If you haven't already heard this on the radio - shame on you! Or shame on whatever town you live in. 'You're A Jerk' by the New Boyz has become a viral video phenomenon in the last couple months. The jerk is this year's Superman. And if you didn't know, watch the video because you're already behind.
Just to offer a little background information: the song, 'You're A Jerk' was made to accompany the dance ('jerkin' - not to be confused with 'krumpin' or 'jookin' which are completely different things) after the dance had already become popular in California - but really, it's hard to trace exactly where it might have first sprang up. All you need to know is that the dance - despite being old - is finally developing notoriety. And it's hot as hell right now.
The dance, the song and the high school artists behind it, a duo who calls themselves the New Boyz, are also introducing something else new this summer. The scene kid movement is slowly infiltrating rap, for the very first time. Yes, I know the scene kid thing isn't new. But this is the first time (to my knowledge) that it's crossed over into black culture. And if you'll click here, you can read about how a mini-series/documentary called Skinny Jeans: The Movement (which is more about the music and the new counterculture than the clothes) is underway.
Just a year ago it probably would have been considered extremely taboo, or 'gay' for a guy who looks like the boys in the 'You're A Jerk' video to wear sagging skinny jeans, shiny belts, silk screened cartoon character t-shirts and huge plastic jewelry (IE - Kidrobot-like chains) in contrast to the 'real' expensive crap usually associated with rappers and the rap culture, like diamond chains, booty shorts and Pelle Pelle button downs.
The usual racist comments have been flying high on YouTube - which doesn't surprise me - however, what seems to be the most shocking is this belief that scene looks, like skinny jeans, aren't for black people and that they didn't 'make it look right' in the video. Whether it 'looks right' or not, I give it a couple more months before it's the hot new thing across the nation. Then it won't matter if it looks right or not.
Oh and don't miss the Tyga cameo two minutes in!
Labels: New Boyz, Scene, The Big Thing, Tyga, video, You're A Jerk