1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:02,760 Speaker 1: Where Were You In ninety two is a production of 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Oh my God, Becky look at her. 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: But it may be one of the most unforgettable opening 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: lines of a song in the history of popular music. 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: Say those words and they instantly conjure images of rump 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: shaking models, a pair of very annoying valley girls, a 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: man hanging out in the crack of an enormous gold 8 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: ass Carsopolitan magazine, Jane Fonda, Ross and Rachel's Baby, ond Friends, 9 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: Burger King, Shrek, Nicki Minaj, Red Beans, and Rice, high 10 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: school dances about Mitzvah's, Kegger's, karaoke, birthday parties, sports games, 11 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: wedding receptions, okay, basically anything but funerals. The impact of 12 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: Sir mix a Lot's Baby Got Back was massive, Its 13 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: legacy refutable and eternal. The song was big, thick and 14 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: juicy then and it will forever be big, thick and juicy. Well, 15 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: they auditioned every and I gotta say every light scanned 16 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: girl out here in Los Angeles, because you remember that's 17 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,479 Speaker 1: what they were doing it. They're very you know, they 18 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: can be colorous like that. That's Almond, the first black 19 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: woman you see in the music video for Baby Got Back. 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: She's the gorgeous ample booty goddess slowly spinning around on 21 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,919 Speaker 1: a platform towering above white Bucky and her nasty judge 22 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: white friend, posing in a tight fitting yellow dress, all 23 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: saltry and his Almond puts it sinewy, cast in the 24 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: glow of the spotlight against an endless pink and purple sky. 25 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: Like so many curvy women of color in Almon didn't 26 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: see much of herself on TV and films or music videos. 27 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: Like she said, many women like her were even getting auditions. 28 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: By the way, yes, Almond does go by just her 29 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: first name. She's earned it. So Max had already told 30 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: them what he was looking for, right, So they still 31 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: sent them the light span girls, you know, kind of 32 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: straight up and down, that type of girl, right, And 33 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: then he said he had to have a meeting. He said, 34 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: this is not what I'm looking for. I told you 35 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: guys what I was looking for. My agent didn't even 36 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: submit me. It was somebody working with her saw my 37 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: picture and submitted me, sent me on the audition. I 38 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: was a very last person to auditions when Sir mix 39 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: a lot unleashed Baby Got Back in May of the 40 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: rapper had no idea to hit he had in his hands. 41 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: That hit would go on to spend five weeks at 42 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: number one on the Billboard Hot one Singles chart and 43 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: become the second best selling single of that year after 44 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:44,239 Speaker 1: Wait for It Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You. Yep. 45 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: Right behind the theme from the Bodyguard was the theme 46 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: from the Booty Guard. The man who cherished and wished 47 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 1: to protect large asses at all costs. Nix would have 48 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: taken a bullet for one of these bubbly beautiful backsides, 49 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: but he wouldn't pull a gun on someone over one. Okay, 50 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: more on that later. But if it became a whopping success, 51 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,679 Speaker 1: some listeners didn't know what to make of Baby Got Back? 52 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: Was it just a fleeting, frivolous novelty song, yet another 53 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: example of a male hip hop artist objectifying women, a 54 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: celebration of the real life voluptuous black female form and 55 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: therefore an honest to goodness body positive feminist anthem. My answer, 56 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: I think Sir ms Lot was having his cake and 57 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: eating it too, but he'd be the first to admit it. 58 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: And regardless of what you thought or think of Baby 59 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: Got Back, You other brothers and sisters and humans can't 60 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: deny that there had never been, nor will there ever 61 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: be again, a song fight like it. Welcome to Where 62 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: Were You In ninety two? A podcast in which I 63 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: your host Jason Lampier, look back at the major hits, 64 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: one hit wonders, shocking news stories, and irresistible scandals that 65 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: shaped what might be the wildest, most eclectic, most controversial 66 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: twelve months of music ever. It was the year of 67 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: big butt anthems and he breaking hearts and Madonna's sex books. 68 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: It was Yere the Boys to Men and Whitney Houston 69 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:25,239 Speaker 1: shattered Billboard chart records, while George Michael, YouTube and TLC 70 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: confronted the AIDS crisis had on. It was the year 71 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: that introduced us to grunge, g funk, and write said Fred. 72 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: Featuring interviews with critics, obsessives, industry big wigs, directors, producers, 73 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,119 Speaker 1: and the artists themselves, this series poses the question, what 74 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: was it about that made it so groundbreaking, so riotous, 75 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 1: so fun and so that ship crazy. This week we 76 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: look back at Sir mix a Lot's huge hit and 77 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: as far as the charts were concerned, only hit Baby 78 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: Got That and induct us owe to the Black Female 79 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: booty that took America by storm, arriving with an innuendo 80 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: pack video that Empty v initially rejected because of its 81 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: racy visuals. Yet the song not only helped spark the 82 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: body positivity movement two decades before it became the creed 83 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: occur of women all over the country, it also provided 84 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: a fresh, more dimensional and necessary representation of black women 85 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: to its audiences. How and why did this hip hop 86 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 1: classic leave such a vast pop cultural imprint, Why does 87 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: its legacy still loom so large today? To answer those questions, 88 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,599 Speaker 1: we first have to look at the man behind this 89 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: undeniable tribute to behind Anthony ray A k A Sir 90 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: mix a lot his dowdy Abe explains, and It's two 91 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: thousand twenty book Emerald Street, A History of Hip Hop 92 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: and Seattle Nasty Mixed Records was a surprising success story 93 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: given that hip hop was primarily coming out of New 94 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: York City at the time. Seattle wasn't even on most 95 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: hip hop band's radars. Unlike grunge, which became synonymous with Seattle, 96 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 1: no quintessential Seattle hip hop sound existed. That notion was 97 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: practically laughable. Yet here was mix releasing two albums in 98 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: the late nineteen eighties, Swaz and Seminar that eventually want Platinum. 