rude-magic-worst-best-song-summer.mp3

#9 - “Rude” by Magic! Is the Worst Best Song of the Summer

<p>A few weeks ago, “Rude” managed to unseat Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” as the #1 song in the United States. While most songs of the summer have a honeymoon period before they face mass eye-rolling, “Rude” seems to have skipped right to divorce court. <em>Slate</em> <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/07/21/_rude_by_magic_is_the_no_1_song_on_billboard_s_hot_100_why_video.html">scolded the entire country</a>: “America, we need to talk about our taste in reggae music.” But no criticism has been quite as cutting as <a href="https://twitter.com/jiatolentino">Jia Tolentino</a>'s. In a screed titled “<a href="http://thehairpin.com/2014/07/why-i-have-to-be-so-rude">Why I Have to Be So Rude</a>” on <em>The Hairpin</em>, she wrote:</p><blockquote><p><em>Rude is a reggae song the way a gas station taquito is a formal expression of Mexican cuisine. It’s a pop object with no content and only as much form as is necessary to deliver brief chemical gratification.</em></p></blockquote><p>The song’s plotline isn’t doing it any favors: the singer begs his girlfriend’s father for her hand in marriage without ever asking the bride herself. But Tolentino’s biggest problem with “Rude” is its lack of irony. “The great thing about pop music is that it’s not self-serious. It’s conscious of itself as a performance, and it’s fun,” she says. “’Rude’ violates all three of those tenets.” Case in point: the band’s lazy and cliché-ridden music video plucked straight out of the late 90s. In a bad way.</p><p></p><div class="media media-element-container media-default"><div id="file-72609" class="file file-video file-video-oembed oembed-video oembed-default oembed-youtube">

  
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    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PIh2xe4jnpk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" title="MAGIC! - Rude (Official Video)"></iframe>  </div>

  
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</div><p><br />Yet even Tolentino has to admit that “Rude” has a highly infectious melody. Magic!’s frontman, <a href="https://twitter.com/NasriWorld">Nasri</a>, has been a one-man, one-name hit factory, writing hugely successful songs for Pitbull, Justin Bieber, Shakira, and others. Tolentino sees that as part of the problem. She suggests that Nasri’s ability to adapt to different pop stars’ styles has left his own songwriting soul hollow. “If the thing that makes you famous isn’t the thing you care about most deeply, there’s nothing behind it.”</p>

"Rude" by Magic! is the #1 song in the country

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howard-kremer-one-joke-comedian-and-proud-it.mp3

#10 - Howard Kremer Is a One-Joke Comedian, and Proud of It

<p>A few years ago, <a href="http://summah.info/" target="_blank">Howard Kremer</a> had an epiphany while on the beach in Los Angeles: there was nothing more important in life than making the most of the summer -- which Kremer calls “summah” in honor of his native New Jersey. “There it is! That’s the crux of the debate!” he said. If you have to choose between work and adult responsibilities and enjoying a summer day, “I’m going to choose summah, and I’m going to tell people about it!”</p><p></p><div class="media media-element-container media-feature_large"><div id="file-73373" class="file file-video file-video-oembed oembed-video oembed-default oembed-youtube">

  
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    <img fields="" height="360" width="480" typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pv8yS8vaqXs/hqdefault.jpg" alt="Have A Summah! Howard Kremer Live at UCB on YouTube" title="Have A Summah! Howard Kremer Live at UCB" />  </div>

  
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</div><p><br />But how does a joke turn into a brand? Kremer spun his revelation into a few funny minutes of comedy (being bitten by a shark in the ocean is better than not having been to the ocean, he thinks). That turned into merchandise, summer songs (<a href="http://howardkremer.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">three albums</a> worth), and <a href="http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo6peecB0f1qct4m3o1_1280.jpg" target="_blank">Summahfest</a>, a party in Los Angeles with water slides, food trucks, and live music.</p><blockquote><p>“You always want to do something that catches the public’s imagination. It’s hard with stand-up to convey raw emotion and still be funny, but with ‘Have a Summah’ it’s a meaningful thing.”</p></blockquote><p>If the mileage Kremer has taken out of the bit doesn’t make it clear, he’s serious about summer. “It goes so fast, and people don’t start it on time,” he laments. “The government has moved in and chopped it up -- school starts now on August 15th. You have to remind yourself” to enjoy life while it lasts.  Actually, Kremer’s taken it upon himself to remind you. He was recently at the beach with a friend who had forgotten the pleasures of summer. “This is great,” the friend reflected, “I should have been doing this all summer.” Incredulous, Kremer responded, “<em>If only</em> there was a guy that reminded everybody to have a summah!”<br /><br /> </p>

Howard Kremer teaches Zooey Deschanel about "Summah"

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