I shamelessly can admit that I one time left my foster home and was declared a runaway minor because I went to teen night at some club and Mims was playing live.
@@joshsalwen lol yeah. Day of not so much being identified at a 711 across the club. The same people I was throwing it up with, watched me get lead away by the cops and my foster mom who for some reason brought my 6 foster sisters. I can laugh about it a little now.
He doesn’t leave ANY room for argument. He doesn’t say “You ain’t cause blah blah this and this blah blah” to which his opponent could say “Well you’re wrong I am hot because blah blah blah”. No…you’re not hot because you just AREN’T.
All he's saying is that he's hot because he's fly and you're not hot because you're not fly. Read it carefully and it's not at all confusing... nor is it a tautology.
It's gonna be so interesting seeing him do a pop song review AND a one-hit wonderland of the same artist. I don't know if he's even gonna attempt that but I'd love to see it be a thing
I would love to see this! I ended up listening to the rest of his music specifically because of recommendation from that Todd review, but I can’t find anything he’s made after, other than a Prince cover I vaguely remember on his passing. Would like to know what became, especially cause I really enjoy his two albums.
Well Matt, maybe if you are so "hot" then you'll "blaze" through completing our month's regional spending report and have it on my desk by Monday, for once in your life. ps: you are also now banned from quoting Nelly in your email signatures.
I remember this song from my Junior Year of high school. One of the candidates for Senior Class president for the next year had a last name that rhymed with hot, and his entire campaign speech was just the chorus of this song with the words replaced with "vote for me, vote for me, vote for [his name]". The absolute worst part: it worked. He ended up winning senior class president with This Is Why I'm Hot (Presidential Remix), and defeating other candidates with far more well considered platforms. Nothing about politics has surprised me ever since.
Then take comfort there are people old enough who don't remember it either. I can finally say that being a GenXer has had some benefit if I was completely oblivious to this stuff fifteen years ago. I fully admit I have never heard this song until watching this video.
I get the distinct impression "more recently they started promoting NFTs/Crypto" is gonna become a theme for One Hit Wonderland, also can't wait for the OHW on Teach Me How to Dougie
@@HolyGoddessMotherAnne Cali Swag District probably flamed out as fast as 90s one hit wonder Deep Blue Something with their 1995 smash Breakfast At Tiffany's
I remember a friend of mine cracked me up when his album came out saying "I'll bet his second album is gonna be called This is Why I Flopped!" Edit: Actually now that I think about it, if he'd had made an actual well written song about how the record industry screwed him over and called it "This is why I flopped" I bet it would have been a hit.
Lol 2000’s rap is a perfect example of something that can feel nostalgic while you still can’t stand it. Also, this would have been a great Michael Scott ringtone.
Yup i was a kid in the 2000s and tought that sub genre was the coolest thing ever and yeah is still think it is.....buuuuuuuut i can only stand the hooks the songs themselves bore me SO MUCH XD
@@TheRealityofFake That's a mood right there. I used to proudly proclaim how anti-rap I was back in high school. And then the 2010s came and I warmed up to it. And I go back and listen to 80s and 90s rap and I'm like, "actually, this is really fun." I don't forsee myself warming up to 00s rap anytime soon, but I do still get the "aww, it's that song I used to detest," feelings.
Fun fact: Mims was on an official remix of Makes Me Wonder by Maroon 5 in 2007, which means that technically speaking, he's actually been on TWO Number 1 hits.
Eh, every era of hip-hop has its disposable one-offs. 90s had vapid party rap and the constant influx of boneless rappers like Will Smith and Vanilla ice. 2000s had ringtone rap. 2010s had Trap drones, vine rap and "mumble" rap 2020s have TikTok
how to know a certain artist will not last long: 1. they're breakout song starts a meme and/or dance trend 2. they sound a lit similar to a certain mainstream artist that is currently dominating sales 3. people refer to them as the (insert name of his/her hit song) guy/girl 4. they milk their breakout song to oblivion with lots of remixes and re-dos 5. they mentioned their breakout song in their next single
6. Their breakout song is about something oddly specific like lusting after their girlfriends mum, attraction to big butts, kung fu movies, monsters partying, the colour blue, self pleasure, Cannibalism weird historical trivia, an animal that sings or dances or a historical figure who has nothing to do with this genre of music. 7. Their accents so thick you can’t understand a word they’re saying 8. One of your least memorable songs in your home country becomes your breakout hit the for rest of the world.
You know this song isn't my favorite but I do have to give Sean Mims credit for being an orphan before even properly being a teen (particularly with how he lost his mom) , going on to have a successful albeit very short music career , redirecting his energy into apps , creating an app that won awards and still working in tech today. And as far as we know he hasn't gotten arrested , he hasn't started public beefs , he hasn't had a drug addiction , he doesn't have 9 kids by 7 different moms or any other forms of debauchery that celebrities get caught in. There are rappers with far better circumstances who cannot say the same thing and to be honest if I had his start I think I would have gone absolutely nuts. So the fact he's doing pretty decently even if it's not in his field of choice is a testament to him.
He's been to the bar I work at a few times. It wasn't until the third or fourth time he came that he said who he was, only after his partner pressured him to tell me lol. Really nice and humble guy, very easygoing and a great conversation.
