One critic’s view: “Let’s not even focus on how this hot trash became a No. 1 hit. How did it even become a single? … It’s as generic a hit you will hear with no redeeming qualities.” – Troy L. Smith @ Cleveland.com, ranking “Sexy and I Know It” as the worst #1 of the 2010s
The public’s view: 1.70 / 5.00, the second-worst #1 hit of 2012
A novelty record is supposed to be novel. For example, “The Streak” is the only song in recorded history to depict a naked man ruining a basketball game. “Mr. Custer” is the only hit record about a soldier trying to weasel his way out of fighting at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. “Disco Duck” is the only medium in which a man-sized avian does a mating dance with human females, except for that Twerking and Grinding with Big Bird children’s DVD that had to be pulled from the market back in 2009. These past #1 tunes might not be as hilarious as, say, seeing an elderly person tumble down an escalator at the airport, but each is at least based on a creative and unique concept.
Meanwhile, there have been many hits performed by singers who overstate their own personal appeal to the point of comic absurdity. It’s a cliché, not a novelty. Most of these songs are only unintentionally humorous (see “This Is Why I’m Hot”), but Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” was cheeky enough to earn a mild snicker or two. Twenty years after “I’m Too Sexy” topped the charts, the two guys in LMFAO – Redfoo and Sky Blu – decided to wring every last bit of delight from this timeworn concept with “Sexy and I Know It”.
The lyrics of “Sexy and I Know It” might be a little exaggerated, but not to the point of being funny. It is the song’s video that crosses into comedy-like territory, by showing us LMFAO and a few of their friends dancing in their skimpy Speedo briefs on the boardwalk at Venice Beach. Today we recognize this obnoxious behavior as a social problem caused by the failed liberal policies of the People’s Republic of California. The streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and even Rancho Cucamonga are now held hostage by thousands of depraved underwear-clad weirdoes who gyrate lasciviously like the men in that video once did. These individuals also steal cosmetics from Walgreens, defecate in mailboxes, and hound bystanders for money to build a museum of sexual perversion which will be a mandatory field trip destination for the state’s schoolchildren. (I haven’t been to California recently to confirm these reports first-hand, but why would Fox News embellish?) While LMFAO’s underpants antics were mildly amusing in 2012, they proved to be a bleak harbinger of the Golden State’s future.
LMFAO knew that their video needed more than just the bouncing of barely concealed body parts to entice us back for multiple views. It also needed a cavalcade of celebrity cameos, so the duo lined up the best of the best and paid them top dollar to appear in the clip. Here are just a few of the big names you might spot in the “Sexy and I Know It” video: Lalana Poodlekins, Steve Terada, Simon Rex, Wilton Lettuce, Alexis Texas, Alistair Overeem, Nora North Dakota, Shuffle Bot, and Milk Dudley. Actually, I made up four of those names and you probably can’t tell which four. Aside from that list of luminaries, Jamie Foxx makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in a couple of frames. Ron Jeremy also wandered onto the set, perhaps because the combination of immodest attire, feeble acting, and hastily composed music made him feel nostalgic for his early feature films.
Apart from this video, there’s little that separates “Sexy and I Know It” from the other forgettable hits of its era. Is it the worst #1 of the decade, as critic Troy L. Smith says? No, but still I am very glad that I am done writing this post and have no reason to listen to the song ever again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a fresh pair of white Fruit-of-the-Looms that is ready to make its debut on the boardwalk. I hope Alexis Texas and Lalana Poodlekins will be impressed.
No comments:
Post a Comment