Is that day ????
Photo: YouTube
“Friday” was hyperpop before hyperpop: born from the internet, edited into oblivion, bordering on parody and bubbling with energy. Calling music good or bad is almost reductive; at the very least, it is far from the label of “worst music of all time” that has led to years of intimidation and anxiety for Black. Most of all, it’s fun – hard to like, of course, but impossible to hate, let alone sing or dance when it starts. It is done with the same playful attitude that many good hyperpop are rewarded today, which is why the hyper-pop remix for this week’s 10th anniversary of Friday really makes good sense.
On paper, the remix of “Friday” has the best programming to reach hyperpop since 100 gecs remixed “ringtone” with Charli XCX, Kero Kero Bonito and Rico Nasty. Black’s team includes the provocative Dorian Electra, the jokesters crunkcore 3OH! 3 and Queen of Bounce Big Freedia, with the production of Dylan Brady recently sought after by gecs. And there are reasons to think that all of these musicians would work well together: Electra joined Black in his own song “Edgelord”; 3OH! 3 just reached 100 gecs for the surprising return to the form of “Lonely Machines”; Freedia has been the glue for other stacked line-ups like “Shake It” by Charli XCX; Brady commanded that 100 gec remix.
And like particles colliding in this new “Friday” mess, they make a delicious mess. Each guest sounds like they’re trying to create a different song, and despite what Brady does to improve Black’s original track, he can’t seem to put all the pieces together. This does not mean that each artist does not belong to music. Electra enters the track better with a few short lines; of course they worked with Black and can handle a Brady beat. Freedia brings characteristic high levels of energy, and it is good to hear her hear real lines instead of just a few improvisations. And it’s appropriate have 3OH! 3, who experienced his own waves of criticism for making music that is questionably good, but undeniably enjoyable. If Black and his team had come back with polished music with the intention of rewriting the story for “Friday”, it just wouldn’t have felt right. (Not to mention that Black is already working to prove his pop skills in his new song “Girlfriend”, not that she needs it.) So, instead, Black and his collaborators just gave us more nonsense and joy – just presented as a gift wrapped at random.
Some major collaborations practically come with a scorecard for listeners, but not this one. No artist is waiting for a “Friday” remix to show how well they can defend themselves against their colleagues; they are jumping on “Friday” to have fun. So what if it’s overkill?