99 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: Mix grew up in the city Central District, and when 100 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: he had no musical training, he was a big fan 101 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: of the German electronic music pioneers craft Work, and he 102 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: became adept at using not only turntables, but machines and 103 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: equipment like the Rolling eight away drum machine, corgan Mode synthesizers, 104 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: and the Commodore sixty four computer to create tracks in 105 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: his apartment. He was also heavily influenced by the Emerald 106 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: Street Boys. The first hip hop artist to break out 107 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: in Seattle, Mix first made a name for himself performing 108 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 1: at weekend parties the Boys and Girls Club in the 109 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: Central District. For one dollar, guests could hang out in 110 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: the gym and listen to him scratch records, splay samples 111 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: together and wrapped in nasty res. Roderiguez, the host of 112 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: K fox's Fresh Tracks, the first popular rap radio show 113 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: in Seattle, went to one of Mixes sets. Impressed by 114 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: his virtuosity, Roderiguez invited Mix to play his music on 115 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: k Fox, where he eventually became the most requested artists 116 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: over the likes of Prince and Michael Jackson. Soon after, 117 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: the pair combined their names to launch Nasty Mix Records 118 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: along with their partners Outlock and Greg Jones. After putting 119 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: out a couple of vps, Mixed under reputation outside Seattle 120 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: for his single Square Dance Rap, which in Night six 121 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: landed him an invitation to England's first ever hip hop festival, 122 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: fresh Fest UK, where he performed with acts like Africa 123 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: Mambada and Grandmaster Flash in The Furious Five. A year later, 124 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: he released Posse on Broadway, a tribute to his home city, 125 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: partially inspired by the Beastie Boys Paul Revere and which 126 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: Mix shouted out Seattle landmarks like Renar Avenue and the 127 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: local burger chain dick S Drive. In It's video ran 128 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: on MTV, and the song peaked at number seventy on 129 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: the Boboard Hot one chart. Posse on Broadway was a 130 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: bit of a hip hop arty. While peers like n 131 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: w A referred to women as bitches and Hose Mix 132 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: shutdown dismissive and violent behavior towards women. The cuts lyrics 133 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: were counting how he maced a man he saw about 134 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: to beat his girlfriend, where so much of hip hop 135 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: at the time was filled with rage, annie police rhetoric, 136 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: and accounts of growing up marginalized in poor. Mix infuses 137 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: songs on his debut album Swas with humor and positivity, 138 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: detailing his aspirations to get rich, get famous, and get lucky. 139 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: Swaz became the biggest selling album from an Indecattlebles label 140 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: in years. It mixes second album, Seminar, had its more 141 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: playful moments. For example, the song my Hoopeddie was about 142 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: the rapper chugging along and a conker well his Mercedes 143 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,599 Speaker 1: Benz was a repair shop. It was more socially consciousnes 144 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: Swaws The Peek a Boo Game, for example, addressed team pregnancy, 145 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: the sex trade, and sexual abuse. Meanwhile, National Anthem was 146 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: a critique of extreme patriotism in America's foreign policy. Mix's 147 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: ambition paid off. He scored interviews with the already popular 148 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: yomtd Raps and the t S Rap City, and, like 149 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: its predecessor, Seminar one platinum, selling more than a million copies. 150 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: But if Mix was achieving a new level of stardom 151 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: on his own terms, things were hardly perfect, and they 152 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:39,840 Speaker 1: were about to change drastically. While Mix was still green. 153 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: He knew he wasn't happy with the promotion of Seminar. 154 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,559 Speaker 1: Taking cues from his one time tourmate public enemies Chuck d, 155 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: he decided to stand up for himself. He tapped Ricardo Fraser, 156 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: a precocious internal Nasty Mix, to be his manager. Fun 157 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: Fact Fraser reps Mixed to this day. Sminar marked the 158 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: end of Mixes contract with Nasty Mix, who at that 159 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: point ode mixed north of three hundred thousand dollars. He 160 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: and the label went to court, and after spending a 161 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: boatload of cash, Mix ultimately got his old masters. Nasty 162 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: Mix shuttered in and Mix was free to secure a 163 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: new label. When asked today, Mix says he has no 164 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:23,199 Speaker 1: animosity toward an est Mix. Yeah. Despite losing a ton 165 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:25,960 Speaker 1: of money, Mix found himself on the market at an 166 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: opportune time. Hip hop at least a tame or less angry, 167 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: more accessible okay meaning more accessible to white listeners. Strain 168 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: of hip hop was building. Scheme. MC Hammer had become 169 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: the first hip hop artist to achieve Diamonds status with 170 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: his ninety nine album Please Hammer Don't Hurt Him, featuring 171 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: the huge hit you Can't Touch This Meanwhile, Vanilla Ices 172 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: Smash Ice Ice Baby had reached number one and gone platinum. 173 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: Enter Rick Reuben, after leaving Deaf Jam Records, the label 174 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: he founded with the russell Simpons have propelled the careers 175 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: of hip hop titans like the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, 176 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: Public Enemy and run d ms See. The producer Mastermind, 177 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: had just founded Deaf American Records. He gave Mix his 178 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: own death label, Ryan Cartel Records. Ricardo Fraser would serve 179 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: as president and Mix would be CEO. Mix's first release 180 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: on the label was his third album, Mac Daddy, the 181 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: record that contained the single that would catapult Mix his 182 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:34,680 Speaker 1: own career. Sir Maxilla had written about social issues facing 183 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: women before, but a new song he was working on, 184 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:41,719 Speaker 1: Baby Got Back, was personal. He'd been dating an aspiring 185 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 1: actress and model, Amalia Dorsey Rivas, who was struggling to 186 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: find work because of her size, particularly the size of 187 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: her backside. She was half black, half Mexican, and curvy. 188 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: One night, when the couple was watching his Super Bowl 189 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: in a hotel room during one of Mixes tours, they 190 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,679 Speaker 1: saw a spud Mackenzie Budweiser ad. The models in it 191 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: were sticks in including the soul black model in it. 192 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 1: If Mix was shocked and incensed, I'm only it wasn't 193 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: at all. She got it, as she said in a 194 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen Vulture interview, where I grew up in 195 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,160 Speaker 1: the suburbs of Seattle. If you weren't built like Paris Hilton, 196 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: you weren't appreciated. I worked at a modeling agency as 197 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: a teenager, and I taught hair, makeup and runway classes 198 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 1: to six ft tall girls who ate ninety pounds. But 199 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: I didn't get much work, and neither did anyone who 200 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: looked like me. This piste mix off. In fact, a 201 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: lack of adequate and accurate representation of black women in 202 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: the media period pissed him off. In his mind, Hollywood 203 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: in the music industry had been under serving these women 204 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,880 Speaker 1: for decades. The early nineties were no different. I trapped 205 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: down Sir Mix a lot to talk about his inspiration 206 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:54,199 Speaker 1: for the song. If you go back to that era, 207 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: there were two types of African American women that succeeded 208 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:01,079 Speaker 1: in Hollywood. Basically, you either had to assimilate to white 209 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 1: culture or you were the underestimated made that worked for 210 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: a white family and they would advise the children on 211 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: what to do correctly because mom just didn't get it, 212 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: or you'd be the street wise hooker on an episode 213 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: of Law and Order. Um and and that was it. 214 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: Mix couldn't stand seeing black women consistently reduced to stereotypes, 215 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: nor did he agree with the standards of beauty the 216 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: magazines like Cosmopolitan or propagating. To him, the rails and 217 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: women on those pages were neither realistic nor attractive. He 218 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: thought women with curves were sexy, and knew plenty of 219 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 1: other black men did too, Yet women with hourglass figures 220 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: were nowhere to be found in the hip hop and 221 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: R and B videos he was seeing. His outrage incited 222 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: him to write a hard hitting track protesting the absence 223 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: of real black women in the media. But as the 224 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: song came together, Mixed realized its lyrics were actually pretty funny. 