Hey Ya!
Encyclopedia
"Hey Ya!" is a song written and produced by André 3000
for his 2003 album The Love Below, part of the hip hop
duo OutKast
's double album
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
. The song takes influence from funk
and rock music
. A music video
was produced featuring André 3000 as eight different versions of himself, playing on comparisons to The Beatles
by mimicking their 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show
. The song received praise from contemporary music critics, and it won a Grammy Award
for Best Urban/Alternative Performance
at the 46th Grammy Awards.
Along with "The Way You Move
", recorded by OutKast's other member Big Boi
, "Hey Ya!" was released by LaFace Records
in September 2003 as one of the album's two lead single
s. It became a commercial success, reaching the top five of most of the charts it entered, and topping the Billboard
Hot 100
and the ARIA Singles Chart
, among others. Later it was named the 20th most successful song of the 2000s decade, on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. The song popularized the phrase "shake it like a Polaroid
picture," and the Polaroid Corporation
used the song to revitalize the public's perception of its products.
In 2004, Rolling Stone rated the song #180 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
. He used an acoustic guitar
for accompaniment, inspired by bands such as the Ramones
, Buzzcocks
, and The Smiths
. Already having visualized most of the song, he recorded the introduction
, the first verse, and the hook
. André began recording the vocals during this time, doing several dozen takes. He returned to work on the song several evenings later, with session musician
Kevin Kendricks performing the bassline
on a synthesizer
.
Several months later, André 3000 worked with Pete Novak at the Larrabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California. André improvised the lyrics based on a screenplay
that he had written. They experimented with various sound effect
s, including singing through a vocoder
, and did 30 to 40 takes for each line.
"Hey Ya!" is a song in the key
of G major
. Each cadential six-measure
phrase
is constructed using a change of meter
on the fourth measure and uses a I–IV–V–vi chord progression
. G major and C major
chords are played for one and two 4/4 measures respectively. André 3000 then uses a deceptive cadence after a 2/4 measure of the dominant
D major
chord, leading into two 4/4 measures of an E major
chord. The song moves at a tempo
of 160 beats per minute, and André's vocal range
spans more than an octave and a half, from B3 to G5.
The song opens with three upbeats as André 3000 counts "one, two, three" and then leads into the first verse. The lyrics begin to describe the persona's concerns and doubts about a romantic relationship. He wonders if they are staying together just "for tradition," as in the lines "But does she really wanna [mess around] / But can't stand to see me / Walk out the door?" André 3000 commented, "I think it's more important to be happy than to meet up to…the world's expectations of what a relationship should be. So this is a celebration of how men and women relate to each other in the 2000s." The song then leads into the chorus
, which consists of the line "Hey ya!" repeated eight times, accompanied by a synthesizer performing the bassline.
During the second verse, the persona gets cold feet
and wonders what the purpose of continuing the relationship is, pondering the question, "If they say nothing is forever…then what makes love the exception?" After repeating the chorus, the song leads into a call and response
section. André 3000 jokes, "What's cooler than being cool?", and the "fellas'" response, an overdubbed version of his vocals, is "Ice cold", a reference to one of André Benjamin's stage names. He then calls to the "ladies", whose response is overdubbed from vocals by Rabeka Tuinei, who was an assistant to the audio engineer.
The song's breakdown
coined the phrase "shake it like a Polaroid picture," a reference to an erroneous technique used by some photographers to expedite instant film
. Early versions of the film needed to be dried, and shaking the picture helped it to dry faster. The breakdown also namechecks singer Beyoncé and actress Lucy Liu
. The song closes by repeating the chorus ad libitum
and gradually fading out.
