The hilarious juxtaposition of a stiff white person and—can it be?—rap music?! Happy 30th anniversary, awful joke that never ceases to make me cringe!
Texas rock-radio blip Dynamite Hack decided to dip their tender toes in the “wacky cover song” sweepstakes in 2000, when they performed Eazy-E’s classic “Boyz-N-The-Hood.” To call it a one-note gag would be a disservice to both notes and gags. If it were a note, it would be the final note in the Price Is Right “sad trombone” tune. Also it would not be played by a trombonist, but literally farted out of the sphincter of a just-hanged Saddam Hussein, the morose poot representing his twitching body’s last involuntary movement.
Here’s a little play I wrote about how this song was born:
Dynamite Hack: Hey, we have a great album for you! It’s called Superfast! It’s got 15 rocking tracks! It sounds like [Ed. note: the author of this piece has no clue what Dynamite Hack’s Superfast sounds like. Probably Harvey Danger or something.] Please pay attention to it and our band, as we are important people worthy of your time and publicity budget!
Music Industry: Go away, you mugs! I’m busy counting all this money that will never go away because I am so smart.
Rock music fans (singing quietly to themselves): Gimme your heart, make it real orelsfuddedabdah
Dynamite Hack: No, wait! let me tell you about the single! You know that old gangsta rap song “Boyz-N-The-Hood”? Well we do an ironic, drab cover of it that emphasizes our wacky whiteness!
Music Industry: Adorable! You guys do know we have like a hundred Limp Bizkits and Kid Rocks and the Rage Against The Machines who are pretty much showing that an entire generation of kids was raised on hip-hop, take it pretty seriously, and can make commercially viable music without reducing it into a pathetic joke that went out with Joe Piscopo, right?
Dynamite Hack: Uh…
Music Industry: And this Eminem guy is set to sell like 10 bagillion records and he’s whiter than this cartoonishly large pile of cocaine I’m about to snort to prove that I, the all-powerful music industry, am invincible.
Dynamite Hack: B-but…
Music Industry: You clowns are gonna waste my time with “wacky white rapper” shit? Don’t you know that we can sell white kids real rappers? Maybe go outside and listen to any high school kid’s car stereo. We deaded this joke-rap shit in the Barney Rubble days! I’ve got Eminem ready to top every sales and critical chart in the land, and you’re bringing me Mel Brooks’ “It’s Good To Be The King, Part 2?” Get the fuck out of my office!
Dynamite Hack: We don’t know what to say.
Music Industry: Hahaha, just kidding boys! We’re shameless, we’ll put out anything! Now who wants to play on Jimmy and Doug’s Farmclub, the awesomest TV show in the land and coolest record label that everyone will love forever and ever?
Rock music fans: Hooray!
FIN
But the biggest sin of Dynamite Hack’s “Boyz-N-The Hood” is not its intentionally dreariness, or its lame punchline, or the band members’ constant rifling through their invisible backpacks. It’s that the song is pointless. Gangsta rap is already funny, geniuses! That’s why it’s awesome! Ice Cube wrote hilarious, timeless, awesome material and Eazy-E had perfect comic timing with his peerless nasal inflection. Sure, N.W.A. reflected a gritty view of life in South Central that wasn’t reported in the news. But, lines like “I looked at my car and said ‘Oh brother!’ / I’ll throw it in the gutter and go buy another”? That’s a good joke, pure and simple. Dynamite Hack retelling it is like Dane Cook doing a Richard Pryor bit word-for-word.
Dynamite Hack – Boyz In The Hood [YouTube]
Dynamite Hack [MySpace]
F2K: Idolator Counts Down The 50 Worst Songs Of The ’00s, One By Ear-Splitting One
“Dynamite Hack retelling it is like Dane Cook doing a Richard Pryor bit word-for-word.” MORE TRUTH THAN I CAN HANDLE RIGHT NOW
oh this f*cking thing
@brasstax: WORDDDDDD.
This reminds of that short-lived music show Farm Club.
@Weezy F Baby: I was thinking the exact same thing.
I was not expecting to have this dredged up today.