225 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: Maybe he thought he should lean into the humor. Of course, 226 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: anyone who's heard Baby Got Back knows that it's the 227 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: humor that sells it. Floating effortlessly over a beat sampled 228 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: from Channel one early Detroit technosong technocolor Mixes Versus managed 229 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: to be both ridiculous and sublime, even if it teeters 230 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: on the edge of sounding like a commercial jingle. It's 231 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: rhymes are clever, hooky, and just weird enough to leave 232 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: an impression. Oh rump of smooth skin, you say you 233 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: want to get in my bends? Will use me? Use 234 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: me because you ain't that average groupie. Okay. Notice here 235 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: how Mixed subverts a classic fairy tale and takes the 236 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: submissive role. Okay, that's clever. Shake that healthy butt. Okay. 237 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: If that ain't body positive, then I don't know what is. 238 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: I'll keep my women like flow Joe Okay, who in 239 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: Hip Hop in two name checked Olympic gold medal winning 240 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: track and field athletes in their mus Rick Ruben Genius 241 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: city Is had already pushed Mix to make Baby Got 242 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: Back mar Bat, and he had another clever idea. When 243 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: Mix delivered a punchline, the music would fade out to 244 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: really accentuate it in case, for example, my Anaconda don't 245 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: want none unless you got buttons on. But the most 246 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 1: brilliant artistic choice and twist was Mixed and listing none 247 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: other than his girlfriend Emilia Dorsey revas to voice that 248 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: Caddy Valley girl talking to Becky at the beginning of 249 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: the song Dorsey Revas was adopted and had grown up 250 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: with various foster kids and picked up a ton of accents. 251 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: A half black woman mocking the voice of a white 252 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: woman mocking a black woman on her figure in a 253 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: number one hit single that's going to be one of 254 00:15:52,000 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: the most amazing funk cues and pop music history. Still, 255 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: the mix was pleased with the results. He never planned 256 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: to release Baby Got Back as a single. Dan Charnes 257 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: as an author and professor of music history and Writing 258 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at the 259 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: Tische School of the Arts in New York University, but 260 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: in two he was in Los Angeles working in the 261 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: rap department of Rick Ruben's Deaf American Recordings. He eventually 262 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,360 Speaker 1: became its vice president of A and R. But after 263 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: Reuben signed Mixed Turance was tasked with choosing the first 264 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: single from his upcoming third album, The Problem. Turnus was 265 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: not a fantom mixes music compared to the hip hop 266 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: artist he had been promoting back in New York, like 267 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: Brundy M. C special Ed and Rob Bates, he thought 268 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: mixes stuff sounded unremarkable and derivative, and particularly too similar 269 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: to the Beastio Boys. When he sat down to listen 270 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: to a cassette of Mix's new material, he thought the 271 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: first two tracks were just fine, and then the third song, 272 00:16:55,960 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: I think was this song that began, Oh my god, Becky, 273 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: look at her butt right in this whole song unfolds 274 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: right and yeah, it's funny, you know, like I like 275 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:15,200 Speaker 1: big butts and I cannot lie. But as the lyrics, 276 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,480 Speaker 1: you know, as the sort of the verses are are 277 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:22,439 Speaker 1: spooling out, I'm I'm realizing that this is actually a 278 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: political song. Right. That's churnis we're calling to me. The 279 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,919 Speaker 1: moment he knew Mixed wasn't just waxing horny. He was 280 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,600 Speaker 1: tapping into the zeitgeist. He was onto something. That's funny 281 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:39,199 Speaker 1: because Amery Baraka's daughter, Lisa Jones wrote an essay for 282 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: The Village Voice a few weeks before I got that 283 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: cassette called Venus Envy, in which she talked about how 284 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:54,640 Speaker 1: the white beauty aesthetic of very very rail, thin women, tall, pale, 285 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 1: very few curves, how that was starting to be over 286 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:05,120 Speaker 1: own and subverted essentially by black popular culture and by 287 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: artists like Janet Jackson, by the appearance of models like, um, 288 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: I think her name was Beverly Peel. So Lisa Jones, 289 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:19,120 Speaker 1: she was, you know, talking about this this model who 290 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: suddenly appeared on the pages of a major women's magazine 291 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: with this sort of high booty. As she said right now, 292 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: this really wasn't the kind of figure that appeared in 293 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:34,719 Speaker 1: a women's magazine at the time, and she was she 294 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,640 Speaker 1: talked about in the same year that Public Enemy had 295 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: released an album called Fear of a Black Planet. Lisa 296 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: Jones was talking about, you know, lifting the fear of 297 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 1: a big black butt essentially, and so there was a 298 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: feeling that culture was changing, and that culture was changing 299 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 1: in part because of music and in particular hip hop. 300 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: And in that moment, to me, I became a mix 301 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: a lot fan because this was sort of a rallying cry, 302 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: right like, oh my god, mix lots of feminists, you know, 303 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: in my year old mind. Charnis was electrified by the song. 304 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: It marked the beginning of him starting to let go 305 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: of some of his East Coast hip hop snobbery. He 306 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: called Reuben and told him they had to make Baby 307 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: Got Back the first single form mcdaddy. Reuben agreed, mixed 308 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: and not he really wanted the first single to be 309 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,400 Speaker 1: One Time's Got No Case, a tougher, more serious track 310 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,119 Speaker 1: about racial profiling that sampled Stevie wonders, you haven't done nothing, 311 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: he feared Baby Got Back sounded to jokey. After some debate, 312 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: Mixed got his way. One time He's Got No Case 313 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: was released as the first single. I put it out, 314 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: great video, but it flocked. He said it would, and 315 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: all right, his towel between his legs, Mixed agreed to 316 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: put out Baby Got Back his mac daddy's next single 317 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: and video. Little did he know that the decision would 318 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: change his life forever. Next up, after the break, we 319 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 1: dive into the bonker story behind the Baby Got Back video, 320 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 1: from Mixes Creative Demand's final ASTs approval for its dancers, 321 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: to the creative tension over its crazy concept, to MTVS 322 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: refusal to air it because if it's offensive content also 323 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: was or wasn't a gun pulled out set Producer Rick 324 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: Ruben new Baby Got Back to be massive, so to 325 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,119 Speaker 1: execute his vision for the video, he was going to 326 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,159 Speaker 1: need the right director, someone who could drive Mix his 327 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: message home, but also serve up the right visual nods 328 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: and winks to reflect the songs. Sauciness and match it's 329 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:57,399 Speaker 1: point production. Reuben was a big fan of Adam Bernstein, 330 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,919 Speaker 1: who had created eccentric cooking videos for All Rock Goofballs. 