described the track as "brilliantly rousing" and "spazzy with electrifying multiplicity". Entertainment Weekly
highlighted it as the catchiest song on the double album, and Stylus Magazine
identified it as one of the best songs in OutKast's history. "Hey Ya!" topped the 2003 Jazz & Pop list, a survey of several hundred music critics conducted by Robert Christgau
, with 322 mentions, beating runner-up Beyoncé Knowles
' "Crazy in Love" by 119. It was listed at number 15 on Blender
' s 2005 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
The song's unusual arrangement drew comparisons to artists from a variety of genres. Pitchfork Media
referred to it as the apex of the album and added that it successfully mixed Flaming Lips
-style instrumentation with the energy of Prince
's 1983 single "Little Red Corvette
". Subsequently, Pitchfork Media gave it the number two slot in its "The Top 100 Singles of 2000-2004" feature in January 2005, bested only by OutKast's own "B.O.B.". Blender described it as a mix of soul music
by Ike Turner
and New Wave music
by Devo
and later as an "electro/folk-rock
/funk/power pop
/hip-hop/neo-soul
/kitchen sink rave
-up". Rolling Stone
compared André 3000's vocals to those of "an indie-rock Little Richard
" and the backing arrangement to The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road, later including the song in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
. New York
also likened it to The Beatles and found it to be one of the best singles of 2003. Allmusic described it as an "incandescent" mix of electro, funk, and soul music. NME
likened trying to classify the song as "akin to trying to lasso water" and described it as "a monumental barney between the Camberwick Green
brass band
, a cruise-ship cabaret
act, a cartoon gospel choir and a sucker MC
hiccuping' Shake it like a polaroid pic-chaaaa!' backed up by the cast of an amateur production of The Wizard of Oz
. Sort of." This song was number four on Rolling Stones 2009 list of the 50 Best Songs of the Decade. In 2011, NME
placed it at number 3 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
for nineteen weeks. The song performed well in urban contemporary
markets, topping the Rhythmic Top 40
chart and reaching number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
. It was also successful in mainstream music, topping the Top 40 Mainstream
and Top 40 Tracks
and reaching number 13 on the Adult Top 40. The song's pop rock
origins allowed it some crossover success, and it reached number 16 on the Modern Rock Tracks. In September 2005, the Recording Industry Association of America
certified the single triple platinum for shipping three million copies. At the 46th Grammy Awards, the song won Best Urban/Alternative Performance and was nominated for Record of the Year
, but lost to Coldplay
's "Clocks
". "Hey Ya!" also topped the Canadian Singles Chart
.
The song performed well in Europe, though not as strong as in the U.S. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number six on the UK Singles Chart
and peaked at number three after 12 weeks, remaining on the chart for a total of 21 weeks. "Hey Ya!" topped the Norwegian
singles chart for seven weeks, and it reached the top in Sweden
for the first week of 2004. It performed well across the continent, reaching the top ten in Austria
, Finland
, France, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland
.
"Hey Ya!" debuted at number 17 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart, eventually topping the chart for two consecutive weeks. The song remained on the chart for 16 weeks and was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
. The song charted at number 61 for the 2003 end of year chart and was listed at number 15 on the 2004 chart and number five on the 2004 urban chart. It was also successful in New Zealand, reaching number two and staying on the RIANZ
Singles Chart for 23 weeks.
The lyric "shake it like a Polaroid picture", along with the song's commercial success, helped to revitalize the Polaroid Corporation
. Because current Polaroid film is sealed behind a clear plastic window, casually waving the picture has no effect on the film's development. Vigorously shaking the film may actually distort the image by causing the film to separate prematurely and creating blobs in the final image. Nevertheless, Polaroid sought to market off of the allusion, hiring Ryan Berger of the Euro RSCG
advertising agency. Polaroid sponsored parties for OutKast, where Euro RSCG distributed Polaroid cameras. OutKast made a deal to hold Polaroid cameras during some of its performances. Polaroid does not release sales figures, but its public image, previously in decline with the growing popularity of digital camera
s, was bolstered by the song.
The song's music video, directed by Bryan Barber
, is based on The Beatles' landmark appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
on February 9, 1964, but sets the action in London
. The beginning and end of the video blend with those of "The Way You Move" so that the two can be watched in either order, and a "The Way You Move/Hey Ya!" video combining both clips with a bridging sequence was released on the OutKast: The Videos DVD
. In the video, André 3000 plays eight members of The Love Below: keyboardist Benjamin Andre, bassist Possum Jenkins, vocalist Ice Cold 3000, drummer Dookie Blasingame, three backing vocalists The Love Haters, and guitarist Johnny Vulture. The video opens with the band's manager Antwan (Big Boi
) talking to Ice Cold 3000 and Dookie Blasingame backstage. Meanwhile, the television presenter, portrayed by Ryan Phillippe
, tries to calm a crowd of screaming girls on a show being broadcast live in black-and-white. The band performs while the girls in the audience scream loudly; one girl is carried off by security after rushing the stage, and another faints. A family is shown dancing to the broadcast at home. When André 3000 instructs to "shake it like a Polaroid picture", some of the girls begin taking pictures and shaking them. Ice Cold 3000 dances with one of the girls on stage, and the video closes with several friends of the band watching and discussing the performance.
