Why Is OMI’s “Cheerleader” No. 1?
July 21, 2015 7:32 AM Subscribe
A look at the current #1 Single on the billboard charts, Omi - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
Truthfully, American music obsessives are more concerned with questions of reggae legitimacy than are actual Jamaicans. As the sharp critic and Jamaica-based scholar Erin MacLeod pointed out in a recent Guardian article, Jamaicans care little about authenticity and unabashedly love cheesy anglo-pop like Air Supply and Michael Bolton. In the 21st century, the people policing the borders of what qualifies as “real” reggae tend to be white critics. Add OMI to the list of Jamaicans untroubled by reggae legitimacy. He prefers to call his global megahit “world music.” That might sound like an imprecise, jargony term. But if any song deserves to be called world music right now, it’s “Cheerleader”—a song written by a Jamaican but turned into a smash by a young German producer whom OMI has never met. It’s also world music because, in 2015, the world’s music is electronic dance music, and the hit version of “Cheerleader” arguably has as much to do with EDM as it does reggae.
Truthfully, American music obsessives are more concerned with questions of reggae legitimacy than are actual Jamaicans. As the sharp critic and Jamaica-based scholar Erin MacLeod pointed out in a recent Guardian article, Jamaicans care little about authenticity and unabashedly love cheesy anglo-pop like Air Supply and Michael Bolton. In the 21st century, the people policing the borders of what qualifies as “real” reggae tend to be white critics. Add OMI to the list of Jamaicans untroubled by reggae legitimacy. He prefers to call his global megahit “world music.” That might sound like an imprecise, jargony term. But if any song deserves to be called world music right now, it’s “Cheerleader”—a song written by a Jamaican but turned into a smash by a young German producer whom OMI has never met. It’s also world music because, in 2015, the world’s music is electronic dance music, and the hit version of “Cheerleader” arguably has as much to do with EDM as it does reggae.
Heard this on the radio last week and kept wondering why this wasn't already a Fountains of Wayne song. Because it sounds exactly like it should be the B-side to "Stacey's Mom."
posted by Maaik at 7:50 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Maaik at 7:50 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
This song just does everything "right": it has the elements of a top 40 song combined with summery and laid-back lyrics/feel and it's very well produced. Personally, I can't stand it but its popularity isn't surprising.
When I pulled top the spotify global top 40 (I don't normally heed the charts often) a few weeks ago, this was probably my least favorite song.
Production quality and familiarity trump all other qualities in the charts.
posted by mikeo2 at 7:51 AM on July 21, 2015
When I pulled top the spotify global top 40 (I don't normally heed the charts often) a few weeks ago, this was probably my least favorite song.
Production quality and familiarity trump all other qualities in the charts.
posted by mikeo2 at 7:51 AM on July 21, 2015
I hadn't heard this song, but lately have been finding "Honey, I'm Good" inescapable on the radio, so maybe this is the summer of monogamy? Like how last year everything was about butts.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:55 AM on July 21, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:55 AM on July 21, 2015 [8 favorites]
I'm trying to figure out what assumptions this article thinks it is disabusing us of, and failing. Why wouldn't this cookie-cutter Top 40 song be #1? When has "authenticity" ever mattered in the slightest on the pop charts? Why is it remarkable that a German producer mixed it? Help me here.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:58 AM on July 21, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Navelgazer at 7:58 AM on July 21, 2015 [5 favorites]
I like this song.
posted by billjings at 8:01 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by billjings at 8:01 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
I think you can go back further with Germans and Jamaica with Boney M, the 1970's reggae crossover created by Frank Farian (who later went on to invent Milli Vanilli).
It is interesting the article references UB40 as the first who "begat" reggae crossover, discounting Bob Marley, who's first albums were recorded by studio musicians in London.
Love this track and really enjoyed the article.
posted by remlapm at 8:02 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
It is interesting the article references UB40 as the first who "begat" reggae crossover, discounting Bob Marley, who's first albums were recorded by studio musicians in London.
