Like, OMG Baby

July 5, 2010 9:57 PM

San Francisco-based DJ Earworm is best known for his end-of-year "United State of Pop" Billboard top 25 mashups: 2007, 2008, 2009. But in the "off season" he continues to mash popular songs into fun concotions. His latest, "Like, OMG Baby" is a reinvention of Justin Bieber's "Baby," and was shown at Wembley Stadium in London for Capital FM’s 2010 Summertime Ball , where all fifteen of the artists featured on the track performed on June 6th. His official website has videos and free, downloadable MP3's.

DJ Earworm: Previously on Metafilter

Free MP3 Download for "Like, OMG Baby is here.

Videos (Some of these are fan-made.)

* Like OMG Baby: alternate link
* Annie Lennox: Backwards / Forwards
* Sean Kingston: A Beautiful Mashup
* Kelly Clarkson vs. Coldplay: My Life Would Suck Without You in My Place
* The Fray (Covering Kanye West), Black Eyed Peas, Police, 2Pac: Heartless (In A Bottle)
* Beyonce vs. Tom Petty: If I Were A Free Fallin' Boy
* Jennifer Lopez: I Like the Way Jenny Scrubs
* Since U Been Gahan
* No More Gas:
* Together As One
* Rolling Stones vs. Moguai & Tocodisco: Gimme Shelter Freaks
* Kanye vs Radiohead: Reckoner Lockdown
* No-One Takes Your Freedom
* What's My Name
* Nelly Furtado vs. The Egg vs. Madonna: Say It Right Away
* Paula's Smokin' Kelly's Doobie (Quality not great on this one)

Audio Only
* Funky Goes to Hollywood
* Just Dance to New Order
* Gimme Freaks
* Got to Give Up the Dancefloor
* Intergalactic Human
* Low Lovin'
* Bust a Noise

More can be found here.

posted by zarq (25 comments total)

Artists included on the "Baby" track:

* Alexandra Burke - All Night Long
* Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love
* Chipmunk feat. Esmee Denters - Until You Were Gone
* Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers
* Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed
* Jason Derulo - In My Head
* JLS - One Shot
* Justin Bieber - Baby
* Ke$ha - Tik Tok
* Pixie Lott - Mama Do
* Rihanna - Rude Boy
* Scouting For Girls - This Ain’t a Love Song
* Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
* Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG
* The Wanted - All Time Low
posted by zarq at 10:01 PM on July 5, 2010

DJ Earworm is quite possibly the best mashup artist out there right now. I can't really say anyone else is on the same level of making tracks as creatively or coherently as he does. This one was as good as ever, but it's still hard to follow up Blame It On The Pop.

If you're looking to support him (and interested in creating something of your own), his book is a great introduction to it all. Bought it a few years back and didn't regret it at all.
posted by flatluigi at 10:05 PM on July 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

flatluigi, I was introduced to him by your 2008 post. Thanks. :)

Thanks for pointing out his book. I hadn't realized it existed.
posted by zarq at 10:09 PM on July 5, 2010

Funny, I was just thinking of his 2007 & 2008 top 25 mashups a couple of days ago, & seeking those out reminded me that "No More Gas" wasn't too shabby either.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:12 PM on July 5, 2010

Nice work, I hadn't heard the latest song, thanks for that! I'm always amazed that he manages to take all those songs, and turn them into something a little bit bittersweet, a little bit reflective, a little bit melancholy - and yet still a whole lot of fun.
posted by ErikaB at 10:17 PM on July 5, 2010

One thing that's incredible is his ability to improve on the originals (often making the worst pop tripe halfway listenable) without incurring the wrath of any of the 'artists' he's improving... what is he, Weird Al's illegitimate son?
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:44 PM on July 5, 2010

He really is the best at taking godawful songs and turning them into something beyond beautiful. Thanks for the link to the book, I can't wait to read it.
posted by shinybaum at 10:48 PM on July 5, 2010

So, he's undeniably a good masher-upper, and I like his mixes. My only complain, though, is that they tend to have the same tonal quality. They're hard to distinguish -- if he made them a bit more dynamic, I'd enjoy them a lot more.
posted by spiderskull at 11:05 PM on July 5, 2010

he came to my first dj gig in hollywood a few years back, which just about floored me...he even came up to talk to me for a bit, and, well, omg, does it help if i tell you that not only is he freakishly talented, he's really fuckin' cute and sweet as all hell to boot...

