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White & Nerdy
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = White & Nerdy
| cover = White And Nerdy.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = "Weird Al" Yankovic
| album = Straight Outta Lynwood
| B-side = Don't Download This Song
| released = September 12, 2006
| recorded = July 22, 2006
| studio = Westlake Recording
| venue =
| genre = *Comedy hip hop
*nerdcore
| length = 2:50
| label = Volcano
| writer = *"Weird Al" Yankovic
*H. Seriki
*A. Henderson
| producer = "Weird Al" Yankovic
| prev_title = Don't Download This Song
| prev_year = 2006
| next_title = Canadian Idiot
| next_year = 2006
| misc =
}}
"'White & Nerdy'" is the second single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album 'Straight Outta Lynwood', which was released on September 26, 2006. It parodies the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone. The song both satirizes and celebrates nerd culture, as recited by the subject, who cannot "roll with the gangstas" because he is "just too white and nerdy". It includes many references to activities stereotypically associated with nerds and white people, such as collecting comic books and action figures, and playing 'Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)'.
The song was Yankovic's first and only 'Billboard' Hot 100 top 10 hit, peaking at #9 after debuting at #28 the previous week. It was certified platinum by the RIAA, the first Yankovic single to achieve this feat.
Track listing
# "White & Nerdy" 2:50
# "Don't Download This Song" 3:54
Production and writing
While Yankovic usually records his songs together with his band, the backing tracks for "White and Nerdy" were completely recorded by guitarist Jim Westwho handled the synthesizer productionand Jon "Bermuda" Schwartzwho was tasked with recording the drums. The two musicians recorded their specific tracks at their home studios. The finished audio tracks were then brought to Westlake Studio in Los Angeles, California, where Yankovic added his rap vocals.
Music video
The single has an accompanying music video, which was recorded in high definition. The video, loosely parodying the video for Chamillionaire's "Ridin'" and following the song's lyrics, shows Yankovic, dressed as a stereotypical nerd with a buttoned-up polo shirt, dress slacks, and horn-rimmed glasses attempting to fit in with the "gangsters" (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele of MADtv), but instead either scaring them away, causing them to flip him off, or to direct him away from their group and instead towards a herd of other "nerds". These scenes include shots that directly parody the "Ridin video, including similar outfits by both artists. Yankovic is seen at night dancing in front of a set of road flares arranged in the form of Pac-Man, similar to the shot of Chamillionaire in front of the figure of a lizard, his personal logo. Another repeated scene shows Yankovic along with Donny Osmondthe "whitest guy I could think of", according to Yankovicdancing in front of the Schrdinger equation, mimicking shots of Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone from the "Ridin'" video. Yankovic had found Osmond to be eager to be in the video, having memorized the song before recording as well as having his various moves already figured out before filming.
on Wikipedia.
Further interspersed among these shots are additional shots of Yankovic demonstrating his "white and nerdy" life. One scene shows Yankovic vandalizing the Wikipedia page for Atlantic Records, replacing it with the words (in excessively large type) "YOU SUCK!", referencing his recent trouble with the company in getting permission to release "You're Pitiful", a parody of James Blunt's song "You're Beautiful". Fans of the video have replicated the action depicted in the video several times. The video shows a fictional Trivial Pursuit card, with questions that include the location of the largest ball of twine, on what page Harry Potter would die in the next book, and the number of Wicket men there are on a 43-Man Squamish team.
In addition to Osmond, Key, and Peele, there are other cameos in the video. The license plate on the Impala reads "OG4LIFE", a reference to Ice-T's 1991 album 'Original Gangster'. Seth Green, whom Yankovic had known for some time, appears in front of a wall display of action figures. Green also provided a number of the props for the video. Judy Tenuta, a regular on 'The Weird Al Show' who also previously appeared in "Headline News", appears as the woman who receives a surge protector as a present. Other actors were personally recruited by Yankovic through a post on his MySpace page, from which he received several interested extras who said they would appear for free. The comic book store featured in the video is Golden Apple Comics, located in Los Angeles, California.
The video was leaked onto YouTube on September 17, 2006, just one day before the planned official release date at 9 PM Pacific Time at AOL.com. Due to the leak, the premiere was canceled, and AOL silently slipped the video onto their website hours before the premiere was set to take place. VH1 started airing the video in "large rotation" on September 20, 2006, and it debuted at #5 on their Top 20 countdown.[http://www.weirdal.com/home.htm "The Official 'Weird Al' Yankovic Web Site"]. weirdal.com. It is available to watch on Yankovic's MySpace page, as well as on several other video hosting sites and P2P theaters.
Fan-made video
Yahoo! Music solicited online members to make a fans-only video for "White & Nerdy". The video was released in late 2006.[http://music.yahoo.com/ar-269394-videos--Weird-Al-Yankovic "Weird Al Yankovic Music Videos on Yahoo! Music"]. Yahoo.com.Live performances
On November 2, 2006, Yankovic performed "White & Nerdy" live on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'. (He rode a Segway as he came on stage.) It was his first public live performance of the song; various background vocals from the original recording are played to allow him time to breathe during the fast-paced lyrics. Since then, however, his band has provided live background vocals. On December 3, he performed the song live at the VH1 "Big In '06" Awards. Since 2007, Yankovic has performed the song on each of his tours, entering the stage on a Segway and wearing his hoodie and bandana from the video rather than using his "nerd" look. His band members maintain the "nerdy" outfits.
Awards and accolades
The song became Yankovic's first career Top 10 hit on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, a record 23 years after his first appearance on the Hot 100 chart with "Ricky" in 1983. It debuted at #28 on the Hot 100 (that week's "Hot Shot Debut"), and peaked at #9 the following week, beating his previous #12 peak for 1984's "Eat It". It spent a total of 20 weeks on the Hot 100, including 5 weeks in the Top 20 and 10 weeks in the Top 40. This was also his first Top 40 single since 1992's "Smells Like Nirvana". It peaked on the Hot Digital Songs chart at #5. Both the song and the music video reached #1 at the U.S. and Australian iTunes Store, and peaked at #1 on VH1's top 20 video countdown. Both "White & Nerdy" and 'Straight Outta Lynwood' were certified gold, and later platinum, by the RIAA. This marks the first time any one of Yankovic's singles has been certified platinum. '(search term: Nerdy)'
Reaction from Chamillionaire
Chamillionaire himself put "White & Nerdy" on his official MySpace page, and commented that he enjoys the parody.Reid, Shaheem; Dukes, Rahman (September 11, 2006). [http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/091106/ "Mixtape Monday"]. MTV.com. In an interview, he also stated he was pleasantly surprised by Yankovic's rapping ability, saying: "He's actually rapping pretty good on it, it's crazy ... I didn't know he could rap like that." According to Yankovic, Chamillionaire approached him on the red carpet after "Ridin'" won the Grammy award for Best Rap Song at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, and thanked him for creating the parody, as, in Yankovic's words, he had "made it undeniable that ["Ridin'"] was the rap song of the year".
Chart positions
Weekly
Year-end
Certifications
See also
*List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic
*List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic
*"It's All About the Pentiums" a song with a similar topic, also by Yankovic
*Wikipedia in popular culture
References
Buy White & Nerdy now from Amazon
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