The music video was filmed in two days in August 2003 on a sound stage
at Universal Studios
in Los Angeles, California. The cast consisted of over one hundred girls. Each of André 3000's parts was shot several times from different angles, and he performed the song 23 times during the course of filming. Because releasing "Hey Ya!" as a single was a last minute decision, André did not have time to choreograph the parts, and all of the dancing was improvised. Ice Cold 3000's sequences were the first filmed, resulting in the character's energetic performance, and Johnny Vulture's were the last, so André, exhausted from the previous takes, sat on a stool for those sequences.
The music video proved to be a success. The video debuted on MTV
's Total Request Live
on September 5, 2003 at number ten. It topped the countdown for 19 days and retired at number eight on November 24, having spent 50 days on the program. At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards
, the video won four awards for Video of the Year
, Best Hip-Hop Video
, Best Special Effects
, and Best Art Direction
. It was also nominated for Best Direction
but lost to Jay-Z
's "99 Problems
". "Hey Ya!" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 46th Grammy Awards, but it lost to Johnny Cash
's cover of Nine Inch Nails
' "Hurt". In Canada, the video topped MuchMusic
's Countdown
for four weeks, and it won the award for Best International Group at the 2004 MuchMusic Video Awards
. In 2006, Stylus Magazine listed it at number 72 on its "Top 100 Music Videos of All Time", comparing André 3000's dancing to James Brown
's performances in the early 1970s.
s of the song. One of the first covers of the song was by indie rock band Razorlight
, who performed the song with the London Community Gospel Choir
for a BBC Radio 1
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 compilation album Radio 1's Live Lounge. Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
recorded a lounge
version of the song for their 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin
. Country
band The BossHoss
, Latin pop
singer JD Natasha
, punk rock
band Pennywise
, Indie pop
band Tilly and the Wall
, and rock and roll
band The Supersuckers
have also recorded cover versions. Organ player Booker T. Jones
also recorded an instrumental version of this song.
In 2006, Mat Weddle, frontman of the unsigned folk
band Obadiah Parker, performed an acoustic
cover of the song at a local open mike
night, and a friend of his posted a video of the performance on YouTube
. The video gained popularity on the Internet
, soon becoming a viral video
, and was viewed by over one million people. Inspired by slowcore band Red House Painters
, Weddle's version moves at a much slower tempo backed by a rhythmic guitar strum
and converts the breakdown into a "staccato
chime". The cover received international airplay and spawned many other copycat acoustic versions. In 2010, Sarah Blasko
performed an acoustic
cover of the song on Triple J
's breakfast show with Tom Ballard
& Alex Dyson
during the Like a Version
segment. Trey Anastasio
covered the song on February 18, 2011 at the State Theater in Portland, ME. At Summer 2010, a Portuguese actors group covered this song with Portuguese lyrics, to play in a Morangos Com Acucar
soap opera
episode. It's also covered by the band the Blanks
, and used in one episode of Scrubs
.
Australian CD single
German CD maxi single
UK 12" vinyl single
UK CD single
UK CD maxi single
André 3000
André Lauren Benjamin , better known by his stage name André 3000 is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of American hip-hop duo OutKast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi...
for his 2003 album The Love Below, part of the hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
duo OutKast
OutKast
Outkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
's double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast, released September 23, 2003 on LaFace Records in the United States. Issued as a double album, it clocks in at over two hours and consists of a solo album from both of the group's members...
. The song takes influence from funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. A music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was produced featuring André 3000 as eight different versions of himself, playing on comparisons to The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
by mimicking their 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
. The song received praise from contemporary music critics, and it won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Urban/Alternative Performance
Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality urban/alternative performances...
at the 46th Grammy Awards.
Along with "The Way You Move
The Way You Move
"The Way You Move" is a 2003 number-one single recorded by Big Boi of the hip-hop duo OutKast, released by LaFace Records. The song features OutKast mentor Sleepy Brown on guest vocals...