I mean the nft thing is highly questionable, but i guess the emphasis is on 'is'. When he got into it, it wasn't yet a sad laughingstock of failed grifters.
For real, the only Aughts ringtone rapper with a better post hit life is Chamillionaire, who actually did succeed in investing in tech and got hella rich
My first thought... "Canadian rap... You mean like Snow?" I don't immediately think how Drake is Canadian. I don't immediately think Degrassi is Canadian. But I do immediately think of Drake on Degrassi.
Hip hop always was, and always will be regional. The mainstream shit still jacks from the underground. That's how Crunk, Trap, and Drill blew up. They are not the same, and underground artists put in work that studio artists don't.
I remember Todd mentioning in his "Hey, Soul Sister" review that he was totally fine with the fact that he hadn't heard this song in years when he did that review. 12 years later, he dedicates an episode to it. I guess he perhaps did miss it after a while.
If he ever does another “ringtone rapper” as an episode for this show he’ll probably dread doing Chain Hang Low. That song (at least to me) is arguably even more repetitive and sounds way worse than This Is Why I’m Hot.
I remember what the Rap Critic said about this guy a while ago: “This is why I was hot! For about fifteen minutes! Cuz after this I won’t have any other hits! MIMS!” LOL, I still love that.
The main reason for the ringtone decline was the release of the iPhone 3G in summer of 2008. In order to get a song a ringtone you had to buy it twice. I think that was too much for people who just spent 400 dollars on a phone
The iPhone also killed off the ringtone because its high-definition touchscreen made dense text messaging feasible on a mobile device, and people stopped using their phones for voice calls as often with a less intrusive communication option available.
@@rommix0 Is it? I looked it up just now and apparently buying ringtones at the time was anywhere from $2.50 to $5. $2 including a copy of the whole song doesn't sound like such a bad deal by comparison.
@@stevethepocket Once music in the iTunes Store went DRM-free in 2009, users could create their own ringtones from purchased tracks, free of charge; but Apple also required users to pay a license fee to remove copy protections from any music purchased before the format change.
This is up there with "Who Let The Dogs Out" as a song that's more a catchphrase than a song. I say that because I have literally never heard this song, I just know the phrase "this is why I'm hot." Until now, I didn't even know it was a real song.
I also didn't remember this song, but I knew the next line after "this is why I'm hot" was "I'm hot 'cause I'm fly" because of a Drew Monson video I basically moulded my humour around at the age of 17 where he said that in his outro
I once worked at little Caesar’s in Montrose, CO. One day, we get a call from a guy, sounds kinda drunk, asking where we’re located and saying he wants to order pickup. I explain our general location, then ask for his name and order. It was Mims, and he was in Michigan and was trying to get pizza from the Little Caesars in Montrose, Michigan.
I've never gotten madder at Todd than when he called 'Don't stop moving' by S Club 7 a failed follow-up. This is an attack on 2000's British Primary School Disco culture and it will not stand.
They have a very low tolerance for novelty, or tackiness, or cheese, what inmho is where some of the best unshamed music is, it's not high art or anything but is great music for music's sake, I remember mims second song while not as big as his main hit still was bigger here, when played I remembered it.
@@kawaiilotus S Club 7 were definitely enjoyed by younger people at the time but as while they weren’t too big. Your right Americans tend to not like cheesy things for the most part.
Please do an episode on “American Boy” by Estelle. Yeah, it wasn’t a huge hit in the US, but the song’s a banger, the artist never touched the Hot 100 again, and Estelle has an extremely interesting post-hit career. Edit: as someone in the comments pointed out, she did actually notch another top 50 hit, but A) I think that’s still low enough for her to qualify, and B) unless you’re British or a diehard Steven Universe fan, chances are that “American Boy” is the only Estelle song you remember. Edit 2: I was also wrong about the chart success. Apparently, this got up to #9. My point about this being a good candidate for OHW still stands, but I really need to do a better job proofreading.
She actually did chart again with a song called Conqueror that made it to 42 on billboard. Not a huge comeback but you can't say she never charted again
Wouldn’t be out of his wheelhouse! “I Melt With You” didn’t bubble into the Top 40 but the song was a massive cultural touchstone so he covered it anyway.
She also had a pretty interesting pre-hit career - her first rap album (all the way from 2004) finally made it to Spotify last year. It produced two UK Top 20 hits at the time, but everyone had forgotten about her until "American Boy" came out... I always love it when Todd In The Shadows discusses British acts in One Hit Wonderland...
pretty much most scenes in Canada, the southern Ontario screamo scene did spookily well and I think there was a faustian pact involved, well Tony Brummell is almost the devil. lol
@@mattday2656 I was gonna say, the 00s was a bad time to be a hip hop head in Southern Canada but a GREAT time to be into punk/alt/the various subgenres that ended in 'core.
I would _absolutely_ brag about being the King of Port-a-Potties if it made me a billion dollars. Reminds me of a scene from Joe's Apartment where a urinal cake manufacturer said something like "before long, all of New York City will be pissing on my name."
