillionaire.

See the video here.

Yankovic has made a career of these antics. 

And it's been quite a successful run, too.

In 1984, he released "Eat It," a spoof of Michael Jackson's hit song "Beat It."  The track garnered Yankovic a Grammy Award (for Best Comedy Album).

Bolstered by the immense popularity of his imitative music videos, gold and platinum selling certifications befell the southern California native. 

Another Jackson parody, "Fat" ("Bad"), netted  another Grammy Award win.  Spoofs of Madonna ("Like A Surgeon"), James Brown ("Living With A Hernia"), Eminem ("Couch Potato") and Los Lobos ("Lasagna") are also a part of his vast repertoire.

But with the good comes the bad.

"Amish Paradise," his spoof of Coolio's 1995 Grammy Award winning anthem (from the film 'Dangerous Minds') was met with controversy. While the west coast rapper's record label gave Yankovic their blessings to ape the song, Coolio (who at the time was larger than life) took offense to it.  The gospel-inflected song (which sampled Stevie Wonder's classic "Pastime Paradise") had a very inspirational message.

A lawsuit never materialized and the two artists didn't make-up until earlier this year -- more than a decade later.  "I don’t remember what we said to each other exactly, but it was all very friendly," Yankovic reportedly wrote on his website. "I doubt I’ll be invited to Coolio’s next birthday party, but at least I can stop wearing that bulletproof vest to the mall."

He also recently attempted to satirize James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" --with a song called "You're Pitiful"-- but Atlantic Records (Blunt's label) put the kibosh on that.

Chamillionaire, on the other hand, who was nominated for an American Music Award in the "Favorite New Breakthrough Artist" category yesterday, is with the program.

"[This] parody definitely gives 'Ridin' the mega-record status," he told The BV Newswire. "Weird Al has done parodies for the biggest mega-stars in the game and to put me in that category is crazy when you think about the fact that less than a year ago I was a new artist to the mainstream. The song made history when it became the first rap record to ever hit 3 million ringtones sold.... and its still hard to believe the record has become that big."



Written by bvnewswire Blog about this entry
This entry has 36 comments: (Add your own)
  • #36 Comment from sterlynette 
    10/25/06 3:55 AM Permalink
    weird al, you just keep us laughing. i think the songs are funny and if you can make money off of doing music like that,shit i would too.plus half of these musicians are a joke anyway. so just keep the laugh's coming cause i'm waiting for more.
  • #35 Comment from mikeepps24 
    10/3/06 2:07 PM Permalink
    THEY SEE ME ROLLINNNNNNNNNNN...THEY HATINNNNNNNNNNNN..PATROLINNNN...TRYIN TO CATCH ME RIDIN DIRTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.THANKS WEIRD AL,AND THE REST OF THE WORLD FOR EMBRACING THE LONG STAR STATE[houston tx.]AND OUR STYLE,AND WAY OF LIFE.A BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE EAST AND WEST COAST,AND OTHER RAPPERS AROUND THE WORLD.NO MATTER WHAT HOOD OR STATE YOU SPITTIN HOT 16'S FOR OR REPPIN.ITS ALL ENTERTAINMENT........BIRDMAN JR.
  • #34 Comment from men2lchild 
    10/3/06 3:33 AM Permalink
    Dang! I thought my comment was cheesy! but from saying
    "yo homie keep doing anti rap" which it's not and it's seems
    that you're anti-I can't write a complete sentence, to Weird Al being somebodys "nigger" which btw though I don't use the word, but it's "nigga" with an "a" not an "er" some of you people need to light a spliff or pop a pill or something.  Life is too short and too interesting to have all these silly hang ups on just one man.
  • #33 Comment from bigmoreid 
    10/3/06 2:45 AM Permalink
    Weird Al is a freaking joke and a disgrace to all forms of music.Its time for him to retire and quit making a fool of himself
  • #32 Comment from akmyricks 
    10/3/06 2:30 AM Permalink
    I grew up listening to Weird Al's parody songs and this one is my favorite! Chamillionaire's song is my favorite song out right now, but Weird Al's version is a close second. This is his best parody yet! I can't wait for the next one.
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