", recorded by OutKast's other member Big Boi
Big Boi
Antwan André Patton , better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André...
, "Hey Ya!" was released by LaFace Records
LaFace Records
LaFace Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment.-Company history:LaFace was formed in 1989 as a joint venture between the producing duo Antonio "L.A." Reid & Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, and Arista Records. The combined nicknames of the duo's successful...
in September 2003 as one of the album's two lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
s. It became a commercial success, reaching the top five of most of the charts it entered, and topping the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and the ARIA Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
, among others. Later it was named the 20th most successful song of the 2000s decade, on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. The song popularized the phrase "shake it like a Polaroid
Instant film
Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera...
picture," and the Polaroid Corporation
Polaroid Corporation
Polaroid Corporation is an American-based international consumer electronics and eyewear company, originally founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land. It is most famous for its instant film cameras, which reached the market in 1948, and continued to be the company's flagship product line until the February...
used the song to revitalize the public's perception of its products.
In 2004, Rolling Stone rated the song #180 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Writing
André 3000 first began work on "Hey Ya!" in December 2002 at Stankonia Studios in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. He used an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
for accompaniment, inspired by bands such as the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
, Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton in 1976, led by singer–songwriter–guitarist Pete Shelley.They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock. They achieved commercial...
, and The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
. Already having visualized most of the song, he recorded the introduction
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
, the first verse, and the hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
. André began recording the vocals during this time, doing several dozen takes. He returned to work on the song several evenings later, with session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
Kevin Kendricks performing the bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
on a synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
.
Several months later, André 3000 worked with Pete Novak at the Larrabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California. André improvised the lyrics based on a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
that he had written. They experimented with various sound effect
Sound effect
For the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
s, including singing through a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
, and did 30 to 40 takes for each line.
Composition
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of G major
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
. Each cadential six-measure
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
phrase
Phrase (music)
In music and music theory, phrase and phrasing are concepts and practices related to grouping consecutive melodic notes, both in their composition and performance...
is constructed using a change of meter
Meter (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
on the fourth measure and uses a I–IV–V–vi chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
. G major and C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
chords are played for one and two 4/4 measures respectively. André 3000 then uses a deceptive cadence after a 2/4 measure of the dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
D major
D major
D major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....
chord, leading into two 4/4 measures of an E major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
chord. The song moves at a tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of 160 beats per minute, and André's vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
spans more than an octave and a half, from B3 to G5.
The song opens with three upbeats as André 3000 counts "one, two, three" and then leads into the first verse. The lyrics begin to describe the persona's concerns and doubts about a romantic relationship. He wonders if they are staying together just "for tradition," as in the lines "But does she really wanna [mess around] / But can't stand to see me / Walk out the door?" André 3000 commented, "I think it's more important to be happy than to meet up to…the world's expectations of what a relationship should be. So this is a celebration of how men and women relate to each other in the 2000s." The song then leads into the chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, which consists of the line "Hey ya!" repeated eight times, accompanied by a synthesizer performing the bassline.
During the second verse, the persona gets cold feet
Cold feet (metaphor)
Cold feet is apprehension or doubt strong enough to prevent a planned course of action.The origin of the term itself has been attributed to American author Stephen Crane, who added the phrase, in 1896, to the second edition of his short novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets.The behaviour may be...
and wonders what the purpose of continuing the relationship is, pondering the question, "If they say nothing is forever…then what makes love the exception?" After repeating the chorus, the song leads into a call and response
Call and response (music)
In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first...
section. André 3000 jokes, "What's cooler than being cool?", and the "fellas'" response, an overdubbed version of his vocals, is "Ice cold", a reference to one of André Benjamin's stage names. He then calls to the "ladies", whose response is overdubbed from vocals by Rabeka Tuinei, who was an assistant to the audio engineer.
The song's breakdown
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
coined the phrase "shake it like a Polaroid picture," a reference to an erroneous technique used by some photographers to expedite instant film
Instant film
Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera...
. Early versions of the film needed to be dried, and shaking the picture helped it to dry faster. The breakdown also namechecks singer Beyoncé and actress Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu
Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
. The song closes by repeating the chorus ad libitum
Ad libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
and gradually fading out.