I love how Todd said "no one brags about being the king of portapotties" and shortly after, the movie Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers came out featuring a character using a portapotty business as a money laundering/organised crime front.
Madden 08 had a Mims song called “Cop It” that was actually pretty decent. That whole soundtrack was a weird but fun mixture of dated Bling Era hip hop, pop punk, and metal. I played it all the time and I’ve pretty much memorized “Cop It” at this point.
Just checked and my main playlist has 7 songs from that soundtrack, including Cop It. Just top to bottom bangers, right up there for me for most influential soundtracks with ATV Off-road Fury 2.
One of my buddies once asked me if NU-metal was to me as metalhead as ringtone rap was to him...I stared at him at utter confusion. Thank you for your brief, but accurate description of the genre.
Ringtones are a lot like a different late 00s/early 10s trend: social media websites. Fun to customize and play around with to suit your mood, but got really annoying really fast. Ringtones didn't try to steal your personal data, but they DID legitimately steal a lot of money from people though sketchy late-nite ads with fine print that tricked you into buying a subscription to a ringtone rather than a file.
One question from a Gen Yer: how do you notice when you get phone calls/messages etc.? My girlfriend (also Gen Y) keeps her phone on Vibrate constantly and I never am able to call her because she doesn’t notice the damn thing 😂
there is something so incredibly simple and appealing about the hook. you can call it dumb but honestly is it really dumber than any other flex? what it lacks in specificity it makes up in mass appeal. "I'm hot because I just am" is something that after a few drinks resonates with people in most demographics
Sometimes I feel like there's a thing with half the population on earth where they know there are nerds and folks who think too much around them who make them feel silly so they just mass support songs that are essentially the music equiv of pulling your pants down and mooning someone/farting until some poo comes out
Witnessing the the return of 00s aesthetics and styles is pretty surreal cuz instead of being like, idealized versions of the stuff like the 80s or 90s revivals, it’s just way way more sensory overloading and nightmarish.
Todd: Mims was probably right because... here's the OTHER single from that album Me: Oh fuck, please do NOT tell me it's "This Is Why I'm Hot (Remix)", he deserves so much better
You know, when I saw that interview clip of him with the little cartoon designs, I said to myself, "wait, are those monkey NFTs?" Before looking better and seeing it was a normal design. Then you showed his Blockchain plans. The reeling was amazing.
19:36 As a Brit, I am personally offended by the inclusion of Don't Stop Movin' by S Club as a "failed follow up". That shit was EVERYWHERE here. You play that in any crowded room in the UK and immediately every Millennial and Zillennial will lose their SHIT.
@@jadedheartsz We know, it's a joke, but also Todd's been pretty aware of the difference between the UK (or at least European) and US pop scenes for a long while now. Honestly it's a shame Don't Stop Movin did so badly because that is the only SC7 song I like.
I mean I’m American and S Club (7) was a Big Deal in my 3rd grade class, so it’s still kind of wild to me that they apparently weren’t actually super popular here?
Todd did an episode of One Hit Wonderland on S Club 7. In the U.K., they were superstars for a few years. In the U.S. though, they were mostly known for a moderately popular TV show and a single top 40 hit called Never had a Dream come True.
I was attending an arts school near Oakland in the mid-late 2000s, and knew a lot of aspiring rappers. So in addition to the aesthetic shortcomings of ringtone rap, I have the same allergic reaction to this style as Todd does to White Guy With Acoustic Guitar. For me, this will always be the sound of a teenage boy who just learned how to use Audacity trying to impress people.
@@real30yearoldboomerhours53 Yeah I was firmly at the Green Day/Killers/My Chemical Romance end of the popular musical spectrum in 2007. But because also no one has made me listen to ringtone rap since I graduated HS, I honestly didn't realize how much I hated this sound until fairly recently when a coworker started playing some and the sound of an 808 clap played through shitty cell phone speakers filled me with an incandescent rage.
I'm going to say, as someone from Boise, Idaho, there has never been a truer statement, and I cringe when I see locals trying to rap about "repping the 208" because, Sir, there are cows outside, please pull your pants up and go home.
In addition to said trash heap of Idaho would-be rappers, there are about a dozen actually respectable [i.e. - grown up] Hip-Hop artists in Boise. I can name them if you'd like. ...Also what's wrong with proclaiming inherent love for your hometown, anyway?
@@ChrisDeRoin Never said there was- but I think it's off putting at best when you have a group of people who think the epitome of "hardcore gangster" is the same group of people who all come from predominantly agriculture families. If the point is to "represent" a group or an area, perhaps doing so with a level of honesty is better? I'll be the first to admit that I'm incredibly picky when it comes to my musical taste, and hiphop has never been at the top of my list. However, I do know that Boise has a rather thriving musical scene with several incredibly talented artists across many genres- I wouldn't be completely surprised if there were a few hidden gems, just as there would be in any other "Anywhere Town USA".
@@Karl_Marksman I'm not sure if you're familiar with Idaho's demographic, but the area is a predominantly white, ridiculously conservative state. Our POC population is mostly Hispanic, so I'm sure there's a difference in style/tone in how someone from that background might perform. However, this comment is definitely directed at the mayo white kids who have never left Idaho, trying to "build a career" on their *idea* of what it means to be a rap artist. But I'm first to admit that hiphop isn't really my genre, so I'm willing to bet there are plenty of hidden gems just about anywhere.