It’s much more interesting to hear *good* white artists covering other genre songs (Jenny Owens-Young doing Hot in Herrre or however the fuck it’s spelled, for example, or Alanis doing My Humps) than this sort of frat-rock joke. I think the only reason it ever became popular is because of it’s inclusion in Office Space, one of the few sour notes (ba-dump) of that fine fine movie.
Also: yea they’re incredibly lame, but no one deserves to be compared to Dane Cook. It just doesn’t get lower than that.
I’m going to respectfully disagree with this entry. Maybe it’s nostalgia but this track kinda worked for me in its ridiculousness.
Here’s to an unabashedly enjoyable encore listen.
@sicksteanein
I also still enjoy this song. But the real gem on their album is the hidden-track re-arrangement of “Anyway” featuring Emily Kate on lead vocals. Pure beauty.
Can I just say kudos thus far on this list? Knocking it out of the park, y’all are.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who hated this song, or “version” rather…
@sicksteanein: @eltedioso: Whew, I’m glad I’m not the only one. I actually like this song. I mean, I wouldn’t want to hear it everyday, but hearing it every couple of months or so isn’t that bad. That being said, KROQ probably plays it like every week, but thankfully I don’t listen that often anymore.
Oh, and because it all comes back to My Humps, that song is way way way worse than this one.
Not to defend this track too much, but it’s somewhat different than 80s joke rap of the Rubble/Rappin’ Rodney variety, because it’s not stiffly rapped … it’s sung. Not sure if these guys were the first to go this route. Not sure if it matters.
@How do I say this…Throwdini!?!: I was actually going to ask if anyone knew whether KROQ still played this. It was impossible to avoid when I lived in LA circa 2001.
Can’t believe people are trying to defend this.
@brasstax: Well when I first heard the song nearly 10 years ago, I never saw the video. The video does ruin it a bit. The comical whiteness of the band is so heavy-handed that it distracts from the musical elements that I like so much.
The multi-layered acoustic guitars? Beautiful. The chord progression? So chromatically clever that I wish I came up with it. The vocal performances? Killer. The quote from “Blackbird” toward the end? Unnecessary, but appreciated. There’s a lot to like here musically, in my opinion. This is a good record.
It was a mistake for them to play it off as such an obvious joke, because I liked the cover on its own merits.
@eltedioso: The quote from “Blackbird” actually made me wish I had access to time-travel technology so I could go back and prevent it from ever being recorded, thereby saving it from being quoted in this steaming pile of musical waste.
@DJP: I would speak with Darren Daulton, he knows something about time travel.
The only bad part about living five minutes away from where I grew up is that sometimes, unexpectedly, people I hated in high school suddenly pop out of the woodwork and sing this version of this song at karaoke. STILL.
yes, kroq still plays has it in daily rotation. I agree with @eltedioso on the redeeming musical qualities.
Wow. Thanks for the support guys. I felt like I was going out on a limb defending this. So it’s nice to hear I’m not the only one.
To add to @eltedioso‘s comment, I’d like to say that the other redeeming part musically for me was the constant switching of metre and dynamics in the song. As far as novelty songs go, it doesn’t get old very fast (see: Afroman). I chalk this up to the original rap though not Dynamite Hack themselves.
Fun song. I’m sorry you are so surprised by our defense of it, @brasstax. Diffr’nt strokes I suppose.
Never saw the video before today, but those preppie girls in the tennis outfits are super cute. We need more videos starring them. (Guilty pleasure: rich, bitchy-looking white women. Rich, bitchy-looking women of all races actually.)
And I’ll also admit I always kind of like this song. For nerdy covers of hip hop songs, you need a pretty melody. That’s why this one is better than the Gourds’ “Gin and Juice,” which I also kinda like but grates on my nerves by the second chorus.
Boyz-N-The-Hood < My Humps
(but barely…jeez, these are getting tough to call)
Now we know what Vampire Weekend’s looked was based on.
@revmatty wtf are you talking about? I have seen Office Space about a million times and never heard this song before. Office Space was released in 1999, which would make this hot mess ineligible for the countdown.
I’ve be all over the internet the last few days digesting every piece of information I can great article thanks. diet software
That’s an interesting take on Dynamite Hack.. Actually, I just read a great article about Boyz In Da Hood and other hip hop covers on Ourstage, check it out: http://www.ourstage.com/blog/2011/4/2/rappers-delight-hip-hop-covers