Critical reception
"Hey Ya!" received very positive reviews from music critics. PopMattersPopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
described the track as "brilliantly rousing" and "spazzy with electrifying multiplicity". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
highlighted it as the catchiest song on the double album, and Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
identified it as one of the best songs in OutKast's history. "Hey Ya!" topped the 2003 Jazz & Pop list, a survey of several hundred music critics conducted by Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
, with 322 mentions, beating runner-up Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
' "Crazy in Love" by 119. It was listed at number 15 on Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
The song's unusual arrangement drew comparisons to artists from a variety of genres. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
referred to it as the apex of the album and added that it successfully mixed Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
-style instrumentation with the energy of Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's 1983 single "Little Red Corvette
Little Red Corvette
"Little Red Corvette" is a song by the American musician Prince. Released as a single from the album 1999 in 1983, the song was his biggest hit at the time, and his first to reach top-10 status in the U.S., peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart...
". Subsequently, Pitchfork Media gave it the number two slot in its "The Top 100 Singles of 2000-2004" feature in January 2005, bested only by OutKast's own "B.O.B.". Blender described it as a mix of soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
by Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
and New Wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
by Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
and later as an "electro/folk-rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
/funk/power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
/hip-hop/neo-soul
Neo soul
The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...
/kitchen sink rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
-up". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
compared André 3000's vocals to those of "an indie-rock Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
" and the backing arrangement to The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road, later including the song in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
. New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
also likened it to The Beatles and found it to be one of the best singles of 2003. Allmusic described it as an "incandescent" mix of electro, funk, and soul music. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
likened trying to classify the song as "akin to trying to lasso water" and described it as "a monumental barney between the Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green is a British children's television series, originally seen on BBC One, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.-Background:...
brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
, a cruise-ship cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
act, a cartoon gospel choir and a sucker MC
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
hiccuping
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
. Sort of." This song was number four on Rolling Stones 2009 list of the 50 Best Songs of the Decade. In 2011, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
placed it at number 3 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
Sales and impact
"Hey Ya!" was successful in North America, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks, from January 10, 2004 to March 6, 2004. The digital sales topped the Billboard Hot Digital TracksHot Digital Tracks
The Hot Digital Tracks chart is a song popularity chart that ranks the best selling digital tracks in the United States according to Billboard magazine...
for nineteen weeks. The song performed well in urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
markets, topping the Rhythmic Top 40
Rhythmic Airplay Chart
The Rhythmic Airplay Chart is an airplay chart that is featured weekly in Billboard Magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on Rhythmic stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic pop, and some Dance tracks...
chart and reaching number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
. It was also successful in mainstream music, topping the Top 40 Mainstream
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)
The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...
and Top 40 Tracks
Top 40 Tracks
Top 40 Tracks is a defunct airplay chart from Billboard Magazine. It was created in 1998, when Billboard Magazine changed the airplay profile of The Hot 100 Airplay to include more R&B, Country, and Rock stations to its profile . To preserve the notion of the former chart, Top 40 Tracks was...
and reaching number 13 on the Adult Top 40. The song's pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
origins allowed it some crossover success, and it reached number 16 on the Modern Rock Tracks. In September 2005, the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
certified the single triple platinum for shipping three million copies. At the 46th Grammy Awards, the song won Best Urban/Alternative Performance and was nominated for Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
, but lost to Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
's "Clocks
Clocks (song)
"Clocks" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. Built around a piano riff, the song features cryptic lyrics of contrast and urgency themes. Several remixes of the track exist and its riff...
". "Hey Ya!" also topped the Canadian Singles Chart
Canadian Singles Chart
The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
.
The song performed well in Europe, though not as strong as in the U.S. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number six on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
and peaked at number three after 12 weeks, remaining on the chart for a total of 21 weeks. "Hey Ya!" topped the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
singles chart for seven weeks, and it reached the top in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
for the first week of 2004. It performed well across the continent, reaching the top ten in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, France, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
"Hey Ya!" debuted at number 17 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart, eventually topping the chart for two consecutive weeks. The song remained on the chart for 16 weeks and was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
. The song charted at number 61 for the 2003 end of year chart and was listed at number 15 on the 2004 chart and number five on the 2004 urban chart. It was also successful in New Zealand, reaching number two and staying on the RIANZ
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
Singles Chart for 23 weeks.
