Covering the Hits: “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” (Will Smith)

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Nov 162018
 

“Covering the Hits” looks at covers of a randomly-selected #1 hit from the past sixty years.

gettin jiggy wit it covers

Will Smith’s 1998 number-one hit “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” would have been perfect for our current era of YouTube covers.

First and foremost, the song was massive. It topped the charts for three weeks and won Smith his second-consecutive Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. But more specifically, the simple novelty number boasts an instantly-identifiable hook (“Na na na na na na na…”) that would remain recognizable transposed into any genre. Google searches of “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It metal” and “”Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It bluegrass” would likely turn up a dozen options apiece.

But “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” came out in 1997, eight years before YouTube’s founding. Though a massive, inescapable hit – if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t fit this feature – almost no one covered it. We’ll get to the few who did below, but what strikes me most is how this dearth of “Jiggy” covers opens an interesting window into how drastically YouTube has changed the cover-song landscape. Continue reading »

Fort Frances Gets Fresh on Will Smith’s “Summertime”

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Aug 132012
 

Taking 90s hip hop songs and doing a current indie cover of it has become a bit of a worn out novelty, especially the acoustic take. Luckily, Chicago indie rockers Fort Frances go beyond the expected with their latest in a series of covers. Over the last six months we have seen them release great covers of Beck’s “Guess I’m Doing Fine” and Paul Simon’s “The Only Living Boy in New York.” Now the band has re-invented a classic summer party song. Continue reading »

Alyson Greenfield Pares Down “Gangsta’s Paradise” on Glockenspeil

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Jul 222011
 

While some cover artists re-interpret known songs, Alyson Greenfield is one who goes for full on re-inventions. Her new EP of glockenspiel and piano-centric hip hop covers, entitled Rock Out with Your Glockenspiel Out, offers exercises in juxtaposition that work on many levels. Not only is she using an instrument straight out of third grade music class to play songs with adult lyrical themes, but her shimmering, simple sound and inflected vocals oppose almost every convention of hip-hop. This version of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” shows her angle, putting such an unexpected twist on an otherwise fairly conventional track that it even transcends appeals to novelty. Continue reading »

This Week on Bandcamp: The Sour Notes, Stephanie Lauren, Folks, Maigan Blank, Thomas Collins

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Jun 242011
 

This Week on Bandcamp rounds up our favorite covers to hit the site in the past seven days.

A somewhat mellower set today, perfect for the official start of summer. The first few tracks take us into folk and folk-rock, but things get a bit dreamier at the end on covers of David Byrne/Brian Eno and, of all people, Will Smith. Party in the city when the heat is on! Continue reading »

Song of the Day: Pearl and the Beard, “Will Smith Medley”

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Oct 112010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

Does anyone really love Will Smith? Does anyone hate him either? In his acting career, he seems to have run straight down the middle of the likeability meter. He’s no Tom Hanks, but he’s no Russell Crowe either. For a guy who started out telling a cabbie, “Yo homes, smell you later,” that’s not too bad.

His rap career, I would wager, garners a few more snickers. His track record of releasing hit singles to soundtrack his films notwithstanding, anyone who titles his albums Big Willie Style and Willenium earns himself a little disdain. However, all ill will (get it?) vanishes upon hearing today’s song. New York musicians/1950s clothing models Pearl and the Beard wander city streets singing the most adorable covers you’ve ever heard, Will Smith hit after Will Smith hit. Here come the girls in pastel! Continue reading »