My big three wants for a future episode: * "Zoot Suit Riot" by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Ah the late 90s... yes it didn't quite make the Top 40 but it was still everywhere * "Because I Got High" by Afroman. * "Jerk It Out" by the Caesars. The song that launched millions of iPods, but we never hear of them again.
Dude Zoot Suit Riot would be super fun! I would love to hear about the 90’s swing trend. Seriously I have no idea why that was a thing! I love it but no clue why it existed.
@@yondie491 Todd did cover songs that are within the fringes of 40 (and I think almost made it). Video Killed the Radio Star comes to mind at least as far as America's concerned
That was a weird era in Hip-hop. On one hand, we had some of the most memorable artists doing their thing [snoop, Jay-z, etc.], amazing newer rappers [ Kanye, Ludacris, etc], and legendary producers [ Timberland, Pharrell, El P]. even the South had great stuff coming out [ Outkast], and the underground dance scene was thriving [Krump, Clowning, etc]. And yet... That whole era has this weird malignant aura of the ringtone rap scene just hovering over it, along with all the worst the South had to offer at the time 🤷♂
reminds me of when mumble rap was “all there was” in the 2010s… u know what that’s can DAMN’s singles fit right in on the radio we forgot it was Kendrick
@@morganburt2565 You know the funny thing about Mumble rap though is that it at least sounds, idk, real. Its these kids jumping on their laptop mics and uploading directly to sound cloud, and it evolved into probably the most punk era of Hiphop (with Carti being the latest iteration). I cant say I have ever felt any sort of "realness" from the ringtone scene
Honestly, as a southern rap fan since a kid / participant, I hated that time. I remember us gettin' blamed 4 "k***in' Hip Hop", when Scarface, The S.U.C., Dungeon family & others put on 4 what we do. I think the resentment of that scene & the bacclash is what fueled the fire of me pursuin' music.
Since he seemed capable of identifying what made other artists and songs popular, is it possible he KNEW this was going to be a ring tone song? That makes 'This is why I'm hot' a flex for those who rock it, it's very meta. I'm hot because I'm popular, people call me, want my company, my time, to talk to me. It becomes a meta flex. Others then notice.
To be honest, I remember “Like This” being bigger than “This Is Why I’m Hot.” I heard the later more on the radio but I heard the former WAAAAAY more at house parties and bars.
Todd’s portable toilet joke revealed that he is (understandably) not a connoisseur of Australian cinema, where we have an iconic movie called Kenny about a bloke who cleans portaloos
My strongest memory of this song is of a LOT of 12 year old girls using it as a cheerleader chant at sport events, subbing the team's names in as needed. So the bling bling/ringtone era of hip-hop to me is more like the Schoolyard Chant era. I had no freaking idea it was technically Canadian, though - I'd nominate Mims as our hip-hop ambassador over Drake any day.
"Never explaining it" is great. I always love that take on stuff. 30 Rock did 7 seasons about a sketch comedy show, and never showed us a single sketch. SCTV's Bobby Bitman was allegedly a comedian, but we never heard him tell a single joke. He was always getting interrupted, or getting angry, or whatever. So, yes, I like not explaining.
@@jadedheartsz Remember that one time when Aaron Sorkin played himself on 30 Rock, and during a walk-and-talk scene where he’s listing his TV shows, Liz says, “and studio 60 on the…” and he tells her to shut up? I laughed my ass off. It is an apples to oranges comparison. Studio 60 it was an hour long show, and arguably a dramedy rather than a sitcom, or sometimes just a straight drama. They had time to do that stuff, and the biggest complaint about the show I remember was that the sketches weren’t funny, but everyone in the show kept acting like they were. On 30 rock theY only had 22 minutes a week, and the premise was that it was a sketch. Comedy show that honestly wasn’t very good. So why bother to show stuff that isn’t very good and take up valuable screen time with sketches that deliberately do not make you laugh? Personally, I do not see that as lazy, I think it’s just a really good use of their allotted time.
