White & Nerdy

Infobox Single
Name = White and Nerdy
Artist = "Weird Al" Yankovic
from Album = Straight Outta Lynwood
Released = September 12, 2006


track_no = 1
B-side = "Don't Download This Song"
Format = CD, Digital download, 12"
Recorded = July 22, 2006
Genre = Comedy rap
Length = 2:50
Writer = "Weird Al" Yankovic, H. Seriki, A. Henderson
Label = Volcano
Producer = "Weird Al" Yankovic
Certification = Platinum (RIAA)
Last single = "Don't Download This Song"
(2006)
This single = "White & Nerdy"
(2006)
Next single = "Canadian Idiot"
(2006)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Straight Outta Lynwood
Type = studio
Tracks =
# "White & Nerdy"
# "Pancreas"
# "Canadian Idiot"
# "I'll Sue Ya"
# "Polkarama!"
# "Virus Alert"
# "Confessions Part III"
# "Weasel Stomping Day"
# "Close But No Cigar"
# "Do I Creep You Out"
# "Trapped in the Drive-Thru"
# "Don't Download This Song"'"White & Nerdy" is the second single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album "Straight Outta Lynwood", which was released on September 26, 2006. It parodies the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone. The song both laments and revels in nerdiness, as recited by the subject who cannot "roll with the gangstas" because he is "just too white and nerdy", and includes constant references to stereotypically nerdy things, such as collecting comic books, playing "Dungeons & Dragons", and editing Wikipedia, as well as stereotypically "white" things, like drinking Earl Grey tea, watching "Happy Days" and playing ping pong.

Chamillionaire himself put "White & Nerdy" on his official MySpace page, and commented that he enjoys the parody. [ [http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/091106/ MTVNews.com story] ] In an interview, he also stated he was pleasantly surprised by "Weird Al"'s rapping ability, saying: "He's actually rapping pretty good on it, it's crazy ... I didn't know he could rap like that." [ [http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/091106/ MTVNews.com story] ]

The song became Yankovic's first career Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, its peak being #9 and beating his previous #12 peak for 1984's "Eat It". This was also his first Top 40 single since 1992's "Smells Like Nirvana". [ [http://www.weirdal.com/ News on Yankovic's official site] The text, in case the homepage changes: BREAKING NEWS"White & Nerdy" is the Hot Shot Debut (the highest charting debut single of the week) on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It enters at #28... which already makes it Al's highest charting single in over 22 years!] It peaked on the Hot Digital Songs chart at #5. Both the song and the music video reached #1 at the U.S. and Australian iTunes Store, and peaked at #1 on VH1's top 20 video countdown. Both "White & Nerdy" and "Straight Outta Lynwood" were certified gold, and later platinum, by the RIAA. [www.weirdal.com] This marks the first time any one of Yankovic's singles has been certified platinum. [ [http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS "White & Nerdy" Certified Platinum] ]

Track listing

CD Single

The following tracks are on the single:
# "White & Nerdy" – 2:50
# "Don't Download This Song" – 3:54

The promo single only contains "White & Nerdy".

Promo 12" Single

The following three songs were featured as triple A-sides on a 12" promotional record:
# "White & Nerdy" – 2:50
# "Confessions Part III" – 3:52
# "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" – 10:50

Music video

The single has an accompanying music video, which was recorded in high definition. The video was unique in that Yankovic personally recruited extras to participate in its filming. A request was posted via the blog on his MySpace page, and he received interest from a number of extras who were willing to work for free.

The video was leaked onto YouTube on September 17, 2006, just one day before the video was planned to be officially released at 9 PM Pacific time at AOL.com. Due to the leak, the premiere was canceled, and AOL silently slipped the video onto their website hours before the premiere was set to take place. VH1 started airing the video in "large rotation" on September 20, 2006, and it debuted at #5 on their Top 20 countdown. [http://www.weirdal.com/home.htm The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site ] ] It is available to watch on Yankovic's MySpace page, as well as on several other video hosting sites and P2P theaters.

As of 10 September, 2007 it reached the 4th position on the [http://www.viralvideochart.com Viral Video Chart] (for over 365 days). [http://www.viralvideochart.com/google/white_and_nerdy?id=-5850712885114934940 Viral Video Chart - White and nerdy ] ]

References in video

*The two automobiles appearing in the video are a (modified) 1967 Blue Chevy Impala Convertible and a 2004 or 2005 Toyota Prius NHW20. The 1967 Impala has the License plate " 4LIFE"; the Prius has a California clean-air vehicle HOV Lane access sticker.

*In the video, "Weird Al" refuses a 40 and sticks to his Earl Grey tea, a drink that Captain Picard on "" commonly drinks.

*The comic book store briefly featured in the video is Golden Apple Comics, located in Los Angeles, California. [http://www.goldenapplecomics.com/orchard/wierdal/index.php]

*In the video for "Ridin"', Chamillionaire is seen rapping in an empty street at night. On the pavement behind him, his personal logo is outlined in burning road flares. In the night scenes for Yankovic's video the same red-colored flares are in the shape of Pac-Man.