331 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: They might be Giants and the Beastie Boys, but it 332 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,159 Speaker 1: was best known for directing the video for the BF 333 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: two smash Love Shack. I had been approached earlier to 334 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: do the Big Old Button, and I was like, Oh, 335 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: I don't know if I want to do a body 336 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 1: part video, you know what I mean, like the women 337 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,119 Speaker 1: that you know, like my production company was owned by 338 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 1: two women. I didn't. I was very I was concerned about, 339 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: you know, objectifying and stuff like that. That's Adam Bernstein 340 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: telling me about his initial reservations about taking on Baby 341 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: Got Back. However, after really listening to the song, he 342 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: realized it wasn't just about objectification. It was a celebration 343 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:45,679 Speaker 1: and like really really funny. It wasn't just someone you know, 344 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: saying I like big butts, although he does say in 345 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: the song he likes big butts, but it was it 346 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: was about like what what the mainstream kind of norms 347 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,119 Speaker 1: of beauty were for the culture, and like what was 348 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:02,000 Speaker 1: beautiful to him? So you know, and what was beautiful 349 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: and black culture. Bernstein met with Mixed to discuss the 350 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: concept for the video. As he tells it, Mix and 351 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 1: envisioned himself emerging from an enormous ass. Okay, Fortunately Bernstein 352 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: dissuaded him from doing that, but mixes adamant about maintaining 353 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 1: a certain level of creating control. One of Mix's biggest 354 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 1: stipulations was that he wanted to sign off on all 355 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,640 Speaker 1: the model dancers cast in the video, specifically on their asses, 356 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: and Mix wanted personal approval over the booty. He wanted 357 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: personal personal approval over all the butts. So I was 358 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: in the kind of, like slightly a funny position of 359 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,120 Speaker 1: having to ask all these beautiful dancers if I could 360 00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: take a polar rate of their butt, and most of 361 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,199 Speaker 1: them thought it was pretty funny. And then we we 362 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: made a select and we sent this. We made a 363 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: kind of this is before why do you say? The Internet? 364 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:00,960 Speaker 1: And we made kind of like a giant grid of 365 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,360 Speaker 1: all the butts, and we fed exit up to Seattle 366 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: for Mixed to approve. Okay, I'm picturing Carrie Matheson on 367 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:15,120 Speaker 1: Homeland with her crazy wall of clues and leads, except 368 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 1: this time it's a bunch of Spandex covered asses For 369 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 1: her part. Almond says she wasn't bothered at all by 370 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: Bernstein asking to take a picture of her butt. She 371 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: was there as she told me to work. Incidentally, you 372 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,080 Speaker 1: can see the snapshot of her butt flash across the 373 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: screen and the music video. Burnstein and enlisted Dana Hollister, 374 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: the costume designer with whom he worked on the Beastie Boys, 375 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: Hey Ladies video. Tasked with dressing the dancers was only 376 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 1: a five budget. She got scrappy making gold shorts and 377 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: banana skirts the ladder, which she herself covered and glittered. Meanwhile, 378 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: inspired by the booty positive work of the photographer Jean 379 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: Paul Good, who also inspired that two thousand fourteen Kim 380 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: car to Ash, she embraked the internet, paper and magazine cover. 381 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: Bernstein crafted the ass of Mixes Dreams out of fiberglass 382 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: and pencil steel, a material used to make aircraft frames. 383 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:13,560 Speaker 1: When Mix showed up to shoot the video at the 384 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: Chaplain Studio in Los Angeles, he was stunned and overwhelmed. 385 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: He'd never worked with a major label or seen cameras 386 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: that big or an ass that big. It was gold, gigantic, 387 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:31,680 Speaker 1: and in his mind gratuitous, and he was scared shitless. 388 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,199 Speaker 1: His song with a serious message was becoming like the 389 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: literal butt of the joke. It was a big yellow 390 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 1: paper mache looking as right, what day. I didn't know 391 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:46,199 Speaker 1: it was gonna be that big. First of all, that 392 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: was like a planet that was not a that was 393 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: not a that was a planet that was like Mars, 394 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 1: Like they rolled it in and just I'm looking at 395 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,439 Speaker 1: this thing, and I'm like, okay, And I had on 396 00:24:55,480 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 1: all brown and my guys just, oh my god, said yeah, 397 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: you look like a dancing turd, like a piece of 398 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,919 Speaker 1: ship on the giants. Mix could live with the colossal ass, 399 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: and he could live with the fact that some of 400 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: the dancers were cast less for their booties and more 401 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 1: for their actual, you know, like dance skills. What was 402 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: non negotiable was some of the dancers. Attiger Mix would 403 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: be the first to admit he viewed these women as 404 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: sex symbols, but they weren't there for him to dismiss 405 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: and ridicule. They were unattainable goddesses he worshiped. I didn't 406 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: want to be a hypocrite, right, I've done song, done 407 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: songs in the past, saying I want to ask sex 408 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: with women all the time, So for me to all 409 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: of a sudden go, no, that's really never been me. 410 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: That's fake. So what I wanted to do was be me. 411 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: But not when when Mix arrived on set, he noticed 412 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,920 Speaker 1: one dancer wasn't styled to look like a goddess. To Mix, 413 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,000 Speaker 1: she looks trashy. I remember some kind of goofy shorts, 414 00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:00,400 Speaker 1: real super tight tigger kind of shorts and neck assist 415 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,439 Speaker 1: and it was just really nasty, right, And I'm like, 416 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 1: this is the opposite of what I want. You know, 417 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: I don't want her to be hood rat. I don't 418 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 1: want her to be home. I wanted it to be 419 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: just fine, that's it. And I want her to be 420 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,160 Speaker 1: seen as the norm and let these other chicks come 421 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:21,040 Speaker 1: off as you know, haters. That model dancer was Almond, 422 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: the first black woman you see and the baby got 423 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: back video. She didn't like the outfit either. Mix came 424 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: in and he was like, no, that's what that's what 425 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: we don't I don't want that for her. Just so happened. 426 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: I had that dress that I auditioned in so that 427 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:37,400 Speaker 1: addresses you see me, and that's the dress I auditioned 428 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,120 Speaker 1: in and that's the dress that came out my bag 429 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:41,440 Speaker 1: to give me out them shorts and that half tank top. 430 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:43,960 Speaker 1: If the manager to resolved the issue of Almond styling, 431 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,919 Speaker 1: costume designer in a Hollister still wasn't satisfied with Mixes 432 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 1: All Brown ensemble, even as friends on set thought he 433 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: looked like ship, like real ship, and a two thirteen 434 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: Vulture interview, she said when she pushed back on his look, 435 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:03,160 Speaker 1: Mix pulled a gun on her. How else to follow 436 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: that up by saying he's a quote unquote lovely guy. 437 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:13,119 Speaker 1: Bernstein has no recollection of this. Mix denies it ever happened. No, 438 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,639 Speaker 1: I've always been at the guns I got I got 439 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: a bunch of upstairs right now, But you ain't man. 440 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: A black man traveling across state lines in the nineties 441 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: during the Gang era to make sure he could defend 442 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,399 Speaker 1: himself against a makeup artist. I did get piste, but 443 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: I did not call a gun over some shorts. Ultimately, 444 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,400 Speaker 1: Mix was happy with how the video turned out. Rather 445 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: than undermine it. Bernstein realized Mix's vision and folded in 446 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: enough humor dancers and personating Josephine Baker and a cone 447 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 1: bro clad Madonna with another doing kung fu style kicks, 448 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: and enough innuendo whips, cracking cute little mini buns, bouncing 449 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 1: on turntables, and an insane dude we get it amount 450 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: of fruit to make the video one of the most 451 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: memorable of its era. Even Bernstein's female college egs were impressed. 