The lyric "shake it like a Polaroid picture", along with the song's commercial success, helped to revitalize the Polaroid Corporation
Polaroid Corporation
Polaroid Corporation is an American-based international consumer electronics and eyewear company, originally founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land. It is most famous for its instant film cameras, which reached the market in 1948, and continued to be the company's flagship product line until the February...
. Because current Polaroid film is sealed behind a clear plastic window, casually waving the picture has no effect on the film's development. Vigorously shaking the film may actually distort the image by causing the film to separate prematurely and creating blobs in the final image. Nevertheless, Polaroid sought to market off of the allusion, hiring Ryan Berger of the Euro RSCG
Euro RSCG
Euro RSCG Worldwide is one of the largest integrated marketing communications agencies in the world, made up of 233 offices located in 75 countries throughout Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Euro RSCG provides advertising, marketing services, corporate...
advertising agency. Polaroid sponsored parties for OutKast, where Euro RSCG distributed Polaroid cameras. OutKast made a deal to hold Polaroid cameras during some of its performances. Polaroid does not release sales figures, but its public image, previously in decline with the growing popularity of digital camera
Digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
s, was bolstered by the song.
Music video
Bryan Barber
Bryan Barber is a music video and motion picture director. He has directed many music videos for popular artists.-Personal:Barber graduated from Sacramento, CA Hiram Johnson High School in 1988...
, is based on The Beatles' landmark appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
on February 9, 1964, but sets the action in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The beginning and end of the video blend with those of "The Way You Move" so that the two can be watched in either order, and a "The Way You Move/Hey Ya!" video combining both clips with a bridging sequence was released on the OutKast: The Videos DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. In the video, André 3000 plays eight members of The Love Below: keyboardist Benjamin Andre, bassist Possum Jenkins, vocalist Ice Cold 3000, drummer Dookie Blasingame, three backing vocalists The Love Haters, and guitarist Johnny Vulture. The video opens with the band's manager Antwan (Big Boi
Big Boi
Antwan André Patton , better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André...
) talking to Ice Cold 3000 and Dookie Blasingame backstage. Meanwhile, the television presenter, portrayed by Ryan Phillippe
Ryan Phillippe
Matthew Ryan Phillippe , better known as Ryan Phillippe, is an American actor. After appearing on the soap opera One Life to Live, he came to fame in the late 1990s starring in a string of films, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cruel Intentions, and 54...
, tries to calm a crowd of screaming girls on a show being broadcast live in black-and-white. The band performs while the girls in the audience scream loudly; one girl is carried off by security after rushing the stage, and another faints. A family is shown dancing to the broadcast at home. When André 3000 instructs to "shake it like a Polaroid picture", some of the girls begin taking pictures and shaking them. Ice Cold 3000 dances with one of the girls on stage, and the video closes with several friends of the band watching and discussing the performance.
The music video was filmed in two days in August 2003 on a sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in Los Angeles, California. The cast consisted of over one hundred girls. Each of André 3000's parts was shot several times from different angles, and he performed the song 23 times during the course of filming. Because releasing "Hey Ya!" as a single was a last minute decision, André did not have time to choreograph the parts, and all of the dancing was improvised. Ice Cold 3000's sequences were the first filmed, resulting in the character's energetic performance, and Johnny Vulture's were the last, so André, exhausted from the previous takes, sat on a stool for those sequences.
The music video proved to be a success. The video debuted on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
on September 5, 2003 at number ten. It topped the countdown for 19 days and retired at number eight on November 24, having spent 50 days on the program. At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, the video won four awards for Video of the Year
MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year
The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the main award handed out at the yearly MTV Video Music Awards. It was first awarded in , when The Cars won it, and has been given out since. Eminem has been the most nominated solo artist, male solo artist, and act in this category, having been...
, Best Hip-Hop Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video was first given out at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The award, according to MTV, was originally intended for hip-hop-inspired songs, not necessarily actual hip-hop music videos . This explains the recognition of non-hip-hop songs such as "Thong...
, Best Special Effects
MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects
The following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best Special Effects in a Video....