Love this track and really enjoyed the article.
posted by remlapm at 8:02 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was worried something bland and safe like this might happen when the Pass the Dutchie kids grew up.
posted by chavenet at 8:03 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by chavenet at 8:03 AM on July 21, 2015
I think it's fairly evident why this song is so popular. I kinda like it, but I definitely see it growing old quickly due to overexposure. On a related note, this cracked article may explain some things as well. 6 Ways Music Controls Your Life
posted by Debaser626 at 8:08 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by Debaser626 at 8:08 AM on July 21, 2015
The Planet Money Podcast looked into what goes into making "The song of the summer" a few years back.
posted by Captain_Science at 8:17 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Captain_Science at 8:17 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
i am for any and all pop hits that increase the number of trumpet players who are able to find work.
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:19 AM on July 21, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:19 AM on July 21, 2015 [10 favorites]
The lyrics are pretty dumb but damn, the production is gorgeous and arrangement is refreshingly simple. No superfluous risers, drops, or wubs, and some well-played live instruments to boot. Even the autotune kinda works.
posted by STFUDonnie at 8:24 AM on July 21, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by STFUDonnie at 8:24 AM on July 21, 2015 [6 favorites]
Wow. This is super fun. I want to hear this while lounging on a beach with a drink.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:30 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:30 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
This white guy would never try and tell anyone what "real" reggae is or isn't, but I pretty much haaaaaate everything I hear at my favourite Jamaican restaurant. "A reggae skank so basic it could have come from a Garage Band preset" pretty much sums most of it up.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:30 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:30 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm just thankful there are no "yeah-ee-yaa-ee-ya-ee-yaaa"s in it.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:31 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:31 AM on July 21, 2015
I hadn't heard this song, but lately have been finding "Honey, I'm Good" inescapable on the radio, so maybe this is the summer of monogamy?
I mean, I guess it qualifies, but 'If I had another drink I would totally go home with another girl' is a pretty terrible definition of monogamy.
posted by graventy at 8:39 AM on July 21, 2015 [8 favorites]
I mean, I guess it qualifies, but 'If I had another drink I would totally go home with another girl' is a pretty terrible definition of monogamy.
posted by graventy at 8:39 AM on July 21, 2015 [8 favorites]
I searched out the original: the remix does improve the song, but the original video is better - there, his cheerleader is a (jokingly literal) "partner in crime" rather than sitting on the sidelines.
posted by jb at 8:47 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by jb at 8:47 AM on July 21, 2015
It's not a bad song, but I am always amused by it when I hear it because I called my grandmother Omi and the thought of her singing this is just amusing.
posted by cuscutis at 9:01 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by cuscutis at 9:01 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
The song is catchy, inoffensive, summertime pop, but the singing has been autotuned within an inch of its life, which more and more sounds like somebody reenacting Demosthenes's mouth pebbles.
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:04 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:04 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm totally ok with the "summer of monogamy." More please!
posted by yeolcoatl at 9:06 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by yeolcoatl at 9:06 AM on July 21, 2015
The lyrics are pretty dumb but damn, the production is gorgeous and arrangement is refreshingly simple. No superfluous risers, drops, or wubs, and some well-played live instruments to boot. Even the autotune kinda works.
The gap between how bad the lyrics/autotune are and how good the production and instrumentation are is so large that I wish I had no understanding of English, because then I would adore this song.
Upon listening to the original, I think if the remix took a cue and slowed down the pace/robot autotuning a little, while keeping the beautiful horns and piano, it would actually be perfect.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:21 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
The gap between how bad the lyrics/autotune are and how good the production and instrumentation are is so large that I wish I had no understanding of English, because then I would adore this song.