452 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: Initially they were like, I just can't believe you did that. 453 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,200 Speaker 1: And then after it became this phenomenon and they began 454 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: to understand, like what the you know, what the cultural 455 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: significance of the video was in terms of beauty norms 456 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: and stuff. Then they came around and they liked it. 457 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: Bernstein wanted to become a hot shot, any winning TV guy, 458 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: directing episodes of basically every series on the planet, including 459 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: Breaking Bad, Thirty Rock, Fargo, and Billions, but he finally 460 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,960 Speaker 1: remembers those days back when shooting music videos was the 461 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: wild West. It was still kind of an industry without 462 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: adult supervision, Like there weren't. You would just you would 463 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 1: kind of like just a lot of it was just 464 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: like a pitch and a handshake, you know, you would 465 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 1: just kind of collaborate with whoever song it was. It 466 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: was a wide open business and it was also you 467 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: know on the filmmaking end, it was like the ultimate 468 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: film school. Mixing fully comprehend the impact the song and 469 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: video had at until fans started approaching him. Yeah, some 470 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: men would come up to him at the mall and 471 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 1: ask him to touch and critique their ladies asses, which 472 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: sort of mortifies Mixed today. But many black women praised 473 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: him for putting them in the spotlight for loudly and 474 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 1: proudly expressing his love and appreciation of the black female form. 475 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: Some even asked him for his autograph on their asses. 476 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: And then black women started to walk up and say 477 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: thank you. That part probably hit me more than anything 478 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: else on the on a grand scale, just from city 479 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: to city to city, and I'm talking about little kids, 480 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:38,959 Speaker 1: and I'm talking about twenty year old girls talking about 481 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: year old women saying thank you about time. You know, 482 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 1: we knew the brothers like this, but they wouldn't say 483 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: it publicly. Yeah, not everyone loved the video. One critic 484 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: from New Jersey said, Mixed like a six ft piece 485 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: of ship jumping around on a big yellow ass. Meanwhile, 486 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: some listeners considered it exploitative, sexist, and racist. Yes, that 487 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: fortunate MESA horny sample lifted from the movie Full Metal Jacket. 488 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: Picketers protesting several of the mixes shows kind of bumped 489 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:12,120 Speaker 1: them out, But the biggest blowcane when MTV very quickly 490 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: decided it couldn't air the video at all. Patty Galouzy 491 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,120 Speaker 1: was in her late twenties and serving as the senior 492 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: vice president of Music and Talent at MTV, where she 493 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: worked from Along with her team, she was responsible for 494 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: deciding which videos could air on MTV and which could not. 495 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: They based their decisions on guidelines issued by the Networks 496 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: Standards and Practices Department, which deemed certain content vulgar, offensive, 497 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: or dangerous, mostly to children. Because the press had accused 498 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 1: MTV of warping the minds of the youth, Standards and 499 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: Practices was on highland, plenty of hip hop videos would 500 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 1: get lost in a sort of bureaucratic purgatory as a 501 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: department evaluated images and passed through lyrics to try to 502 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: enter her pret them. In the past, it had refused 503 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: air songs like n W A straight out of Compton, 504 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: which had said promoted violence. Gluesy wasn't personally offended by 505 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: Baby Got Back, nor did she glean a deeper political 506 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 1: message from it. She also doesn't like to say MTV 507 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 1: band maybe got Back. She and her committee actually found 508 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: it hilarious and loved it. But in addition to violence, nudity, 509 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: and profanity, depictions of the female form were under intense 510 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: scrutiny at the time. They knew a song solely about 511 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: booty worship with a video featuring countless close ups of 512 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 1: talking asses was dead on arrival. Here's how Bluesy explained it. 513 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,720 Speaker 1: There was specifically a rule that there should not be 514 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: shots of women's body parts without there being a full 515 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 1: face head attached to that shot of the woman. They 516 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:59,120 Speaker 1: didn't want women to have there to be shots of 517 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: just boobs, ass legs, things that would sexualize a woman. 518 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: They didn't want shots of those in the music videos 519 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: that kids were watching because they felt like that sort 520 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: of over sexualized women made women seem like sex objects, 521 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:25,120 Speaker 1: and they felt like, if you add a face two 522 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: those body parts, it's less offensive. And when Baby Got 523 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 1: Back came to us, it was an entire video devoted 524 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: to a woman's ass. All I could think was, there's 525 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,160 Speaker 1: no way it's going to get through standards. Unsurprisingly, Mixed 526 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: was gutted when he found out MTV wouldn't air the video. 527 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: I thought at that time my career was over. I thought, wow, 528 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 1: he just took just snatched the hit right from my 529 00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 1: hands and killed it. The rapper. Remember his voice, his 530 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,480 Speaker 1: frustration and dismayed the Heidi Ellen Robinson, the publicists for 531 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: Deaf American, which later became American Recordings. Her response still 532 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: resonates with him today. Remember ex halee, well, Mix, you're 533 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:17,959 Speaker 1: now Elvis Presley and you shook your leg one too 534 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: many times on the Ed Sullivan Show. I will never, ever, 535 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:28,560 Speaker 1: ever in my life forget that because I realized, oh Ship, 536 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:33,680 Speaker 1: I'm the forbidden fruit and that never dies. Still Mix. 537 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,480 Speaker 1: Rick Ruben and the promotions and publicity department behind mc 538 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,640 Speaker 1: daddy knew that to maximize the exposure and success Toby 539 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: they got back, they needed more than radio play. Ruben 540 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: even went so far as to have engraved plaques made 541 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: the read call MTV regarding Mix a lot that he 542 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:53,360 Speaker 1: left on all his staff members desks. Together, the team 543 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: devised a plan, one that involved a surprise meeting with Gluesy. 