, and Best Art Direction
MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction
The following is a list of MTV Video Music Award winners for Best Art Direction in a Video. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the biggest winners in this category with three wins in 1992, 2000, and 2006....
. It was also nominated for Best Direction
MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction
The following is a list of MTV Video Music Awards winners for Best Direction in a Video. In 2007, the award was briefly renamed Best Director, but it returned to its original name for the 2008 awards....
but lost to Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
's "99 Problems
99 Problems
"99 Problems" is the third single released by American rapper Jay-Z in 2004 from The Black Album. Throughout the song Jay-Z tells a story about dealing with a racist cop who wants to illegally search his car, dealing with rap critics, and dealing with an aggressor...
". "Hey Ya!" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 46th Grammy Awards, but it lost to Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
's cover of Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
' "Hurt". In Canada, the video topped MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
's Countdown
Countdown (MuchMusic TV series)
The MuchMusic Top 30 Countdown is a ninety-minute music video program block, that airs on Canadian music television station MuchMusic. Countdown is one of the oldest programs that continues to be aired on Much Music since its debut...
for four weeks, and it won the award for Best International Group at the 2004 MuchMusic Video Awards
MuchMusic Video Awards
The MuchMusic Video Awards are annual awards presented by the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic to honour the year's best music videos....
. In 2006, Stylus Magazine listed it at number 72 on its "Top 100 Music Videos of All Time", comparing André 3000's dancing to James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
's performances in the early 1970s.
Cover versions
The rock influences of "Hey Ya!" have allowed many other artists to release cover versionCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of the song. One of the first covers of the song was by indie rock band Razorlight
Razorlight
Razorlight are a UK based indie rock band formed in 2002. They are primarily known in the UK, having topped the charts with the 2006 single "America" and its parent self-titled album, their second...
, who performed the song with the London Community Gospel Choir
London Community Gospel Choir
The London Community Gospel Choir is a successful gospel choir located in the United Kingdom.-History:The London Community Gospel Choir was founded in 1982 by the Reverend Bazil Meade with the assistance of Lawrence Johnson, Delroy Powell and John Francis.Initially the idea was for a single concert...
for a BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
session, later releasing their version as a B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
for their single "Vice". In a similar vein, Will Young
Will Young
William Robert "Will" Young is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominenceafter winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise...
, 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 compilation album Radio 1's Live Lounge. Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
Mark Jonathan Davis , known by his stage name Richard Cheese, is an American musician and comedian. He was born in New York...
recorded a lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
version of the song for their 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin
I'd Like a Virgin
I'd Like a Virgin is the third album from Richard Cheese, released April 20, 2004. The album title and artwork are take-offs of Madonna's 1984 album, Like a Virgin...
. Country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
band The BossHoss
The BossHoss
BossHoss is a band from Berlin which started in 2004 with Country & Western style cover versions of famous pop, rock and hip hop songs, for example "Hot in Herre" by Nelly, "Toxic" by Britney Spears and "Hey Ya!" by Outkast. They incorporate stereotypical American cowboy behavior into their act...
, Latin pop
Latin pop
Latin pop generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a Latin American influence...
singer JD Natasha
JD Natasha
JD Natasha is a Latin Pop Musician.-Early life:JD Natasha was born to an Argentine father and a cuban American mother. She is the second of four children, sister of Jonathan Duenas , and grew up in Miami, Florida...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Pennywise
Pennywise (band)
Pennywise is a Californian punk rock band from Hermosa Beach, California, formed in 1988. The name is derived from the monster, It, from the Stephen King novel of the same title....
, Indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band Tilly and the Wall
Tilly and the Wall
Tilly and the Wall is an indie pop group from Omaha, Nebraska. Their name originated from a children's book called Tillie and the Wall, written by Leo Lionni...
, and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band The Supersuckers
The Supersuckers
Supersuckers are an American rock band. They are the self-proclaimed "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World." Following the relative success of their 1997 foray into country music with the release of Must've Been High, they have also been known to play country shows under various names,...
have also recorded cover versions. Organ player Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...
also recorded an instrumental version of this song.
