Yes Rebecca, It’s Friday
by Kelsey Manning | University of Notre Dame
Kelsey Manning
Whether you’ve been uncharacteristically dreading Friday this week thanks to the infuriatingly catchy tune or watching the video repeatedly and finding it funnier every single time, I think it’s safe to assume that we’ve all heard of Rebecca Black and her mind-numbing song “Friday”. (If you haven’t, I strongly suggest you go watch the music video immediately).
The video was posted on YouTube on February 10, but came to light only recently thanks to a post on comedian Daniel Tosh’s blog. Since then it has garnered upwards of 44 million views, adding approximately 5 million per day. After first seeing it posted on Facebook, my friends and I naturally spent an inordinate amount of time analyzing the video production quality, the outstanding autotune work, the random rapper who makes an appearance, and, of course, the inspired lyrics, which ponder life’s big questions such as, “Which seat can I take?” A better question to me seemed, “How the hell did this shaggy-haired prepubescent get a license?” Or maybe, “And what, the chick on your left is just some rando you picked up along the way?”
In any case, I truly didn’t realize the magnitude or scope of the Friday phenomenon until my friend from West Point said that he heard people singing it all over his campus. And yes, this means that the future military leaders of our country were walking around in full military attire as the words “Tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes after…wards,” passed over their lips.
Since then the wonder that is “Friday” has only skyrocketed in popularity, getting 13-year old Rebecca Black an interview on Good Morning America, Jay Leno, and, of course, a potential lifetime of ridicule. As the Good Morning America interviewer so graciously read aloud to Rebecca, comments like “Her song Friday is the worst I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Even deaf people are complaining,” and “I hate her voice. It’s gonna be stuck in my head for life. Friday, Friday, Friday, O.M.G.” have been abundant.
Personally, I think it’s brilliant.
Not only could the song serve as a wonderful way for pre-schoolers to learn the days of the week, Black is raking it in. I read that according to Billboard, “Friday” has sold over 37,000 copies, which would come out to about $26,000 for Black and her producers, Ark Music Factory. And that’s when the real fun began.
Ark Music Factory, the brainchild of that very rapper in Black’s video, is a pay-per-song company that launched just last month. It is rumored that Black’s mom paid the company $2,000 to make two songs and a video, but Ark promises to reveal the truth about their music-making ways in a tell-all that comes out on their website today.
On the site, the company explains, “We at Ark make it possible for emerging independent artists from a variety of popular genres to be discovered, defined, and delivered, to advance in their chosen career and be successful.” If by “emerging independent artists” they mean “rich and easily-exploitable middle-schoolers”, and by “from a variety of popular genres” they mean, “in our artificial formulaic self-parodying pop”, and by “successful” they mean “a laughingstock”, this assessment is pretty much right on the money.
Listen to me when I tell you: Visit. This. Website.
If you think “Friday” is funny, wait until you encounter the incredibly disturbing “Ordinary Pop Star”, by the permed munchkin CJ Fam. She belts out her desire to be an ordinary pop star, exposing what I am fairly certain are remaining baby teeth in the process, as she rocks Yeti-like boots and tries to shield her awkward little Indian friend from a fake TMZ. The mysterious rapper/producer named Patrice Wilson also makes a few cameos, including creepily smiling and nodding in approval at the under-aged “singer”. Though it is uncertain at this time whether CJ will be Ark’s next megastar (Read: laughingstock), Rebecca Black has certainly paved the way for the company’s many young prospects.
So say what you must about Rebecca Black, but it’s Friday, and how many of us will likely hear her anthem while we’re “partyin’ partyin’ yeah!” tonight? Well, I’m sure you can answer that yourselves.
Kelsey Manning is an NGJ Managing Editor and a rising junior at the University of Notre Dame majoring in the Program of Liberal Studies and minoring in Italian. You can follow her on Twitter @kelseyMmanning.