544 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: Glozy was in Seattle to speak radio convention. She worked 545 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,520 Speaker 1: in radio before going to EMPTV. When she arrived, she 546 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: expected to reunite with people from the industry, but she 547 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,320 Speaker 1: didn't know anyone. Her first night there, she stayed in 548 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:12,359 Speaker 1: her hotel room and or a room service. The next day, 549 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:15,239 Speaker 1: after she did her panel, folks signed up to talk 550 00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:18,239 Speaker 1: to her, including the record executive Benny Medina, who was 551 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 1: at Warner Brothers at the time. Medina would later manage 552 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,280 Speaker 1: the likes of j Lo, Mariah Carey, p Diddy, Usher, 553 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,040 Speaker 1: and Tire Banks. The fresh Prince of bel Air was 554 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:31,080 Speaker 1: loosely based on his life. Medina invited Louesy to dinner 555 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:34,120 Speaker 1: that night. She was thrilled she found a friend, so 556 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,440 Speaker 1: she accepted the offer. When she arrived at a restaurant, 557 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 1: Medina was seated at a table for four next to 558 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:45,120 Speaker 1: Ricardo Fraser and an empty chair. We were, you know, 559 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:49,640 Speaker 1: doing our introductions and our nice cities, and then someone 560 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: comes in to sit in the empty seat and it 561 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: was sir mix a Lot and um I just immediately thought, 562 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 1: oh no, I've been ambushed. I'm going to spend this 563 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 1: entire dinner just you know, being gelled at, or you know, 564 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:15,760 Speaker 1: having to put up with hostile questioning about that video 565 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,680 Speaker 1: that we can't play, and this is going to suck. 566 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:24,000 Speaker 1: Galuzi explained that her hands were tied, that standards and 567 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:27,240 Speaker 1: practices would never sign off on a video that reduced 568 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:29,880 Speaker 1: women to their sexual body parts, that they needed to 569 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:34,760 Speaker 1: be portrayed as human beings. Mix had his counter argument prepared. 570 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,880 Speaker 1: He calmly replied that he had written this song in 571 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,520 Speaker 1: response to the delusion images in the media that defined 572 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,840 Speaker 1: female beauty using a single archetype, the white, thin women 573 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: as seen in the pages of Cosmo. This type of 574 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:54,440 Speaker 1: beauty was unachievable, he said, in particular for many African 575 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:58,799 Speaker 1: American women, but actually for most women period. That resonated 576 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,880 Speaker 1: to me. I mean, first of all, I personally with 577 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,840 Speaker 1: someone who would never be able to achieve that, you know, 578 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 1: standard of beauty. I mean I could starve myself completely 579 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:15,560 Speaker 1: and never get there, and um and it just it 580 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:18,880 Speaker 1: just made perfect sense to me. Yeah, this is ridiculous. 581 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 1: It's true. The standard for beauty nowadays is that you 582 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 1: have to be almost anorexic, and that's crazy. Mix it 583 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:30,400 Speaker 1: convinced Gluesy. But now Gluzy had to convince her boss, 584 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:34,440 Speaker 1: the president of MTV, Judy McGrath. She arranged to meet 585 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: with her back in New York. McGrath listened to Gluzy's perspective, 586 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:42,440 Speaker 1: Mix's perspective and the argument landed with her too. But 587 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,960 Speaker 1: it wasn't a done deal. To pacify standards and practices, 588 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:49,280 Speaker 1: Bernstein and his posse had to clean up the video. 589 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,680 Speaker 1: Some of its ask shots were replaced with the dancers faces, 590 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:57,120 Speaker 1: others were removed entirely. MTV then agreed to play the 591 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,560 Speaker 1: video after nine pm when children were us I Baby 592 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:08,200 Speaker 1: see It. As expected, the glow of the MTV lane 593 00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:12,279 Speaker 1: light only boosted the songs growing popularity. Rick Rubin had 594 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,319 Speaker 1: predicted The Baby Got Back would be massive, and he 595 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,960 Speaker 1: was right. Love It or Loaded. The song was omnipresent, 596 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:21,960 Speaker 1: blowing up the airwaves and soaring up the Billboard Hot 597 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:25,800 Speaker 1: one hundred, where it eventually said It's Big, Fat Juicy 598 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:30,160 Speaker 1: took us and the number one spot for five consecutive weeks, 599 00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:36,719 Speaker 1: selling two million copies. It became certified double platinum. As 600 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,719 Speaker 1: Patty Gluesy puts it, MTV needed Baby Got Back as 601 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 1: much as it needed MTV. Seeing the round things in 602 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:45,680 Speaker 1: her face, she and the rest of the network got 603 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,279 Speaker 1: sprung and new viewers would get sprung to you know, 604 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,880 Speaker 1: part of the thing for us at MTV, which we 605 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:54,640 Speaker 1: just wanted to play stuff that we thought was great 606 00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:59,760 Speaker 1: programming and also stuff that would make people desperately want 607 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,520 Speaker 1: to be watching MTV hoping that their favorite video would 608 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:07,960 Speaker 1: come on. And you know, Baby Got Back was one 609 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,520 Speaker 1: of those kinds of videos. We're getting his video played 610 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:12,719 Speaker 1: and MTV and airwaves all over the country was a 611 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,919 Speaker 1: huge key to his success. Mixes team knew they would 612 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,160 Speaker 1: also need to promote Baby Got Back and Mac Daddy 613 00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:21,839 Speaker 1: through more inventive ways. Next up, after the break, we 614 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:26,040 Speaker 1: dig into the other key to the rapper success, a gigantic, 615 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:31,719 Speaker 1: eye popping inflatable ass that descended upon America, crossing land 616 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:35,080 Speaker 1: and sea, and even making its way onto the silver screen. 617 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:44,000 Speaker 1: Of course, radio and video play were only two pieces 618 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,080 Speaker 1: of the puzzle. For some mix a lot, there was 619 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:52,160 Speaker 1: another large, okay huge actually piece under normal circumstances, mixed 620 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,120 Speaker 1: with tour doing concerts and radio shows to promote Baby 621 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,120 Speaker 1: Got Back in his new album, The Trouble was mixed 622 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:01,480 Speaker 1: in Like to Fly. This limited the number of places 623 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:05,359 Speaker 1: the rapper could travel to, so his publicity team needed 624 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:09,279 Speaker 1: a solution. Instead of him dropping by certain cities, a 625 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:14,040 Speaker 1: thirty foot tall, lifelike inflatable brown ass with the words 626 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:18,360 Speaker 1: Sir Mix a Lot plastered on each cheek would descend 627 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:23,600 Speaker 1: upon targets out the country. This giant balloon ASS made 628 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:27,000 Speaker 1: its debut a top rough Trade Records on Hate Street 629 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:30,920 Speaker 1: in San Francisco at the Gavin Convention, a watershed event 630 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:34,800 Speaker 1: held in February to promote up and coming hip hop artists. 631 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:38,759 Speaker 1: In attendance were acts like the young duo Crisscross in 632 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:42,680 Speaker 1: Atlanta Collective arrested Development. As Dan Turnis writes in his 633 00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:45,279 Speaker 1: book The Big Payback, The History of the Business of 634 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,120 Speaker 1: Hip Hop, these acts, along with Mix and that Ass, 635 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:53,560 Speaker 1: represented a turning point music hip hop was crossing over 636 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:58,120 Speaker 1: and becoming pop. The Assat perched upon its first throne 637 00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:03,279 Speaker 1: for five days before moving on to its next destination. 638 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,080 Speaker 1: So the balloon went from city to city to city. 639 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:09,960 Speaker 1: It was gawked at wherever it was. I'm sure there 640 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,160 Speaker 1: were people who loved it. I'm sure there are people 641 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:16,160 Speaker 1: who hated it because it was damn near pornographic. It 642 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: was naked. It's a naked big butt. Marcada was the 643 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,719 Speaker 1: general manager and had of promotion at Deaf American American 644 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:27,920 Speaker 1: Recordings from seven. But during the promo cycle for Baby 645 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,279 Speaker 1: Got Back, he became the quote unquote but guy, the 646 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:35,200 Speaker 1: man responsible from making sure that mammoth inflatable ass made 647 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,640 Speaker 1: its way across America. Here's how he described working with it. 648 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:42,640 Speaker 1: It made appearances around the city. Uh, and then we 649 00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:46,720 Speaker 1: put it, you know, in fed X the bag, and 650 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,839 Speaker 1: we sent it to the next city. And it kind 651 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,680 Speaker 1: of caught on and everyone started calling and saying, when 652 00:40:52,719 --> 00:40:54,759 Speaker 1: could we have the butt? We want the butt? Can 653 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:56,759 Speaker 1: you send us the butt by next weekend? Oh? I 654 00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:59,239 Speaker 1: needed the weekend after so it became such a thing 655 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:01,080 Speaker 1: that I had to make an other one. Eventually, the 656 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:04,640 Speaker 1: giant ass landed on Broadway on Times Square. Where did 657 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,879 Speaker 1: he attempt to expose it to some of music's key tastemakers. 