Sunday, June 19, 2011

black music month video #6 - young mc!

happy juneteenth, everyone! if i were in texas, i'd be singing and dancing to some old school hits in someone's backyard right about now -- and this song would definitely be one of them.

remember this? bust a move by young mc -- still a summertime anthem in my neck of the woods. there's something that's still so infectiously catchy about this little ditty. and i love the look and feel of the video. it's so exuberant and fun and "up". was it the guitar riff that made it so playable on rock stations? who knows...

i especially like it that he wrote the lyrics in his dorm room at usc in 90 minutes. a first draft. boom, just like that. totally makes sense that he was at the songwriting helm for tone-loc's wild thing as well as funky cold medina. all three songs have the same vibe.

young mc was quite young then. he had just finished this song and video, and a ba from usc in economics. his parents made him promise that if nothing happened after a summer spent promoting his album, he'd go to graduate school. boy, did that go up in smoke with a quickness. he even got a grammy for best rap performance.

hm. i wonder if public enemy has a grammy? (makes you wonder what a grammy is worth, doesn't it.)

everyone still plays this song relentlessly. here's hoping young mc owns his publishing.

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