Hey Ya!

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"Hey Ya!"

Single by OutKast
from the album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
A-side(s)	The Way You Move/Hey Ya!
Released	September 9, 2003
Format	DVD single 12" maxi single CD single (AUS only)
Recorded	Stankonia Studios & Tree Sound Studios, Atlanta, GA; Larrabee Sound Studios, Los Angeles, CA: 2002
Genre	Pop, funk, hip hop
Length	3:20
Label	LaFace 55883
Writer(s)	André 3000
Producer(s)	André 3000
Certification	3x platinum
Chart positions
#1 (USA)
OutKast singles chronology
"Land of a Million Drums" (with Killer Mike) (2002)	"Hey Ya!"/"The Way You Move" (2003/2004)	"Roses" (2004)

"Hey Ya!" is a 2003 number-one single recorded by André 3000 of the hip-hop duo OutKast, released on LaFace Records. It and "The Way You Move", recorded by Big Boi, the other member of the duo, were released as the first singles from OutKast's double album project Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which includes a solo album from each member. Released from André's The Love Below half of the album,"Hey Ya!" peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming OutKast's second number-one single. It also peaked at number three in the UK charts. Like the rest of The Love Below, "Hey Ya!" features an idiosyncratic, funk influenced sound, which caused the song to chart on the Modern Rock charts. The song is remembered for introducing the phrase "shake it like a Polaroid picture" into modern pop culture.

1 Song history
- 1.1 Music video
- 1.2 Response, performance, and covers
2 Trivia
3 American Top 40
4 See also
5 External Links

[edit] Song history

[edit] Music video

André 3000 in the music video.

The song's music video, directed by Bryan Barber, features a performance, styled as one from the black and white era of television (although the video itself is in color), in which André 3000 plays several different versions of himself as the different members of a band, "The Love Below", all wearing green and white outfits, but all with different names and personalities. The video is based on the Beatles' landmark appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, but sets the action in London. An enthusiastic crowd of girls can hardly be restrained as he sings. Most live performances of the song featured similar antics, parodying the British Invasion with the dance movements and costuming. The video also features a special appearance by Ryan Phillippe as the host, but in the DVD version of OutKast music videos, it was played by Phillippe in a suit with thick-rimmed glasses with less enthusiasm.

The "Hey Ya!" music video was designed to be shown in tandem with the video for Big Boi's "The Way You Move". A long-form "The Way You Move/Hey Ya!" video combines both clips with a bridging sequence. The combination is included in the OutKast: The Videos DVD, which is censored because of younger fans.

The "Hey Ya!" music video won four MTV Video Music Awards in 2004, most notably for Video of the Year. It also won Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Special Effects, and Best Art Direction, as well as gaining an additional nomination of Best Direction for Barber.

[edit] Response, performance, and covers

"Hey Ya!" was the number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks, from December 6, 2003 to January 31, 2004. It was replaced at number-one by Big Boi's "The Way You Move", the sixth time a recording act has replaced itself at number one since Elvis Presley first did so in 1956^{[citation needed]}.

"Hey Ya!" was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, and was the most recent song to be included in the 2004 List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, ranked at number 180. "Lose Yourself" and "Stan" are the only other songs from the 21st century on Rolling Stone's list, making "Hey Ya!" the only song on the list from this century not performed by Eminem.

According to AcclaimedMusic.net (a site which combines hundreds of 'best of' lists from critics and musicians), "Hey Ya!" is ranked at #42 on the list of the top songs of all time, and #1 for songs released in the 2000s.[1]

One of the first covers of the song was by Razorlight, who performed the song with the London Community Gospel Choir for a BBC Radio 1 (the British youth/popular music radio station from the BBC) session, later releasing their version as a B-side for their single "Vice". In a similar vein, Will Young, also on the station, recorded a slower piano version of the song, which became the B-side for his single "Friday's Child". Young's version also appears on the album Radio 1's Live Lounge.

Los Angeles alt country band The Evangenitals, fronted by Juli Crockett, debuted an ultra slow and soulful version of Hey Ya in the summer of 2004 which quickly became one of their most downloaded songs on the Internet. The cover made the song into a lyrical, acoustic melodious song, a completely different style from the original hip-hop chart.

Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine have also swankified the song in their traditional manner on their "I'd Like a Virgin" 2004 album.

Mat Weddle of the band Obadiah Parker also released a cover which quickly became a viral video and gained notoriety around the net, after being shared on YouTube.

Other bands that have covered the song include Yo La Tengo, Tilly and the Wall, Drive-By Truckers, the Evangenitals (also available on YouTube), and the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra (see their version here).

It was also one of the first songs to become a hit on Apple's iTunes Music Store, replacing "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne at No. 1 and staying there for months[2]. The song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and also in Canada and Australia and has charted in twenty-eight countries around the world^{[citation needed]}.

Polaroid has noted that it is no longer necessary to shake its film to help it dry. The modern version of the film doesn't come into contact with air, because it dries behind a clear plastic window. Overly vigorous shaking may, in fact, distort the image.[3]

[edit] Trivia

Ottawa's Radio Station The Team 1200 remade a version called "Leafs Suck" in reference to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was sung by some its radio hosts during the ungoing feud of the Battle of Ontario between the Leafs and the Ottawa Senators.
Andre 3000 has mentioned The Smiths and The Hives as having had a large influence on the song.[4]
The Hives performed a part of the song in their "Favourite Songs recent years"-medley, when Musikbyrån (a Swedish music show) celebrated 10 years.

Shaking it like a Polaroid picture.

The song is often covered live by Jason Webley in his own style. He introduces it frequently as being "a classic American song".
The song has also been covered by punk band Pennywise
The keyboard lines in the chorus have earned this song a spot in nerd culture, as it appeals to a more quirky musical taste.

Preceded by "Stand Up" by Ludacris featuring Shawnna	Billboard Hot 100 number one single December 13, 2003- February 7, 2004	Succeeded by "The Way You Move" by OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown
Preceded by "Shut Up" by The Black Eyed Peas	ARIA (Australia) number one single January 18, 2004 - January 25, 2004	Succeeded by "What About Me" by Shannon Noll
Preceded by "Me Against The Music" by Britney Spears featuring Madonna	United World Chart number one single January 10, 2004 - March 13, 2004	Succeeded by "Toxic" by Britney Spears

[edit] American Top 40

Hey Ya! holds an important place in the history of the internationally known syndicated radio program, American Top 40. The song was number one on the January 3/4, 2004 edition of the show, which was the last number one counted down by the shows creator and legendary host Casey Kasem. The following weekend, Ryan Seacrest took over as host of AT40, and Hey Ya! was still at the top, making it the first song at number one for Seacrest's reign as host of AT40.