Upon listening to the original, I think if the remix took a cue and slowed down the pace/robot autotuning a little, while keeping the beautiful horns and piano, it would actually be perfect.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:21 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm with OMI. I've listened to enough ska, reggae, dub and dancehall in my day and this isn't any of those so much as it's 'world music'. If you really want to hear what German's can do with reggae, you have to listen to Seeed.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:34 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:34 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
I hadn't heard this and...meh, each to their own. But can I complain here about the fact that in the original video the women all seem to have remembered to get fully dressed and in the remix they are wearing very little and twerking in my face from early doors? Cos I'm gonna.
posted by billiebee at 9:42 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by billiebee at 9:42 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
I only just heard this song on Beats 1 yesterday, and had no idea it was a big hit until whoever was DJing at the time said it was at the top of the charts and had OMI on for an interview. I'm not a huge fan of it, but OMI seemed like a nice, down to earth guy who's pretty prosaic about his (sort of) sudden success. He mentioned that he had written the song way back in 2008 or so.
Incidentally, I'm doing some tedious stuff at work this week and last week, so I've been listening to Beats 1 nonstop, and I'd say it's to its credit that I've only heard Cheerleader 2-3 times. If it was commercial radio, no doubt I'd hear it once every hour and hate it.
posted by yasaman at 10:09 AM on July 21, 2015
Incidentally, I'm doing some tedious stuff at work this week and last week, so I've been listening to Beats 1 nonstop, and I'd say it's to its credit that I've only heard Cheerleader 2-3 times. If it was commercial radio, no doubt I'd hear it once every hour and hate it.
posted by yasaman at 10:09 AM on July 21, 2015
Summer 2016: monogamous butts.
posted by Fig at 10:14 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Fig at 10:14 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
The line about "white critics" and their search for authenticity reminds me of a story - on the radio, I think I heard it - that a person told about their trip to Jamaica. In the taxi, they mentioned that they were from Canada, and the taxi driver got all excited about this great new music from Canada that you just have to listen to! The teller of the story said that they were excitedly looking forward to hearing some underground ex-pat reggae beats that had made their way back to the motherland.
The taxi driver cranked up the volume, put the music on, and out belted Celine Dion.
posted by clawsoon at 11:26 AM on July 21, 2015 [8 favorites]
The taxi driver cranked up the volume, put the music on, and out belted Celine Dion.
posted by clawsoon at 11:26 AM on July 21, 2015 [8 favorites]
hadn't heard this song, but lately have been finding "Honey, I'm Good" inescapable on the radio, so maybe this is the summer of monogamy?
Honey I'm Good ... which seems to get its style from some sort of awful country hoedown music ... has me reaching to change the station faster than any song in memory. How does crap like that become popular? I can't believe the public's taste is so bad... and I don't think the public's taste is good.
I'm similarly mystified by the success of that horrid Maroon5 song "Sugar." There's no way that song's airplay reflects its actual popularity among listeners.
posted by jayder at 11:30 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
So is this the song of the summer? Past songs of the summer were better pop songs. California Gurls, great pop song. Same with Blurred Lines and Get Lucky. Maybe I need to sit with it for a while.
posted by persona au gratin at 11:32 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 11:32 AM on July 21, 2015
The autotune frequency shifts are pretty much destroying my ability to like this song.
Too bad, it's kind of catchy.
posted by rocket88 at 11:39 AM on July 21, 2015
Too bad, it's kind of catchy.
posted by rocket88 at 11:39 AM on July 21, 2015
persona au gratin: "So is this the song of the summer? "
I think Trap Queen has already been anointed thus, no?
posted by Rock Steady at 11:47 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think Trap Queen has already been anointed thus, no?
posted by Rock Steady at 11:47 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wow, the original is really carrying some Bobby McFerrin "Don't Worry Be Happy" vibe, with some added UB40 swing.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:56 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by filthy light thief at 11:56 AM on July 21, 2015
Save the Cheerleader, Save the World.
and they ARE reviving that show this fall... coincidence?
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:58 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
and they ARE reviving that show this fall... coincidence?
