Outkast//Hey Ya

It was the summer of SUMMMER JAMSSS!

So yesterday we were revisiting summer 2003. Today, let’s fast forward one year to summer 2004, in which I returned to the states after a long and weird time in Europe.

This was another song that hit the scene in the fall/winter season (of ’03). Even so, I’ll still always think of it as the jam of 2004, as it showed up at every dance party and bar that I hit that season.

“Hey Ya,” by classic ATL hip hop legends (and style mavens) Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast, is one of those rare tracks that you feel genuinely excited to hear every time it starts bumpin’. The whole thing is brilliant. Outkast has always been known for pushing the envelope, so it’s no surprise that in terms of structure, rhythm and production, it (in addition from the song’s experimental parent album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below) was a real step forward for the genre. Of course, not to mention it’s just a solidly catchy track.

Like many summer jams, after the 516th time played, it’s magical charm starts to wear off. Even so, listening to it now after a fairly decent break kind of does make me want to jump up and dance. But that would be very inappropriate considering where I am now. So…I’m not going to do that. Although, it doesn’t mean you can’t.



Hey Ya.mp3

Now I wanna see y'all on y'all baddest behavior--
Lend me some sugar. I am your neighbor.
Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it,
Shake it, shake it, shake, shake it, shake it, shake it ,
Shake it, shake it like a Polaroid Picture!


Summer Jam: In the summer of 2004, Ronald Regan died and my parents kept their American flag at half mast for like three weeks, which I thought was kinda creepy (and an extra weird way to return to the states from the UK). Saddam Hussein was also on trial for war crimes. Remember that? And they finally broke ground on the “Freedom Tower” at 9/11 (my daily commute gives me an update on how much progress has been made in five years on that one) and I watched from suburban NJ as James McGreevey got outed in BIG GAY SCANDAL and made a slimey fool of himself, which may have leant new meaning to “Don’t wanna meet your Daddy. Just want you in my Caddy.”Just a thought...?