Song #6: "Weird Al" Yankovic - "White & Nerdy" (2006)
Straight Outta Lynwood
"I'm nerdy in the extreme and whiter than sour cream."
I was introduced to the massively talented parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic by a friend in middle school, where I was completely amazed by his, then, most recent album Straight Outta Lynwood. Being that the only parody artist I knew at the time was Cledus T. Judd, and even he was all over the place in terms of quality, Yankovic stood out as somebody who could make a competent and hilarious parody song, while rarely making the song repetitive. He'd do things like change up the chorus, change the lyrical structure of the song, and never become too dirty in his material, effectively being a mostly-clean, genial singer who just wanted to have a little fun with mainstream.
"White & Nerdy" is probably Yankovic's most successful single in the 2000's, for I scarcely remember the last time I heard a parody song quoted so extensively and even gain airplay on the radio. The song is a parody of the Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bones' hit song "Ridin'," an intriguing gem of rap music concerning police and racial profiling. "White & Nerdy" is far less political, creating a song about the eccentric and goofy things white people do, like attend Renaissance Fairs, ride segways, and code computers for fun.
Yankovic keeps up with the breakneck speed of the song by never slowing down or pausing, and maintaining complete control of the lyrics of the song and the collection of ideas he is trying to get out there. On top of that, I'm not sure there's a better song by Yankovic to begin your descent into parody madness. The song takes a fairly popular, known song and puts an incredible creative spin on it. "White & Nerdy" kicked off a mad "Weird Al" addiction for me, as I went out and bought every single one of his albums, all of whom I still have today, and even attended his concert in Merriville, Indiana at the Star Plaza Theater with my mother on July 5th, 2008. Even with all those credentials, I'm still proud to say I listen to "Weird Al" quite frequently and consider him one of the most fun artists working today.
Give "White & Nerdy" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw
"White & Nerdy" is probably Yankovic's most successful single in the 2000's, for I scarcely remember the last time I heard a parody song quoted so extensively and even gain airplay on the radio. The song is a parody of the Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bones' hit song "Ridin'," an intriguing gem of rap music concerning police and racial profiling. "White & Nerdy" is far less political, creating a song about the eccentric and goofy things white people do, like attend Renaissance Fairs, ride segways, and code computers for fun.
Yankovic keeps up with the breakneck speed of the song by never slowing down or pausing, and maintaining complete control of the lyrics of the song and the collection of ideas he is trying to get out there. On top of that, I'm not sure there's a better song by Yankovic to begin your descent into parody madness. The song takes a fairly popular, known song and puts an incredible creative spin on it. "White & Nerdy" kicked off a mad "Weird Al" addiction for me, as I went out and bought every single one of his albums, all of whom I still have today, and even attended his concert in Merriville, Indiana at the Star Plaza Theater with my mother on July 5th, 2008. Even with all those credentials, I'm still proud to say I listen to "Weird Al" quite frequently and consider him one of the most fun artists working today.
Give "White & Nerdy" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw
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