Going to post this again: please OHW “Walk the Dinosaur” by Was (Not Was). Their combination of “weird novelty song making the charts” and “legitimately impressive oeuvre” rivals Chumbawamba. Also it’s about nuclear war
I can't help but think of that one greentext where all these ridiculously dramatic and awful things happen, just for it to be an elaborate walk the dinosaur trollpost. Iconic, but it does make me feel old
As long as this comment’s got some traction I’d like to repost my bullet-pointed Was (Not Was) career highlights from a similar comment under the “Return Of The Mack” video: - Their mentorship under Detroit leftist figure John Sinclair, known among other things as the founder of the White Panther Party (who shared the political goals of the Black Panthers but were white) - Recording their first single after one of the chief songwriters sent the other one a letter saying he was so desperate for cash that he’d picked out a convenience store to rob if his friend didn’t leave his job as the Los Angeles Herald jazz critic to come cut a demo - That demo being a disco record with (fellow Sinclair protege) Wayne Kramer of the MC5 on guitar, which ZE Records (the weirdo art-funk label from Todd’s Waitresses episode) agreed to put out as long as they added some vocals besides the LA Herald jazz critic rambling in a campy mad scientist voice, which led to them finding their eventual lead singer so he could re-record parts of the same monologue - Making a bunch of their debut album with crack musicians who’d ordinarily be touring with Parliament but happened to be available because they were stranded in Detroit after George Clinton skipped out on paying them - Getting a pre-fame Madonna to record a guide vocal for one of their songs in anticipation of replacing her with the big celebrity guest they were able to land through the jazz critic’s connections: Ozzy Osbourne - Having their third album sent into turnaround because the label wanted them to replace their (black) lead vocalists with more (white) celebrity guests - Taking that album to a different label and having it be the one with “Walk The Dinosaur” on it - Breaking up almost immediately afterwards so the one who threatened to rob a convenience store at the start of all this could focus on his new career as a hotshot producer, which eventually led to him handling the late-career work of pretty much every boomer rock icon (including a 90’s Bob Dylan album where the entirety of Was (Not Was) served as the lowkey backing band, which featured a song with lyrical input from the jazz critic that’s widely regarded as the worst thing Dylan ever released)
Songs like this pretty much defined middle school and early high school for me, even though my tastes drifted more towards Green Day and Fall Out Boy. It was played at all the dances, blasted in the halls during class, over the PA during 8th grade basketball games, etc. It's always a funny feeling when you start getting nostalgic for something you honestly weren't that into when it was new and popular
That's how I feel about Naruto now. I'm 29, I remember it coming on, but I never watched it until 2 years ago, but I still feel MAJOR nostalgia when the first 2 intro songs play. Weird.
Same - I was already deep into metalcore and deathcore, but I feel a weird sense of nostalgia and almost...comfort? When I hear the hiphop/RnB of the bling/ringtone era. Mims and 50 Cent were just as much the sound of my adolescence as Bring Me The Horizon and A7X were, I just had no idea at the time.
@@Replicaate Don't forget Norma Jean, Maylene, TDWP, As Blood Runs Black, Lamb of God, Veil of Maya (The Common Man's Collapse specifically), the list could go on forever lol
@@jojoversus1100 Oh heck yeah. We got flak for it at the time, but the Scene-Core/Myspace Era was a rich one for metal - who's laughing now, trad-heads, amiright? (I know LoG aren't Myspace-core but you get it)
@@Replicaate Dude, we are kindred spirits. I remember when it became cool to be "minimal", so I HTML'ed my scroll bar away, hid my song player, made my background solid black, & only had 1 small text paragraph explaining simple sh*t like "josh.14.guitarplayer.metalhead.8piercings."
kevin rudolf's let it rock is a interesting one hit wonderland episode i'm still waiting on from this era. better off alone by alice deejay is another interesting one i'm also waiting on.
@@carybeweary7209 don't give up didn't charted at all but i made it did chart to 21 on the billboard charts. however, i think he is eligible for the ohw series because people only know him for that song since people refer to him as the let it rock guy. like you don't see people referring to bruno mars as the uptown funk guy, why? because everyone has heard all his other hits on the radio and stores. like you get me? it's almost similar to hanson and men without hats, they have other songs that charted well but todd made a ohw episode on them because mmmbop and the safety dance are the only songs that made it so big. you still hear them on stores, the radio, tv shows, commercials, movies, etc while their other songs that charted well people forgot completely about them.
@@SteeZy644 but people refer to him as the let it rock guy. like when have you heard people calling, let say bruno mars the uptown funk guy or adele the hello girl.
Back when this song was big, I was working in hip hop clubs, and I wanted a t shirt with a picture of Mims on it that said "TAUTOLOGIES, BABY." Also, I was sad that Mims never did a collaboration with Jibs.
Sometimes Todd is talking about an artist or song I've never heard of and I think, "Damn, I am officially an old." Then sometimes he talks about one of the biggest hits from 15 years ago and I've still never heard of them and I can't help but think, "maybe I'm not an old, maybe I've just been out of touch since I was a young." But also probably I'm an old.
I didn't remember "like this" until the chorus played, but I also instantly remembered the line about "this is why I'm hot" at the same time. I completely forgot "move if you wanna" but the line of getting tailored actually brought forth a hidden memory. This music instantly takes me back to middle school and once and a while I'll get nostalgic for it and listen to some of the "dance songs" as I call them
I was obsessed with this song for weeks as a kid, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't find more of her music at the time...found some later on as an adult and realize that was a good thing
This is a song that you hear on the radio, enjoy it for about... the length of a ring tone... and then can't believe the song is still going and going as you scan through your preset stations.
Next songs you should consider for One Hit Wonderland, since we’re keeping with the Ringtone Era: -Danity Kane ‘Showstopper’ -Cassie ‘Me & U’ -Hurricane Chris ‘A Bay Bay’ -Yung Joc ‘It’s Going Down’ -Unk ‘Walk It Out’
Todd pointing out that failed follow-ups often involve moving has me convinced that after my first big hit my failed follow-up will be about detailing moving from a tiny apartment to a slightly bigger apartment.
