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My Humps

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"My Humps"
Song
B-side"So Real"

"My Humps" is the third single from The Black Eyed Peas' fourth album, Monkey Business. It samples a section of the song "I Need a Freak" by Sexual Harassment as well as the 1989 song "Wild Thing" by Tone Lōc. Released in 2005, it reached number three in the U.S., becoming the Black Eyed Peas' third top ten single in the U.S. The single also reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, their sixth top ten single on the chart. The song was not initially released as a single; "Don't Lie" was intended to be the lead-off release for the album. The song won the 2007 Grammy Award for "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal". On an interview with ITV1 show This Morning in the UK, will.i.am claims that he originally wrote the song for The Pussycat Dolls.

Criticism

"My Humps" has been the subject of severe criticism by the music press. John Bush, writing for Allmusic, described it as "one of the most embarrassing rap performances of the new millennium",[1] while Bill Lamb, writing for About.com, called it "the musical equivalent of a bad Farrelly Brothers movie".[2] Hua Hsu of Slate said, "It's not Awesomely Bad; it's Horrifically Bad. ... There are bad songs that offend our sensibilities but can still be enjoyed, and then there are the songs that are just really bad—transcendentally bad, objectively bad."[3]

In a poll conducted by Rolling Stone, the song was ranked first in the list of 20 most annoying songs[4]. However, this poll is thought to be fixed cause the SONG PWNZ YAH

Despite the heavy criticism, it became a huge hit, charting at #3 and staying there for about two months.

Music video

File:MyHumpsVideo.png
Fergie and backup dancers in the music video.
File:Fergiewill.myhumps.video.jpg
Fergie sings close to William in the music video.

The official music video for "My Humps", directed by Fatima Robinson and Malik Hassan Sayeed, premiered on TRL. It shows Fergie dancing with backup dancers as images of expensive items such as Louis Vuitton purses and jewelry, which is supposed to be the jewelry her men have bought her, appear on the screen. The other members of the Black Eyed Peas — apl.de.ap, Taboo, and will.i.am — sing about how much they spend on Fergie as she sings about her "humps" and "lovely lady lumps". In some vignettes Taboo, Apl.de.ap, and will.i.am are behind women erotically dancing.

The video received the award for "Best Hip-Hop Video" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards on August 31, 2006.

In Season 3 of the American version of the television show The Office, the song can be heard as Michael Scott's ringtone, replacing "Mambo No. 5", his old one from Season 2. Stephen Colbert was seen singing this song on an episode of The Colbert Report, stating that he used to hate the song until it won a Grammy Award. In the 2007 film Blades of Glory, Will Ferrell's character sings (albeit incorrectly) "My Humps", stating it is the only song he will skate to. When Jon Heder's character wonders what "lady humps" (what Ferrell's character named the song) means, Ferrell's character says, "Nobody knows what it means, but it's provocative..." This song was plagiarized in the Telugu movie Mantra as "Maha Maha" starring Charmy Kaur[5]

Parodies

The unconventional lyrical content of the song has been a satire target, spawning many parodies.

Peaches covered the song in 2006, altering the lyrics humorously and changing the title to "My Dumps".

Alanis Morissette covered the song in 2007, seemingly as an April Fools' Day prank, although she has not confirmed this.[6] In contrast to the original "My Humps", Morissette's cover is performed slowly and in the style of a ballad, with only a piano accompanying the vocal. On April 2, a video in which Morissette parodies Fergie's dancing moves in the original "My Humps" music video was added to the website YouTube. By April 3, the video was the most viewed on Technorati,[7] and it was viewed 1.5 million times six days later.[6] The video has been hosted on Morissette's official website. TIME stated that the parody proved that Morissette "under[stands]" irony, in reference to her hit single, Ironic. On April 15, Fergie confirmed to E! News that she thought that the parody was "hilarious", and "genius". Fergie also said that she sent Alanis a cake in the shape of a "derrière".

American Greetings parodied the song in their Christmas e-card, "Three Wise Camels", in which the camels of the Three Wise Men rap about the gifts awaiting baby Jesus, which are sitting on their humps.

Afroman parodied the song for his album "Waiting to Inhale" entitled "My Chunc" where he raps about his genitals.

Peaches then covered the Alanis Morissette parody, changing the title again to "My Dumps". This version combines Peaches' original "My Dumps" lyrics with Alanis' melody.

Sketch-comedy show MADtv did a parody titled "My Slump" that featured George W. Bush.

References in other songs

The 2008 single "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne references "My Humps" in the chorus, telling the listener he would "like to touch [her] lovely lady lumps".

DJ Mei-Lwun[1] mixed the bulk of the vocals from "My Humps" with the signature guitar riff and chorus of the AC/DC song "You Shook Me All Night Long" to form a mash-up dubbed "You Humped Me All Night Long".

Track listing

  1. "My Humps" (single version)
  2. "My Humps" (Lil' Jon remix version)
  3. "So Real"
  4. "My Humps" (video)

Vinyl track listing

12 inch 33⅓ rpm black vinyl record from A&M Records - B0005585-11

Side A

  1. "My Humps" (radio edit) - 3:44
  2. "My Humps" (instrumental) - 4:10

Side B

  1. "My Humps" (album version) - 5:26
  2. "My Humps" (a cappella) - 4:08

Charts

Preceded by Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single
November 27 - December 11, 2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by RIANZ (New Zealand) number-one single
November 28 – December 5, 2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Irish Singles Chart number-one single
December 8, 2005 		Succeeded by
"JCB Song" by Nizlopi
Preceded by RIANZ (New Zealand) number-one single
January 9 - January 16, 2006 		Succeeded by
"Stickwitu" by The Pussycat Dolls

References

  1. ^ All Music Guide
  2. ^ About.com
  3. ^ Slate
  4. ^ Rolling Stone : The 20 Most Annoying Songs
  5. ^ "You Tube Video of Maha"
  6. ^ a b "Morissette's My Humps video spoof an online hit". Canadian Press via Toronto Star. April 4, 2007.
  7. ^ "Alanis Morissette 'My Humps' Video". Spin. April 3, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
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