658 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:12,920 Speaker 1: I brabed the security guard at at at the building 659 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:15,680 Speaker 1: there to have the inflatable blown up in the lobby 660 00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:18,359 Speaker 1: of MTV. The ceiling was too short, so it kind 661 00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:20,440 Speaker 1: of blew up left to right instead of top to 662 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,480 Speaker 1: bottom when they when they inflated it, so when the 663 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:26,880 Speaker 1: doors opened, you couldn't get at out of the elevator. Okay, 664 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,879 Speaker 1: that incident caused quite a stirt, But the ass would 665 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:33,120 Speaker 1: suffer a much graver fate than being a little bit 666 00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:38,600 Speaker 1: crammed at MTV headquarters. For certain unruly or spectators, it 667 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:41,359 Speaker 1: was an easy target. People tried to assassinate the butts. 668 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:43,680 Speaker 1: They were people who shot at it. There were people 669 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:48,360 Speaker 1: who shot arrows into it, bullets, you know. One fateful 670 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:53,280 Speaker 1: day during which someone literally pulled the butt plug. The balloon, 671 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:56,080 Speaker 1: freshly modern at the top the Tempo Record Store on 672 00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:59,880 Speaker 1: the corner of Sunset Boulevard and LaBrea Avenue in Hollywood, 673 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:06,280 Speaker 1: was rudely deflated, tongue placed firmly in cheap American recordings. 674 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:10,640 Speaker 1: Publishist Heidi Ellen Robinson decided to lean in. Initual press release, 675 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:15,719 Speaker 1: it read a Tempo store employee reports noticing that the 676 00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:18,080 Speaker 1: bub balloon was not visible on the roof when he 677 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:22,400 Speaker 1: reported the work Sunday evening. Upon investigation, he found an enormous, 678 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:27,480 Speaker 1: crippled lump of latex rubber deflated on the roof. Apparently 679 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:30,960 Speaker 1: the criminal element climbed up onto the roof in broad 680 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:35,279 Speaker 1: daylight and then literally pulled the plug. What transpired then 681 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:42,280 Speaker 1: must have been a horrifying site. Luckily, the bub balloon 682 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:46,120 Speaker 1: was reinflated and remounted on the Tempo roof and the 683 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:49,200 Speaker 1: press release. Rick Rubin said he posted a reward for 684 00:42:49,239 --> 00:42:52,759 Speaker 1: anyone with information leading to the capture and conviction of 685 00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:56,319 Speaker 1: the butt assassinator, adding there are some real sick people 686 00:42:56,360 --> 00:43:01,560 Speaker 1: in this world. But the U had plenty of moments 687 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,160 Speaker 1: in the spotlight as well. It even graced the big 688 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:09,680 Speaker 1: screen making a cameo and Joel Schumacher's film Falling Down, 689 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:12,239 Speaker 1: a drama in which have fed up every man played 690 00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:14,799 Speaker 1: by Michael Douglas has a psychotic breakdown and he gets 691 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,920 Speaker 1: violently lashing out of the world rearing its head. In 692 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:20,920 Speaker 1: the backdrop of one scene, the ASS represented the world 693 00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:26,040 Speaker 1: going to uh ship. Sorry, I don't want to note 694 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:30,960 Speaker 1: unless you got pounds. On of its many adventures, some 695 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:34,120 Speaker 1: more dangerous than others. The Ass's finest moment may have 696 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:38,640 Speaker 1: been in Malibu during a convention where radio and records 697 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:42,000 Speaker 1: big wigs would turn up and watch bands play and party. 698 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:44,680 Speaker 1: Toda's plan was to get it blown up on the 699 00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:47,440 Speaker 1: beach in Santa Monica and put a bikini on it, 700 00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:50,640 Speaker 1: you know, so it wasn't naked. Afraid it would offend 701 00:43:50,719 --> 00:43:54,160 Speaker 1: some of the women in attendance. The conventions organizers wouldn't 702 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:56,399 Speaker 1: allow it, but to d it would stop at nothing 703 00:43:57,320 --> 00:43:59,359 Speaker 1: like he had to do when he learned mixed wouldn't fly, 704 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:02,480 Speaker 1: he got creative. We wouldn't take no for an answer. 705 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:08,360 Speaker 1: I hired a very very very loud UH boat with 706 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:10,160 Speaker 1: a deck in the back of the boat with two 707 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:13,720 Speaker 1: huge speakers, and I had the boat during the party 708 00:44:14,719 --> 00:44:17,680 Speaker 1: like kind of blow up near the coast and spread 709 00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:22,320 Speaker 1: everyone with water and then go out about turn around, 710 00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:25,880 Speaker 1: start playing a song. Baby got back through the speakers 711 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:28,359 Speaker 1: and then inflatable, but blew up and it just sat 712 00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:31,919 Speaker 1: out there. Because you know, the the UH, the guys 713 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:35,480 Speaker 1: that were running the convention, we're losing their minds, are like, you, motherfucker, 714 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:37,120 Speaker 1: I told you you couldn't have it on the beach. 715 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:38,640 Speaker 1: I'm like, it's not on the beach, it's out in 716 00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:40,879 Speaker 1: the ocean. You can't can't tell me what to do there. 717 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,080 Speaker 1: Because he was helping promote mixes new music, Dan Charnis 718 00:44:44,239 --> 00:44:46,880 Speaker 1: was on the butt boat. The way he recounts it, 719 00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:50,200 Speaker 1: the stuff was both the high and low point in 720 00:44:50,239 --> 00:44:52,600 Speaker 1: his career. I have a memory of this moment of 721 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:56,200 Speaker 1: being on this boat in the middle of the bay 722 00:44:56,239 --> 00:45:01,680 Speaker 1: in the Santa Monica Bay. Uh just um, like I 723 00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:05,279 Speaker 1: had no food, you know, But I think in retrospect, 724 00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:08,400 Speaker 1: of course it's I guess. My feeling then was like, 725 00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:10,840 Speaker 1: you know this Baby Got Back. This is not what 726 00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:15,839 Speaker 1: I got into the business to do. Um, but it 727 00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:18,120 Speaker 1: was for me. It was my first taste of what 728 00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:21,279 Speaker 1: the hit record was. Baby Got Back wasn't just a 729 00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:25,000 Speaker 1: hit record. Not only did this song have backed, it 730 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:28,560 Speaker 1: had legs. Do you know anyone who doesn't know this 731 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:32,400 Speaker 1: song who can't recite at least hath its lyrics on 732 00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:35,560 Speaker 1: the spot? You could say it's part of the pop 733 00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:39,960 Speaker 1: culture fabric, but the fabric game big enough to contain it. 734 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:49,759 Speaker 1: Its legacy spills out. Think of all its appearances in 735 00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:55,440 Speaker 1: film Charlie's Angels, Truck, on television, Friends, Sarah Palin belting 736 00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:57,840 Speaker 1: it out while dressed as a bear on the Massive Singer, 737 00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:01,719 Speaker 1: and in commercials or Your King not want to mix 738 00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,719 Speaker 1: his favorite endorsement by the way. Think of the parodies 739 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:08,839 Speaker 1: in Living Colors, Jamie Foxx performing Baby Got Snacks as 740 00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:12,840 Speaker 1: trail mix a lot, and my favorite, the amazing video 741 00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:16,520 Speaker 1: compilation Baby Got Back Sung by the Movies, and which 742 00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:19,000 Speaker 1: different movie scenes are spliced together, so the characters like 743 00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:23,200 Speaker 1: Chucky the Terminator, Darth Theader, and Pete Herman say all 744 00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:27,880 Speaker 1: the words along to the song. Think about the throne 745 00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:31,360 Speaker 1: on which the female booty, not just the black female booty, 746 00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:36,760 Speaker 1: but the female booty in general, remains perched today Without 747 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:41,440 Speaker 1: Baby Got Back? Would we have Destiny's Child's Bootylicious j 748 00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:47,320 Speaker 1: Low's ensured Assets, The Kardashians, Megan Trainers all about that Bass, 749 00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:51,680 Speaker 1: Megany Stallion Party, b lizz Owen or Emmy winning reality 750 00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:55,080 Speaker 1: series Watch Out for the Big Girls, Normandy singing about 751 00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:58,480 Speaker 1: bacon a cake in her two tho single wild Side, 752 00:46:58,960 --> 00:47:01,480 Speaker 1: Chloe Bailey singing about her big booty and her recent 753 00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:06,080 Speaker 1: song Have Mercy. Okay, maybe we'd have some of them, 754 00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:08,680 Speaker 1: but we certainly wouldn't have. Nicki minaj Is two thousand 755 00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:13,080 Speaker 1: fourteen single Anaconda, which sampled and flipped the script on 756 00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:17,880 Speaker 1: Baby Got Back with Manage, creating an ass empowerment anthem 757 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:22,480 Speaker 1: from the woman's perspective. When asked about that song, Mix declared, 758 00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:27,440 Speaker 1: manage ease Baby Got Back, which was always about applauding 759 00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:32,920 Speaker 1: and owning your abundant backside. Now so many women recognize 760 00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:35,960 Speaker 1: that the ass is not something to hide, it's a 761 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,680 Speaker 1: weapon to be wielded. One of the mixes fondest memories 762 00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:43,320 Speaker 1: of performing Baby Got Back occurred in June two thousand 763 00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:48,480 Speaker 1: and fourteen. The Seattle Symphony's Sonic Evolution, a concert showcasing 764 00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:52,440 Speaker 1: young composers presenting original music inspired by pop culture, included 765 00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:57,120 Speaker 1: a piece by Gabriel Prokofiev called Dial Mix a Lot 766 00:47:57,360 --> 00:47:59,920 Speaker 1: a reference to a line, and Baby Got Back. After 767 00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:03,240 Speaker 1: the piece, Mix was invited to perform an orchestral rendition 768 00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:07,120 Speaker 1: of Posse on Broadway, and then at ten minute rendition 769 00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:11,280 Speaker 1: of Baby Got Back. During the latter, some forty smartly 770 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:14,400 Speaker 1: dressed women, many of whom were white, rushed the stage 771 00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:17,240 Speaker 1: to shake their asses. Please go find this on YouTube. 772 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:20,480 Speaker 1: You will not be disappointed. Well, the video of that 773 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:23,840 Speaker 1: performance went viral. Not everyone in the class of community 774 00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:28,040 Speaker 1: was impressed. The gambling community, however, was pretty ecstatic when 775 00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:31,360 Speaker 1: the Seminal Hard Rock Hotel and Casino at Hollywood, Florida, 776 00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:37,879 Speaker 1: unveils its I like Big Bucks slot machines in as 777 00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:40,319 Speaker 1: Dowdy On Bay writes in his two thousand twenty book 778 00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:43,760 Speaker 1: Emerald Street, The History of Hip Hop and Seattle, quote. 779 00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:48,239 Speaker 1: The immovable, staying power of the message and continued relevance 780 00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:51,640 Speaker 1: of this song some thirty years after its release suggest 781 00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:54,600 Speaker 1: Baby Got Back may not only have had the greatest 782 00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:58,280 Speaker 1: impact on modern culture of any rap song, but perhaps 783 00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:02,239 Speaker 1: any other song and any other genre period. That may 784 00:49:02,280 --> 00:49:04,920 Speaker 1: sound like hyperbole, but when asked what they think the 785 00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:08,400 Speaker 1: legacy of the song is, those involved in its creation, promotion, 786 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:12,560 Speaker 1: and meteoric rise all seemed to agree. There was never 787 00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:15,799 Speaker 1: anything like Baby Got Back and there will never be 788 00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:30,160 Speaker 1: anything like it again. Adam Bernstein, director of the Baby 789 00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:33,359 Speaker 1: Got Back video. You know, I think the legacy on 790 00:49:33,360 --> 00:49:37,120 Speaker 1: one level, it's it's like you're you're taking his message 791 00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:43,279 Speaker 1: about inclusivity in the way beauty is defined, and you're 792 00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:46,040 Speaker 1: mixing that with entertainment, and it was just kind of 793 00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:50,120 Speaker 1: like a perfect storm. Mark Didilla, former general manager and 794 00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:54,680 Speaker 1: head of promotion Deaf American American Recordings a K. The 795 00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:57,320 Speaker 1: Keeper of the Inflatable Glass. I can imagine trying to 796 00:49:57,360 --> 00:50:00,640 Speaker 1: put a record like that out right now. The would 797 00:50:00,680 --> 00:50:02,880 Speaker 1: be canceled before I made it to the post office. 798 00:50:03,239 --> 00:50:06,600 Speaker 1: Dan Charnis, former vice president of A and R Deaf 799 00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:11,239 Speaker 1: American American Recordings. I remember many years later, my son 800 00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:16,399 Speaker 1: at age three year age four watching Shrek, and at 801 00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:19,880 Speaker 1: the end of Shrek, you know the Donkey character, you know, 802 00:50:19,880 --> 00:50:23,560 Speaker 1: the character that Eddie Murphy plays or voices, you know, 803 00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:27,400 Speaker 1: starts singing Baby Got Back. And so my son at 804 00:50:27,440 --> 00:50:31,080 Speaker 1: age four, age five is singing this song. And you know, 805 00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:35,440 Speaker 1: kids his age know that song. The greatest legacy of 806 00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:40,520 Speaker 1: Baby Got Back is the change in culture. Patty Gluzy, 807 00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:43,920 Speaker 1: MTV's former senior vice president of Music and Talent, had 808 00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:46,480 Speaker 1: a similar experience when she found herself watching an episode 809 00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:49,280 Speaker 1: of Friends with her young daughter years after the song's release. 810 00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:52,800 Speaker 1: In it, Ross made his baby laugh for the first 811 00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:56,600 Speaker 1: time by singing Baby Got Back to her, and I thought, wow, 812 00:50:57,680 --> 00:50:59,879 Speaker 1: you know, if that hadn't happened, if I hadn't had 813 00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:02,560 Speaker 1: at dinner with Mix, you know, if I hadn't been 814 00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:06,359 Speaker 1: able to go to bat, if Judy McGrath hadn't been 815 00:51:06,360 --> 00:51:10,840 Speaker 1: able to say I agree, I'm with you, let's go 816 00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:16,400 Speaker 1: back to standards and push this through, then you know, 817 00:51:16,440 --> 00:51:18,120 Speaker 1: it would not have been such a big part of 818 00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:22,799 Speaker 1: our culture. It would not have been on Friends. I mean, 819 00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:28,319 Speaker 1: I definitely think it was the first first instance of 820 00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:32,799 Speaker 1: there being something in pop culture that put forth a 821 00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:37,440 Speaker 1: body positivity message. And when he wrote this song, was 822 00:51:37,520 --> 00:51:42,680 Speaker 1: he thinking about body positivity for young women? I don't know, 823 00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:49,319 Speaker 1: but it is true that it is the first, the 824 00:51:49,440 --> 00:51:52,319 Speaker 1: very first, you know, instance that I can think of 825 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:56,920 Speaker 1: that really celebrates that beauty comes in all kinds of 826 00:51:56,920 --> 00:52:01,000 Speaker 1: shapes and sizes, and you know, it's fantastic for that. 827 00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:03,680 Speaker 1: Asks her mix a lot, and he'll tell you his 828 00:52:03,840 --> 00:52:07,759 Speaker 1: one little songs. Big impact extends beyond Booty Pride. He 829 00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:11,000 Speaker 1: says that helped shift black female representation in the media 830 00:52:11,120 --> 00:52:13,479 Speaker 1: as a whole. The legacy of Baby Got Back would 831 00:52:13,480 --> 00:52:17,360 Speaker 1: probably be that it changed something that needed changing, but 832 00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:23,000 Speaker 1: from a shallow viewpoint. My viewpoint was shallow intentionally because 833 00:52:24,719 --> 00:52:27,399 Speaker 1: we weren't. You didn't see black female lawyers, you didn't 834 00:52:27,400 --> 00:52:29,640 Speaker 1: see black female accountants, you didn't see any of that. 835 00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:33,799 Speaker 1: But it's because everything else that came with them was 836 00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:36,880 Speaker 1: considered abnormal. That's kind of what Baby Got Back was. 837 00:52:36,920 --> 00:52:40,480 Speaker 1: It was basically trying to normalize African American beauty and 838 00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:43,960 Speaker 1: then hopefully more would come, and it did. It did 839 00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:49,280 Speaker 1: Baby Got Backs. Iconic ample booty video star Almond agrees, 840 00:52:49,840 --> 00:52:52,480 Speaker 1: I'm glad I did it. Because this thing like after that, 841 00:52:52,880 --> 00:52:59,600 Speaker 1: everybody jumped on the behind bandwag. It made history. It's history, baby, 842 00:52:59,719 --> 00:53:02,680 Speaker 1: and I'm part of that history. I was the first 843 00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:24,759 Speaker 1: one and it can never be taken from me on him. 844 00:53:24,760 --> 00:53:26,799 Speaker 1: Where Were You in ninety two was a production of 845 00:53:26,840 --> 00:53:30,319 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. The executive producers are Noel Brown and 846 00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:34,000 Speaker 1: Jordan run Talk. The show was researched, written and hosted 847 00:53:34,040 --> 00:53:37,239 Speaker 1: by me Jason Lafier, with editing and sound design by 848 00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:40,759 Speaker 1: Michael Alder June. If you like what you heard, please 849 00:53:40,800 --> 00:53:43,719 Speaker 1: subscribe and leave us a review. For more podcasts for 850 00:53:43,800 --> 00:53:46,200 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, check out the I Heart Radio app, 851 00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:49,240 Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.