*When Yankovic is rapping in front of Donny Osmond, the Schrödinger equation for a hydrogen atom can be seen in the background. However, it is incorrect in that "ħ"$^2$ is replaced by a $h^2$. This scene parodies shots of the original song's video, which featured Chamillionaire rapping in front of his own name, with Krayzie Bone doing some moves.

*Al's character in the song indicates that he graduated first in his class at MIT. (In reality, MIT only ranks students by quartile) [ [http://web.mit.edu/registrar/enrcert.html Enrollment and Degree Certifications, MIT] Retrieved on October 5 2008 ]

*Yankovic refers to M.C. Escher as being his "favorite MC".

*When in his library, Al is seen reading Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time", which is also the book he is seen holding in his READ poster [http://www.alastore.ala.org/catalog/img/pgraphic1-1044.jpg] .

*Above and to the left of Yankovic's computer is a large poster of the Periodic table of elements.

*Yankovic created his "pimped-out" MySpace page for the filming. [http://www.myspace.com/whiteandnerdy MySpace.com - White & Nerdy - 101 - Garçon - Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA - www.myspace.com/whiteandnerdy ] ] "White & Nerdy"'s top eight MySpace friends are Bill Gates, Napoleon Dynamite, Mr. Peabody, Albert Einstein, Screech, Frodo, Pee Wee Herman and Tom. At the bottom of the page, Larry Groznic — a fictional geek columnist for "The Onion" who wrote a lengthy diatribe about Yankovic's Wikipedia entry — begs to be part of the "top 8". His profile is Yankovic's creation. [ [http://home.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewfriends&friendID=101685476 White & Nerdy's Friends] on the MySpace page.] Although Al claims that everybody begs for his top 8 spaces, he only has 27 friends, a number that is a recurring joke in Yankovic's music and videos.

*When Al raps "Yo, I know π to a thousand places..." a background displays the value of π to about 515 digits.

*A scene shows him playing Minesweeper on a Macintosh computer running Mac OS X. The logged-in user is listed as "whitenerdy."

*When Al sings that he even has his name on his underwear, someone pulls a wedgie on him, exposing the name "Alfred" on the waistband. "Alfred" is "Weird Al"'s given name.

*The vehicle Al rides in the park is a Segway PT.

*The scene for the line, "I ain't got a gat, but I got a soldering gun" refers to his use of a soldering iron for electronic assembly or repair, rather than a firearm.

*The questions on the "Trivial Pursuit" card in the video are as follows::*(Geography) In what city is the largest ball of twine built by one man? (Also referenced in Yankovic's song "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota".):*(Entertainment) What's the deal with Lindsay Lohan? I mean, seriously? :*(History) F.D.R.—was he faking it?:*(Arts & Literature) On what page does Harry Potter die in the next book?:*(Science & Nature) What is the melting point of a gorilla's head?:*(Sports & Leisure) How many Wicket Men are there on a 43-Man Squamish team? (a MAD Magazine reference.)

*When Al professes fluency in both JavaScript as well as Klingon, he points to the cover of .

* While Yankovic is in the store browsing for X-Men comic books, he is wearing a shirt that reads "Carl Sagan is my homeboy".

* The comics in his left hand are "Uncanny X-Men" #268 (September 1990) in front and "Uncanny X-Men" #201 (January 1986) behind it. The comics in his right are "Uncanny X-Men" #221 (September 1987) in front and "Uncanny X-Men" #210 (October 1986) behind it.

*The Wikipedia article Yankovic vandalizes (by typing "YOU SUCK!" in large Impact type) is the article about srlink|Atlantic Records, referring to the company refusing permission for Yankovic to include "You're Pitiful", a parody of James Blunt's song "You're Beautiful", on "Straight Outta Lynwood". This has inspired real-life vandals to attack the article on Wikipedia in a similar manner. Yankovic has said that he does not approve of the vandalism, though he admits being amused by it. "White & Nerdy" was, in fact, the first song to make a Wikipedia reference.Adams, Cameron. “ [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20523843-5006024,00.html Weird Al Yankovic] .” "Herald Sun", October 5, 2006.]

*The word "dog" is said at the same point in both "Ridin'" and this song; however, rather than in the original song, where it was "dawg" — slang for "friend" — Al's character is referring to his pet dog. The name of his dog, Foofie, may be a reference to UHF, where the first poodle to be thrown out the window in "Raul's Wild Kingdom" was named Foofie. Also, the words "pop pop" are said at the same time in the songs, except in the Weird Al version, the phrase refers to popping the bubbles of Bubble Wrap packaging.

*The Gap store featured in the video is located on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica.

*Yankovic parodies the Star Wars kid and is seen in an alley purchasing a bootleg VHS recording of "The Star Wars Holiday Special" with a wad of series 2003A $100 bills.

*On the trash container in the back alley is a Lambda-graffiti, which is the logo of the pc-game "Half-Life". Lambda Lambda Lambda was the nerds' fraternity in the film "Revenge of the Nerds".