*sigh*
posted by sexyrobot at 11:30 PM on July 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

Like spiderskull, I enjoy his talent, but some of this mainstream stuff is so mediocre that even he can't save them from themselves.
posted by june made him a gemini at 12:29 AM on July 6, 2010

I'd listen to that. But then I would have knowingly heard some of Justin Bieber's music. So clearly that can't happen. I'm sure it's good though.
posted by delmoi at 1:05 AM on July 6, 2010

When I hear the individual tracks from the billboard compilations I'm invariably disappointed at hiow bland they are. I'd like a DJ Earworm filter for my earphones please?

Any Mash-up thread needs a Party Ben big up. Ok, and SoundHog while I'm at it.
posted by Molesome at 3:06 AM on July 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Is this something that I would have to listen to popular music to understand?

And is the heavy use of autotune an artifact of the mashup or do all the songs have the same vocoder feeling?
posted by autopilot at 4:39 AM on July 6, 2010

Whenever a mashup from, say, 2005 (when I first came across them) comes up on shuffle, I'm always amazed at how horrible it is. And yet I remember being so enamored with them when they came out. At the time, I was all like Oh Em Gee, Hollaback Prayer! Madonna vs. Gwen! NIN vs. the Spice Girls! Eminem_V's_Blondie [sic]! They were really just concepts, uh, just mashed together. So painful and stilted. I like a concept, but to fill it out with talent can't be beat.

We're so spoiled now, folks.
posted by bobobox at 5:23 AM on July 6, 2010

Is this something that I would have to listen to popular music to understand?

Not really, because I stopped listening to new pop years ago and I get a lot of mashups.

I feel like a bad mashup fan because I don't get the US of Pop mashups. They're technically great, don't get me wrong, but on a gut/shake my bootie level they don't ever make want to dance (or listen again). If there's a place where my lack of pop music knowledge kills me, it may be the US of Pop mashups, for all that I really like a lot of the rest of his work.
posted by immlass at 6:50 AM on July 6, 2010

So I had never seen or heard Justin Beiber before this, just lesbians who look like him... because of Metafilter. So I watch the video & am creeped out by how young he seems... So I visit his wikipedia page to find out how old he is & I read this:

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in Stratford, Ontario. Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant with her son.

So I'm older than his mom. This is the first time this has happened to me. I just got used to being older than the pretty female lead actor in randommediathing. Now I have to get used to being older than their parents. Thanks Metafilter.
posted by ServSci at 8:23 AM on July 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

I've always wondered what the big deal was with DJs who play mash-ups of other people's works, and the popularity said DJs have. Aren't they just riding on someone else's coat tails?

But I listened to these, and I really like what DJ Earworm (aptly named) has done with the music. There's a real feel for the melodies here.

Looks like I need to open my mind and familiarize myself with this genre a bit more.

Downloading now. Thanks!
posted by misha at 8:43 AM on July 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

DJ Dumbass
posted by DieHipsterDie at 12:02 PM on July 6, 2010

His Brazilian Diamonds (Paul Simon vs. Django Reinhardt) is the opening track on my current preferred playlist.
posted by Stan Carey at 12:23 PM on July 6, 2010

Tangentially related: The White Panda has recently released its second mixtape. I am just listening to it, but I give their first (Versus) a solid A-. I also highly recommend Toronto-based DJ 7777777 Life Support, if you can track down Mixtape #1 or #2 (notably moments include Muppets Christmas Carol + Kanye, 50 Cent + The Knife, Yeah Yeah Yeahs + Arcade Fire + Kanye).
posted by quadrilaterals at 12:58 PM on July 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

These are fantastic, especially the brilliant British sounds from Like OMG Baby, it sounds like Radio 1's playlist mashed together!
posted by ellieBOA at 2:15 PM on July 6, 2010

I would call Earworm number 2, behind Norwegian Recycling. But that is a matter of personal taste.

That being said, they are both brilliant.
posted by cerulgalactus at 7:12 PM on July 6, 2010

Holy shit, Blame it on the pop is friggin' genius.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 7:58 PM on July 6, 2010

doublehappy, never underestimate the bandwidth of a former Soviet bus trolley loaded with 8" floppies. Actually, you could probably pretty well estimate it since they move at a consistent speed. And over an unvarying route. But what if they were 3.5" floppies? Or if the trolley was accelerating at 1 g? Or if the floppies were double density? And don't forget about Moore's law! Glasnost?
posted by autopilot at 8:35 PM on July 6, 2010

That Tom Petty/Beyonce mashup is too good. I don't believe it.
posted by yeti at 3:00 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]