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:58 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hmmm, I thought less about the "summer of monogamy" when I paid attention to the lyrics, and more about the emotional labor thread. I'm glad you recognize her emotional labor, OMI, but what are you doing for her (besides thinking of maybe someday popping the question and not cheating)?
posted by TwoStride at 12:06 PM on July 21, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by TwoStride at 12:06 PM on July 21, 2015 [6 favorites]
Another three chord deal, like thousands of others before it ("La Bamba", etc.) Pop music is forgetting all about chord progressions. The simpletons have won. And they don't give a damn. Think I'll go listen to some Steely Dan albums now or some Sting and recall when harmony was something considered important in music.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 12:26 PM on July 21, 2015
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 12:26 PM on July 21, 2015
Alternate suggestion: "Cheerleader" by St. Vincent.
posted by Celsius1414 at 12:45 PM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Celsius1414 at 12:45 PM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
that horrid Maroon5 song "Sugar."
Oh god! I saw the video last month in a Hard Rock Cafe (don't ask), and I wanted to die. I wanted to die. These songs are barely music!
This song... ugh. Makes me think of the emotional labor thread too. "Yay, I found a woman who supports me like it's her day job, and makes all my wishes come true seemingly effortlessly!" Like, that is the high-ass bar for women to be considered marriage material? I OPT OUT.
The original is more fun, I think (yes less emphasis on the terrible lyrics). I also like the production of the remix but c'mon.
posted by easter queen at 1:15 PM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh god! I saw the video last month in a Hard Rock Cafe (don't ask), and I wanted to die. I wanted to die. These songs are barely music!
This song... ugh. Makes me think of the emotional labor thread too. "Yay, I found a woman who supports me like it's her day job, and makes all my wishes come true seemingly effortlessly!" Like, that is the high-ass bar for women to be considered marriage material? I OPT OUT.
The original is more fun, I think (yes less emphasis on the terrible lyrics). I also like the production of the remix but c'mon.
posted by easter queen at 1:15 PM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
The gap between how bad the lyrics/autotune are and how good the production and instrumentation are is so large that I wish I had no understanding of English, because then I would adore this song.
And that's why I love listening to non-English pop (Arabic, Turkish, French, whatever): all the fun, but I have no idea how stupid the lyrics are.
posted by jb at 2:56 PM on July 21, 2015 [6 favorites]
And that's why I love listening to non-English pop (Arabic, Turkish, French, whatever): all the fun, but I have no idea how stupid the lyrics are.
posted by jb at 2:56 PM on July 21, 2015 [6 favorites]
I'm glad this was posted. I am a really lazy music listener, so driving around town I find myself listening to whatever is least horrible on the handful of stations I have programmed in.
I have given more thought than usual to "Cheerleader," which initially impressed me as a bit of really bad saccharine fluff, but has grown on me after a few dozen listens. This may be super-obvious, but I was actually somewhat impressed that a lyric was built around the rhyming of "-leader" and "need her." Whoever said, upthread, that the autotune actually works here, is right. And I dunno, I like the way the singer vocalizes the lyrics, I think it's pretty subtle and charming.
Oh god! I saw the video last month in a Hard Rock Cafe (don't ask), and I wanted to die. I wanted to die. These songs are barely music!
Um, yeah. Before this discussion, I had thought quite a bit about the Sugar lyrics because they are just ... so ... bad. I concluded that the lyrics are so bad that they had to be the work of a consummate professional. I don't know if this is going to make sense, but I imagined some songwriter that has a palatial home in the Hollywood Hills, whose name few people outside the music industry would recognize, must have written it. This is the kind of horrible work that only someone who is really a seasoned pro would know would work as a song. Anyone who wasn't a true professional would have thought, "no, no ... areyoufuckingkiddingme ... 'I want that red velvet/I want that sugar sweet/don't let nobody touch it/unless that somebody's me' ... those lyrics are horrible!" An amateur, or beginning, songwriter's inner critic would have immediately squelched lyrics that atrocious. I feel very, very sorry for Adam Levine every time I see him or hear his songs. Yeah, he looks great, he's super-rich and adored, but looking great/being wealthy, and yet having to upchuck the vomitous lyrics of his and Maroon5's songs every time he performs, are a living testament to the truth of the Emersonian principle of compensation.
posted by jayder at 3:58 PM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I have given more thought than usual to "Cheerleader," which initially impressed me as a bit of really bad saccharine fluff, but has grown on me after a few dozen listens. This may be super-obvious, but I was actually somewhat impressed that a lyric was built around the rhyming of "-leader" and "need her." Whoever said, upthread, that the autotune actually works here, is right. And I dunno, I like the way the singer vocalizes the lyrics, I think it's pretty subtle and charming.