In 2006, Mat Weddle, frontman of the unsigned folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
band Obadiah Parker, performed an acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
cover of the song at a local open mike
Open mike
An open mike or open mic is a live show where audience members may perform at the microphone. Usually, the performers sign up in advance for a time slot with the host or master of ceremonies. These events can be focused on poetry and the spoken word, music, comedy, and the open format of open...
night, and a friend of his posted a video of the performance on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The video gained popularity on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, soon becoming a viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
, and was viewed by over one million people. Inspired by slowcore band Red House Painters
Red House Painters
Red House Painters were an alternative rock group formed in 1989 in San Francisco, California by singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek.-History:While in Atlanta, Georgia, Ohio-born Kozelek became friends with Anthony Koutsos, a drummer. He then moved to San Francisco, California, adding guitarist Gorden...
, Weddle's version moves at a much slower tempo backed by a rhythmic guitar strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
and converts the breakdown into a "staccato
Staccato
Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...
chime". The cover received international airplay and spawned many other copycat acoustic versions. In 2010, Sarah Blasko
Sarah Blasko
Sarah Elizabeth Blaskow , is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. After fronting Sydney-based band Acquiesce from the mid-1990s, Blasko developed her solo career from 2002. In 2007, she won the 'Best Pop Release' for What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have at the ARIA Music Awards, which...
performed an acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
cover of the song on Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
's breakfast show with Tom Ballard
Tom Ballard
Tom Ballard is a tall, blond, fast-talking, openly gay, Australian radio presenter and comedian.-Early life:Thomas Colin Ballard grew up in Warrnambool, Victoria and attended Brauer College Warrnambool, graduating in 2007 where he was dux with an ENTER of 99.80, and was consequently named as the...
& Alex Dyson
Alex Dyson
Alex Dyson is an Australian radio presenter who, along with co-host Tom Ballard presents the breakfast show on Australian youth radio station Triple J....
during the Like a Version
Like A Version
Like a Version is a segment on the Australian radio station Triple J. It was created by Mel Bampton as part of the Mel in the Morning program. Currently the segment pops up whenever artists are available and willing to do it, though mainly on the Breakfast show...
segment. Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
covered the song on February 18, 2011 at the State Theater in Portland, ME. At Summer 2010, a Portuguese actors group covered this song with Portuguese lyrics, to play in a Morangos Com Acucar
Morangos com Açúcar
Morangos com Açúcar is a Portuguese Teen drama. It is broadcasted daily on the Portuguese TV station TVI since 2003. In Portugal, it is currently on its eight season....
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
episode. It's also covered by the band the Blanks
The Blanks
The Blanks are an a cappella group. Most notably, they appeared in the TV series Scrubs in a recurring guest role, under various names such as Ted's Band and The Worthless Peons...
, and used in one episode of Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
.
Formats and track listings
American 7" vinyl single- "Hey Ya!" (radio edit)
- "Hey Ya!" (instrumental)
Australian CD single
- "Hey Ya!"
- "Ghetto Musick" (radio edit)
- "Ghetto Musick" (Benny BenassiBenny BenassiMarco Benassi , better known as Benny Benassi, is a Grammy Award winning Italian disc jockey and record producer of electro house music. He is best known for his 2002 summer club hit "Satisfaction"...
remix)
German CD maxi single
- "Hey Ya!"
- "Ghetto Musick" (radio edit)
- "Ghetto Musick" (Benny Benassi remix)
- "Hey Ya!" (video)
UK 12" vinyl single
- "Hey Ya!" (radio edit)
- "Ghetto Musick"
- "My Favourite Things"
UK CD single
- "Hey Ya!" (radio edit)
- "Ghetto Musick" (radio edit)
UK CD maxi single
- "Hey Ya!" (radio edit)
- "Ghetto Musick" (radio edit)
- "My Favourite Things"
- "Hey Ya!" (video)
Personnel
- Lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
: André 3000 - Additional vocals: Rabeka Tunei
- GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
: André 3000 - KeyboardsElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
: Kevin Kendricks, André 3000 - ProducerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
: André 3000 - Recording engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
s: John Frye, Pete Novak, Robert Hannon, Mike Nicholson
- Assistant recording engineers: Josh Monroy, Warren Bletcher, Rabeka Tunei
- Audio programmer: André 3000
- Audio mixerAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
: Kevin Davis - Assistant audio mixer: Sean Tallman
Weekly charts
| Chart (2003-2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... ) |
1 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
20 |