*Chamillionaire flashes a gang sign; Yankovic flashes the Vulcan salute sign from Star Trek.
**In the final extreme-close-up frames of the "Ridin'" video, Chamillionaire throws up for L.A. Brims, an original constituent-element of the Bloods street gang. The rapper's left hand is turned knuckles-to-the-camera. His thumb and middle-two fingers are curled into his palm. His index and little fingers are held rigid, horizontal, and parallel to each other (differentiating the sign from Hook 'em Horns etc.)
**As Yankovic's video fades out, Al gestures to the camera within the same extreme close-up composition, showing the Vulcan gesture of salutation (known for accompanying the phrase "Live long and prosper.") Yankovic's palm is to the camera, his little and ring fingers are pressed tightly together, as are his index and middle fingers. There is the typical wide gap between the middle and ring fingers, but atypically his thumb is held in, pressed against his index finger. (The thumb is typically held as far from the other fingers as possible.)

*There are two versions of the video; the televised version shows a closeup of Al in front of a Gap store but on the original Internet-released version Al is shown further away, with a Gap sign visible behind him. The original version of the video contains the Wikipedia logo in the scene where Yankovic is editing a Wikipedia article; on the televised version this logo has been removed. In the next scene, the words in the DVD box of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" are also gone.

*Two of the top 8 on "White & Nerdy"'s MySpace page have been removed from his friends since the video.Fact|date=October 2007

*In the scene where Weird Al talks about how he can recite "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", he is wearing a tee-shirt which has "Monty Python" written across the front.

Cameos

*Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key of "MADtv" appear in the blue 1967 Chevy Impala Convertible at the beginning of the video.
*Seth Green appears in the scene with a wall of action figures in which he presents it to the viewer. Green has a huge personal collection of action figures (including Star Wars) that are stored in a large storage unit he shares with Hugh Sterbakov [http://www.kid4life.com/yoda2/green-sterbakov-interview.html] . An episode from the second season of Green's show "Robot Chicken" contains a video created for another "Straight Outta Lynwood" song, "Weasel Stomping Day". Yankovic refers to his collection as "cherry" (as in virginal, indicating they have not been removed from their original packaging). The value of action figures decreases if they are removed from their original packaging, as the figurines in the video have been.
*Donny Osmond dances next to Yankovic in the scenes against the white background with the (incorrect) non-relativistic Schrödinger wave equation for hydrogen behind them. Weird Al asked Donny to appear because he was the 'whitest guy I could think of'. [http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2006/weirdal/index.html]
*Judy Tenuta appears as the woman who receives a power strip as a Christmas present. Tenuta is also a comedian who uses a small (concertina-sized) accordion in her act, was a regular on "The Weird Al Show", and appeared in Yankovic's video for Headline News as Lorena Bobbit.

Extras

*Jon Katz, Michael Bueno, Tom Schuler, Peter Withers, John Reynolds, Jennifer More, Christina Rodriguez, Benjamin Baker, Jason Van Kemseke, George Garcia, Deborah Anderson, Christina Malesci, Shawn Avery, Maxx Gillman, Mikel Browning, Diego Kontarousky, David Stephens, and Jack DeVries all volunteered to be extras in the video. This opportunity was advertised on Al's MySpace three days before the video's shooting.

*IGN Freelance Editor and MiraCosta College Chariot Copy Editor Jack DeVries is featured twice in the video: once playing Dungeons & Dragons at the beginning and at the end playing ten-pin bowling.

Other videos

First Take dance with Donny Osmond

Also released was a video consisting of the first take of Yankovic and Donny Osmond's dance in front of a greenscreen. When Yankovic sings ROTFLOL, Osmond finger-spells the letters. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWc6QQ9JlMc]

Fan-made video

Yahoo! Music solicited online members to make a fans-only video for "White & Nerdy". The video was released in late 2006. [ [http://music.yahoo.com/ar-269394-videos--Weird-Al-Yankovic Weird Al Yankovic Music Videos on Yahoo! Music] ]

Live performances

On November 2, 2006, Yankovic performed "White & Nerdy" live on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". (He rode a Segway as he came on stage.) This being his first performance of the song, various background vocals from the original recording are played to allow him time to breathe during the fast-paced lyrics. Since, however, his band has provided live background vocals. On December 3, he performed the song live at the VH1 "Big In '06" Awards. Yankovic also performed the song during his 2007 tour, also using a Segway during the performance.

Chart positions

References

ee also

*List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic
*List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic
*It's All about the Pentiums - a song with a similar topic; also by Yankovic
*Geek chic

External links

* [http://www.weirdal.com Weird Al's home page]
* [http://www.myspace.com/weirdal Weird Al's MySpace page]
* [http://www.myspace.com/chamillionaire Chamillionaire's MySpace page]
* [http://media.bmgonline.com/zombalabelgroup.com/weird_al/video/white_and_nerdy_300.asx Windows Media Streaming Video for White & Nerdy]
* [http://www.myspace.com/whiteandnerdy The MySpace page that Al points to in the video]
* [http://www.whiteandnerdy.com Official e-card for the song, includes quiz and video]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1384277706451157121 Music Video on Google Video]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TDAGJMj8zk "Making of" video]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw Music Video on YouTube]
* [http://vimeo.com/752979 Music Video (HD) on Vimeo]
* on LyricWiki