Oh god! I saw the video last month in a Hard Rock Cafe (don't ask), and I wanted to die. I wanted to die. These songs are barely music!
Um, yeah. Before this discussion, I had thought quite a bit about the Sugar lyrics because they are just ... so ... bad. I concluded that the lyrics are so bad that they had to be the work of a consummate professional. I don't know if this is going to make sense, but I imagined some songwriter that has a palatial home in the Hollywood Hills, whose name few people outside the music industry would recognize, must have written it. This is the kind of horrible work that only someone who is really a seasoned pro would know would work as a song. Anyone who wasn't a true professional would have thought, "no, no ... areyoufuckingkiddingme ... 'I want that red velvet/I want that sugar sweet/don't let nobody touch it/unless that somebody's me' ... those lyrics are horrible!" An amateur, or beginning, songwriter's inner critic would have immediately squelched lyrics that atrocious. I feel very, very sorry for Adam Levine every time I see him or hear his songs. Yeah, he looks great, he's super-rich and adored, but looking great/being wealthy, and yet having to upchuck the vomitous lyrics of his and Maroon5's songs every time he performs, are a living testament to the truth of the Emersonian principle of compensation.
posted by jayder at 3:58 PM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
jayder: "I'm similarly mystified by the success of that horrid Maroon5 song "Sugar." There's no way that song's airplay reflects its actual popularity among listeners."
I dunno about that. My wife and sons love it, and they don't get why I don't enjoy it, or that "Summer's gonna hurt" song (basically, any Maroon 5 song). To them, it's just self-evidently good music. So even if to you (or me) it seems to be self-evidently unlikeable, that doesn't mean that it is actually unliked.
posted by Bugbread at 4:47 PM on July 21, 2015
I dunno about that. My wife and sons love it, and they don't get why I don't enjoy it, or that "Summer's gonna hurt" song (basically, any Maroon 5 song). To them, it's just self-evidently good music. So even if to you (or me) it seems to be self-evidently unlikeable, that doesn't mean that it is actually unliked.
posted by Bugbread at 4:47 PM on July 21, 2015
This song and Trap Queen are my two most hated earworms this summer. Any UB40 vibe is killed by that dreadful AutoTune.
posted by reiichiroh at 5:10 PM on July 21, 2015
posted by reiichiroh at 5:10 PM on July 21, 2015
The remix is awful; the original is mildly ok but far from great.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:54 PM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Dip Flash at 7:54 PM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
First time I heard the song I thought, meh. Then I heard it again and thought, meh. Then I heard it again and thought, meh. Then I heard it again and thought, hmmm....nope, meh. Then I heard it again and thought, hmmm....Then I heard it again and thought, hmmm...you know, it's not actually that bad. Then I heard it again and realized that there's five parts to the song: percussion, piano, voice, drums and trumpet, and thought, that's a pretty catchy song considering how simple it is. Then I heard it again and realized that I really liked it. Then I heard it again and thought, shit - there's five parts to this song! Omi gave me a blueprint to make me some money since I'm sure I can do this. Then I heard it again and I still liked it and I thought, damn, if it's that simple how come these songs seem to only come by in the summer? Maybe it's not that easy? Hmmmm. Then I heard it again and I thought, I'm still listening to this fucking song, still liking it and even analysing the motherfucker! Godfuckingdamn, color me impressed. Now I slow clap in honor of OMI - good on ya, buddy. Do I hate this song? No, not really.
posted by ashbury at 8:34 PM on July 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by ashbury at 8:34 PM on July 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
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posted by Rock Steady at 7:49 AM on July 21, 2015 [4 favorites]