I worked in the electronics department of a big box store in the mid 2000s we had the stereos on the top 40 channel all day everyday. I heard young joc, young dro, plies and MIMS all the time. At the time I was shaking my 90s rap loving first in air that hip hop was dying. But now I look back at this time more fondly. They were fun songs and have their place in hip history too
What I remember most from this song is that it and Party Like A Rockstar featured heavily in My Super Sweet Sixteen. They'd use either one to show the party finally being successful and the sweet sixteener entering.
"You ain't, 'cause you're not" is honestly a very elegant bit of (intentional) anti-logic. If a Mark Twain type "wit" had said it first, it would be quoted all the time.
Good idea because reading your comment immediately gave me that "Ooooh, yeah. That was a thing!" flashback from Todds OHW uploads. Such an odd time when dubstep partnered with radio ballads. Good song, though.
Todd is the answer to my inner vh1 loving child … i love the 90s and other classic programming teaching me about music and pop culture … those were them days
I got so excited in 2008 when I realized that an mp3 of “Never Wanted to Dance” by Mindless Self Indulgence worked as a ringtone on my Sony Ericsson W300i. At least 5 of my friends ended up hating the song because I kept letting it play and dancing to it instead of picking up the phone. Ps - had no idea Die Antwoord did a remix of this song 😂
Man, I'm getting flashbacks to the ringtone rap of my childhood and it is not a good memory. I do have to say it makes the moral panic over rap seem even more ridiculous in hindsight. "This rap music is teaching our kids to kill, do drugs, and repeat the same line over and over until it gets really annoying!".
The modern version of Mims bragging about not needing lyrics is Playboi Carti rapping "Fuck that mumbling shit? Bought a crib for my momma, off that mumbling shit"
I'm glad I got to see the CSNY video before it got taken down. Total bummer, cuz it was a good one. Now I know that I need to watch these ASAP. You're my favorite music critic!
So annoyed. Saw it last night for me (UK) and didn't watch as wanted to watch it properly and go to watch it this morning and it's gone. Hope copyright stuff gets sorted and gets put back up.
There's an episode of the podcast "20 Thousand Hertz" that talks in detail about the whole ringtone process, start to finish, and the details of how it was licensed. It didn't get into how music ended up being catered towards working as a ringtone, though, which would have been a great contribution. The episode's called "Phone Tones".
This song is the reason I remember the Zune. That "This is Why I Rock" remix with a group called Purple Popcorn (WHO?) was #3 on my Myspace playlist. Followed by a John Mayer song (Waiting?) to "cool down" after such a hot track (God, why were we so cringey back then?)
This song immediately popped right into my head as soon as you said it. These songs were good for going to the club and just bouncing around to if nothing else. I was like 21 when this came out so $1 drinks and random beats were enough
Within the first few seconds of the song playing, I knew it had to be 00s. This was the soundtrack to my school years which I think tells you all you need to know about my adolescent experience.
My personal wishlist for OHW videos are Bad Day and Rude (both of which went to #1 and then neither Daniel Powter or Magic! charted another song on the Hot 100). I was actually surprised Magic! didn't have another minor follow up hit off that album (the follow up singles, weirdly have 25 million, 55 million and 109 million views)
I shamelessly can admit that I one time left my foster home and was declared a runaway minor because I went to teen night at some club and Mims was playing live.
I grew up in 5 grouphomes I hear yah on that one lol
U a real one
Everything ok now?
@@joshsalwen lol yeah. Day of not so much being identified at a 711 across the club. The same people I was throwing it up with, watched me get lead away by the cops and my foster mom who for some reason brought my 6 foster sisters. I can laugh about it a little now.
@@patsysolatzzo2962 thx for sharing and good to hear! Be well
“I’m hot cuz I’m fly, you ain’t cuz you not”
You literally can’t argue with that.
it's a tautology
@@Feasco thanks for teaching me a new word today friend
Mims is literally saying, "I'm him"
He doesn’t leave ANY room for argument. He doesn’t say “You ain’t cause blah blah this and this blah blah” to which his opponent could say “Well you’re wrong I am hot because blah blah blah”. No…you’re not hot because you just AREN’T.
All he's saying is that he's hot because he's fly and you're not hot because you're not fly. Read it carefully and it's not at all confusing... nor is it a tautology.
"Mr. Mims is either a cat or runs an enchanted magic shop"
Or both! How adorable would that be?
i need that now.
Sounds like a Richard Scarry character
Soul Eater 🤣
We have located the next Final Fantasy character, just make mims a moogle then it works.
That sounds like the plot of a Studio Ghibli film
I can't get over the adorableess of a cat named Mr. Mims. He sounds like the handsomest cat who ever lived.
he needs a lil top hat 🎩
It's almost as adorable as Ser Pounce from Game of Thrones ❤❤❤
Todd, it's been 10 years. It's time for Gotye.
It's gonna be so interesting seeing him do a pop song review AND a one-hit wonderland of the same artist. I don't know if he's even gonna attempt that but I'd love to see it be a thing
I would love to see this! I ended up listening to the rest of his music specifically because of recommendation from that Todd review, but I can’t find anything he’s made after, other than a Prince cover I vaguely remember on his passing. Would like to know what became, especially cause I really enjoy his two albums.
