NAMES OF ALLAH

Monday, February 7, 2011

Wiz Khalifa's 'Black And Yellow' Pays Homage To Pittsburgh


The Pittsburgh Steelers face a tough fight against the Baltimore Ravens this weekend in the NFL playoffs. Steeler supporters will no doubt twirl their terrible towels. Also, expect more than a few to belt out a tune that's all about love for the Steel City.
Rapper Wiz Khalifa's "Black And Yellow," a super-popular tune, is blowing up on the Web, partly in response to the Steelers' recent success. You see, the song is, among other things, about life in Pittsburgh. All three of the city's professional sports teams (the Steelers, the Pirates of MLB, and the Penguins of the NHL) wear black and yellow. As does Wiz Khalifa, if his lyrics are to believed.
Currently the song has well over 20 million views on YouTube, and its performance in Search is equally impressive. Over the past week, online lookups for "black and yellow song" spiked 499%. Meanwhile, interest in the heavily tattooed rapper is holding steady. He is currently among Yahoo!'s top 5,000 overall searches.
[Related: Newspaper's awesome 'Star Wars' tribute highlights NFL rivalry]
The video almost acts as a tour guide for Pittsburgh. Wiz Khalifa rolls through the Steel City, visiting local landmarks like PPG Place, the Three Sisters and Smithfield Street bridges, U.S. Steel Tower, and Station Square. Pittsburgh pride, baby.
Another sign of a song's popularity -- the number of parodies it has inspired. And "Black and Yellow" has spawned quite a few. There's "Purp And Yellow," a tune sung by Snoop Dogg and The Game that's all about the Lakers. And there's "White And Purple," a Northwestern University version performed by none other than Chester Hanks, son of actor Tom Hanks. And let us not forget a kid's version of "Green And Yellow" for the Green Bay Packers.
But why watch the imitators when you can watch the original? While "Black And Yellow" isn't the official song of the team (it's probably too racy for that), it sure beats the adopted songs of other teams. Super Bowl Shuffle, anyone?
Be advised: The song does contain some suggestive lyrics.

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