Open Letter to South Central Philadelphia
17 September 2005
Saturday, 4:32 PM
I understand that a strong community is important to you, even if a busy schedule and certain cultural disparities have kept me from truly being a part of it. I fully support your desire to have a block party every single weekend of the summer, to take over the streets with charcoal grills and picnic tables, Motown and soul. If I get annoyed at the noise sometimes, I remind myself that you are celebrating the neighborhood, that your joyous spirit conquers the poverty and violence that surrounds us, even if only for a day at a time. So I hope it’s clear that I’m on your side before I make a humble request.
Here it is: I don’t ever want to hear Usher’s “Yeah!” again. Ever.
I know this is a pretty tall order, as this is clearly your favorite song of all time, but please understand where I’m coming from. I haven’t turned on a radio in years; it’s the best technique I have for maintaining control over what I listen to. As such, I should never have even heard this song before. Yet, thanks to passing cars and block parties (among other things), I have probably heard “Yeah!” more times in the last year than I’ve heard my top five favorite songs combined. And I fucking hate it. I hate its flavorless, mind-numbing repetition, and I hate its ceaseless ubiquity.
So, please, if it’s at all possible to keep this one inside your homes and headphones, I’d really like to get started on the arduous process of forgetting it ever existed. Thanks in advance!
Filed under: Music, Philadelphia
Comments Closed (13)
2. Daniel says… | 17 September 2005 / 10:26 PM
It seems the American public at large can't find itself without at least one of these studio-driven cultural jingles for any more than a couple of years. If there is any consolation to be found, it is this:
It doesn't start
"Rollin'
In my five point o
With my ragtop down
So my hair can blow".
3. Justin Ko says… | 18 September 2005 / 3:16 PM
Yeah I HATE rap/hip hop with a passion ...
4. Dave M says… | 19 September 2005 / 8:25 AM
The problem with most editorials is that the people who most need to read them never will.
5. Ian says… | 19 September 2005 / 8:49 AM
Great.
Now it's stuck in my head.
6. TheJones says… | 19 September 2005 / 12:41 PM
Now if you could see him dancing while hearing the song,you may change your tune.
7. Rachael says… | 19 September 2005 / 12:58 PM
Dave M was right: Rob, the people you most need to be addressing are not going to hear your anguished cry. Perhaps you should just give in to the hypnotic beat and (most likely) hypnotic booty jiggling that accompanies it. YEAH!
8. Stack says… | 19 September 2005 / 2:22 PM
Me and Ian have a similar problem with the Upholstery department here at work...That groundbreaking Tim McGraw / Nelly collaboration, that "You're my baby you're my darling in the morning" shit song by Shaggy, and some "Unkle Cracker" song make our ears bleed like 3 or 4 times a day, EACH. So friggin' ignorant...
9. Jared says… | 22 September 2005 / 10:02 AM
Here Here! Can I go ahead add anything else that has to do with Lil' Jon (including a world-wide ban on people that still do impersonations of Dave Chappell doing an impersonaltion of him).
10. TaterTAt says… | 22 September 2005 / 12:46 PM
Ah, it reminds me of the good ol' days when I was workin' at the hip-hop tee-shirt place. If you were not aware, let me tell you...Power 99 WILL play the same song no less than 22 times before your lunch break.
11. sutter says… | 26 September 2005 / 9:33 AM
it's either Usher or the preacher man around the corner on his megaphone. make your choice...
12. Rob Weychert says… | 26 September 2005 / 12:01 PM
No contest, sutter—the preacher man is about a thousand times more entertaining.
13. Merritt says… | 27 September 2005 / 7:41 PM
Eddie Fisher, now that's a singer. He didn't have to use all the suggestive language, either.
1. bearskinrug says… | 17 September 2005 / 5:11 PM
But if you don't hear it over and over, how will you grow to like it!? It was the same way with me and peas. I couldn't imagine a bowl of cereal without peas.