@@mostafaebrahim2498he’s a drummer for the Basics
Thought this said _it’s time for Goatse_
It's been 2 years and no one has made the incredibly obvious joke. Todd in The Shadows clearly has commenters with class.
I occasionally burst into this hook. People are absolutely devastated when they find out that they "ain't cuz they not."
Haha, that alway blew my mind...how is this song not saying Anything At All? 😂 a high watermark lol
Well Matt, maybe if you are so "hot" then you'll "blaze" through completing our month's regional spending report and have it on my desk by Monday, for once in your life.
ps: you are also now banned from quoting Nelly in your email signatures.
@@billhicks8 OMG 😂😂😊
Was just singing this to myself at the office.
I remember this song from my Junior Year of high school. One of the candidates for Senior Class president for the next year had a last name that rhymed with hot, and his entire campaign speech was just the chorus of this song with the words replaced with "vote for me, vote for me, vote for [his name]".
The absolute worst part: it worked. He ended up winning senior class president with This Is Why I'm Hot (Presidential Remix), and defeating other candidates with far more well considered platforms. Nothing about politics has surprised me ever since.
He was a true man of the people
Yup, that pretty much sums up the dog and poney show of politics.
Is your name really Bukowski?
Damn he sounds badass I would've voted for him too
For reals I’ve come to learn that politics = professional wrestling
I'm not ready to internalize that there may be legal adults too young to remember ringtone commercials
Only if they have really poor memories. I’m 18, I remember them.
How about those of us who are so old we got all the way through 2007 without ever hearing this stuff?
I remembered gummy bear and crazy frog commercials
Those commercials were advertising scams lol
Then take comfort there are people old enough who don't remember it either. I can finally say that being a GenXer has had some benefit if I was completely oblivious to this stuff fifteen years ago. I fully admit I have never heard this song until watching this video.
I get the distinct impression "more recently they started promoting NFTs/Crypto" is gonna become a theme for One Hit Wonderland, also can't wait for the OHW on Teach Me How to Dougie
Please make it happen as Todd disliked it in his one of his worst lists.
@@HolyGoddessMotherAnne Cali Swag District probably flamed out as fast as 90s one hit wonder Deep Blue Something with their 1995 smash Breakfast At Tiffany's
@@Thomasmemoryscentral Holy crap you're the guy who worked with one of my inspirations Mr.Enter.
Sad thing is, it’s not even one hit wonders. I’ve noticed even huge names like Madonna and Timbaland have fallen into the NFT trap.
Crypto's dropped like 95%, so not no more.
I remember a friend of mine cracked me up when his album came out saying "I'll bet his second album is gonna be called This is Why I Flopped!"
Edit: Actually now that I think about it, if he'd had made an actual well written song about how the record industry screwed him over and called it "This is why I flopped" I bet it would have been a hit.
I am hoping so hard Mims is reading the comments and has written this down.
Pill in Ibiza type energy right there
Lol 2000’s rap is a perfect example of something that can feel nostalgic while you still can’t stand it.
Also, this would have been a great Michael Scott ringtone.
Yup i was a kid in the 2000s and tought that sub genre was the coolest thing ever and yeah is still think it is.....buuuuuuuut i can only stand the hooks the songs themselves bore me SO MUCH XD
Absolutely! I graduated in '07 and hated most of the rap songs back then. But now I'm like "Awww I remember this song!"
I love 2000s rap.. but people just dissing cause it had a different sound..
@@TheRealityofFake That's a mood right there. I used to proudly proclaim how anti-rap I was back in high school. And then the 2010s came and I warmed up to it. And I go back and listen to 80s and 90s rap and I'm like, "actually, this is really fun." I don't forsee myself warming up to 00s rap anytime soon, but I do still get the "aww, it's that song I used to detest," feelings.
It was when MySpace was at its absolute peak to. A lot of these mid-late 00s rappers and pop singers got big originally off MySpace
Fun fact: Mims was on an official remix of Makes Me Wonder by Maroon 5 in 2007, which means that technically speaking, he's actually been on TWO Number 1 hits.
Oh yeah wasn’t this gonna be pretty high on your 2000s #1 hit rankings?
No dumbo 🤦🏽🤦🏽🤦🏽
We don't speak about Maroon 5 here
I've literally never heard this song. Bad, Todd. Bad!!
@@theriffwriter2194 your cultural shortcomings are not Todd's responsibility. We don't want to meet him from future videos.
*Rintone Rap is definitely making a comeback. Only now it's called Tik-Tok Rap and there's a silly dance attached.*
Performed by people who literally can't dance
True (unfortunately)
True, whenever Todd described what ringtone rap I was thinking to themself, "Wait isn't this what Tik-Tok is doing now?"
will my phone do a silly dance while it rings like the old nokias that would hum across the table
Eh, every era of hip-hop has its disposable one-offs.
90s had vapid party rap and the constant influx of boneless rappers like Will Smith and Vanilla ice.
2000s had ringtone rap.
