Friday, January 7, 2011

Music video: DJ Tripp "Run This Firefly" (Jay-Z / Owl City mashup)

Jay-Z VS Owl City "Run This Firefly" (DJ Tripp Mash) from DJ Tripp on Vimeo.

NSFW for language, probable mild homophobia.1

I'm not particularly impressed with the Jay-Z lyrics, and actually the video doesn't do that much for me either (not enough Rhianna, too much Jay-Z -- though I'm oddly impressed with the "passports" / "ask for" rhyme), but I really love the way this all works together musically, and have been playing it over and over and getting it stuck in my head and all that. So I bring it to your attention. Respond in whatever way feels appropriate.

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1 I know, I know. But it's only two words in a five-minute song, and the words are, in context, sort of ambiguous. Or at least I'm sufficiently unfamiliar with Jay-Z to know how to interpret them. Odds are it's bad, but the rest of the mashup is so damned catchy that I kind of don't care. Shame me if you feel you must.


4 comments:

Joseph said...

I like the combination of Rhianna and Firefly song... could do without ANY of the Jay-Z.
And, just because I'm the sort of person who doesn't listen to hip-hop but loves reading long winded intellectual analysis of cultural trends, I give you this: http://www.slate.com/id/2224348
all about the meaning of "no homo" and whether it is homophobic, or actually indicates a move towards greater acceptance of homosexuality in hip-hop culture. (A matter of great import to me... That I can't get married pales in comparison with the fact that some rappers are not okay with my sexual proclivities.)

mr_subjunctive said...

Well, I don't object to the Jay-Z musically, and in fact kinda like it: the weird, jerky beeps and boops from Owl City work well with the weird, jerky rapping from Jay Z, as far as I'm concerned. I just wish he had more interesting things to say.

I'm also not the target audience for whatever he's trying to say, though,[1] so, you know, whatever. It's fine.

And that "no homo" article was interesting. It may not matter to you directly what attitude rappers take toward gay people, but they're still broadly influential on the culture. If the attitude of the rap world is changing, then the attitude of the fans will be as well.[2] And that might well affect whether and when you can marry.

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[1] I saw a quote from I think Ice-T one time where he was commenting on white people who had a problem with rap lyrics (don't remember what specifically), which was to the effect of, The reason you don't understand it is because we're not actually trying to communicate with you; rap is about how we communicate with one another. You're eavesdropping, so of course it's not going to make sense to y'all. Which struck me as sensible.
[2] Though it's possible that the fans are leading the entertainers on this one; public opinion has changed a lot in the last few years.

Tom said...

I concur with greensparrow on the Jay-zness. I don't know why but I love that you posted this.

Anonymous said...

Hm. I love the Owl City album. This mix doesn't appeal to my ears at all, probably because I am terribly biased both by the artist and the musical style involved, and my ears a just computing noise that impede smooth listening of the usual Firefly song.