Chances are you have probably heard of Rebecca Black’s song “Friday” by now. As of March 26, her video has received over fifty-three million views; her video was posted February 10. With this much attention, Black has become a mini-celebrity. For those of you who have not heard the song yet, let me give you a taste of it. In the beginning of the song, Black sings, “Seven a.m. waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh gotta go downstairs. Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal.” In the Pre-Chorus, she goes on to sing, “Kickin in the front seat, sittin in the back seat. Gotta make up my mind. Which seat can I take?”
With lyrics like these, it’s no wonder Black has received harsh criticism for her work. Countless parodies and voiceovers have been created in response to her immensely popular video.
Who exactly is this Rebecca Black taking the country by storm? According to the Daily News Global, Black is a thirteen- year- old from Oklahoma. She began dance lessons at the age of three, and she has been taking voice lessons since she was ten.
To create her video “Friday”, she turned to Ark Music Factory for help. Ark Music is a Los Angeles-based company designed to discover young talent. If someone has the money, Ark Music will write you a song, make you a video and hopefully get you discovered. In Black’s case, it worked.
Her parents paid roughly two-thousand dollars for the package. Not a bad investment considering her song is now number thirteen on iTunes downloads. Why “Friday,” though? “I did not write the lyrics,” Black said. “I just chose one of the two songs that were provided. I felt that the song was more representative of me.” Although many have criticized her song, she has landed appearances on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Good Morning America” and “On Air with Ryan Seacrest.”
Black acknowledged that she did not believe that the song would blow up the way it did. The negative comments, however, were a different story.
In an interview on “Good Morning America,” Black said that “When I first saw all these nasty comments, I did cry.” Initially after she posted the video she thought that “This was my fault. This is all because of me.” After eventually deciding to take the good with the bad, she learned to shrug off the negative comments.
Her rise to fame has attracted attention from celebrities like Justin Bieber and Simon Cowell. Cowell says, “Whether you like her or not, she’s the most talked-about artist in America right now. Nobody over the age of eighteen should understand her or like her. So she should just do it her way.”
Although many consider her song to be a joke, Black may have gotten the last laugh. With the help of Ryan Seacrest, Black signed with the music label DB Entertainment.
Black told Entertainment Weekly that she would like to record “dance anthem-like stuff.” Could a follow up single “Saturday” be on the way? We will just have to cross our fingers, or not.
Kevin Bretz is a fourth-year majoring in History/Secondary Education. He can be reached at KB653311@wcupa.edu.