2010s had Trap drones, vine rap and "mumble" rap
2020s have TikTok
how to know a certain artist will not last long:
1. they're breakout song starts a meme and/or dance trend
2. they sound a lit similar to a certain mainstream artist that is currently dominating sales
3. people refer to them as the (insert name of his/her hit song) guy/girl
4. they milk their breakout song to oblivion with lots of remixes and re-dos
5. they mentioned their breakout song in their next single
Lil Nas X did the first and fourth and he's absolutely alive and kicking, so I'm assuming it's all of them in conjunction.
Cupid Shuffle to a tee
6. Their breakout song is about something oddly specific like lusting after their girlfriends mum, attraction to big butts, kung fu movies, monsters partying, the colour blue, self pleasure, Cannibalism weird historical trivia, an animal that sings or dances or a historical figure who has nothing to do with this genre of music.
7. Their accents so thick you can’t understand a word they’re saying
8. One of your least memorable songs in your home country becomes your breakout hit the for rest of the world.
@@mattphillips3537 Sir Mix A lot got smoked by the “grunge-effect” of hip hop, Gangsta Rap.
lil nas x break the trend ngl
You know this song isn't my favorite but I do have to give Sean Mims credit for being an orphan before even properly being a teen (particularly with how he lost his mom) , going on to have a successful albeit very short music career , redirecting his energy into apps , creating an app that won awards and still working in tech today. And as far as we know he hasn't gotten arrested , he hasn't started public beefs , he hasn't had a drug addiction , he doesn't have 9 kids by 7 different moms or any other forms of debauchery that celebrities get caught in. There are rappers with far better circumstances who cannot say the same thing and to be honest if I had his start I think I would have gone absolutely nuts. So the fact he's doing pretty decently even if it's not in his field of choice is a testament to him.
He's been to the bar I work at a few times. It wasn't until the third or fourth time he came that he said who he was, only after his partner pressured him to tell me lol. Really nice and humble guy, very easygoing and a great conversation.
I mean the nft thing is highly questionable, but i guess the emphasis is on 'is'. When he got into it, it wasn't yet a sad laughingstock of failed grifters.
@@nicktallfox5266a lot of people were tricked into the NFT craze for one reason or another.
For real, the only Aughts ringtone rapper with a better post hit life is Chamillionaire, who actually did succeed in investing in tech and got hella rich
I still remember in your “Hey, Soul Sister” review when you said you hadn’t heard this song in a few years and how that fact suited you just fine.
I had to check that old to review to make sure this was indeed the song he was referencing.
Hey Soul Sister now makes me think of Pat Finnerty and the fact that it's a stinker song. Anyone else have a "Hey Soul Squire" cheap & nasty guitar?
EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT WHEN I SAW THE THUMBNAIL! i rewatch the hey soul sister review pretty frequently.
I mean that was over 10 years ago.
I hope I don't have to hear Hey, Soul Sister for many many years.
I remember one of my fellow philosophy major college friends and I discussing this song in logic class as a perfect example of a tautology.
This is a gloriously dorky thing and I can say this because I would fully have been doing the same thing if I were a philosophy major
Logical deduction via tautology
😂😂😂
Before Mims, the most successful Canadian rap song was probably Snow’s “Informer.” :/
"One Week" by the Bare Naked Ladies
My first thought... "Canadian rap... You mean like Snow?" I don't immediately think how Drake is Canadian. I don't immediately think Degrassi is Canadian. But I do immediately think of Drake on Degrassi.
Hip hop always was, and always will be regional. The mainstream shit still jacks from the underground. That's how Crunk, Trap, and Drill blew up. They are not the same, and underground artists put in work that studio artists don't.
Actually maestro fresh Wes went platinum in the states in 88 and there are a few more
Now it's Inner Ninja by Classified
I remember Todd mentioning in his "Hey, Soul Sister" review that he was totally fine with the fact that he hadn't heard this song in years when he did that review. 12 years later, he dedicates an episode to it. I guess he perhaps did miss it after a while.
That was 12 years ago? I remember when that came out.
Gods I feel old now.
@@Foxlawl Well, that review will officially be 12 years old on August 26th.
If he ever does another “ringtone rapper” as an episode for this show he’ll probably dread doing Chain Hang Low. That song (at least to me) is arguably even more repetitive and sounds way worse than This Is Why I’m Hot.
@@whatamisupposedtoputhere It doesn't help that "Chain Hang Low" is so creatively bankrupt that it samples a nursery rhyme.
he also mentioned asher roth in his cooler than me review and he did a full ohw review on asher roth's i love college for his tenth anniversary.
My mind was just blown by the fact that 2000s beats were the way they were because it fit the listening format of ring tones...
Same! It makes so much sense but I'd never realized it!
I remember what the Rap Critic said about this guy a while ago: “This is why I was hot! For about fifteen minutes! Cuz after this I won’t have any other hits! MIMS!” LOL, I still love that.
The main reason for the ringtone decline was the release of the iPhone 3G in summer of 2008. In order to get a song a ringtone you had to buy it twice. I think that was too much for people who just spent 400 dollars on a phone
The iPhone also killed off the ringtone because its high-definition touchscreen made dense text messaging feasible on a mobile device, and people stopped using their phones for voice calls as often with a less intrusive communication option available.
@@rommix0 Is it? I looked it up just now and apparently buying ringtones at the time was anywhere from $2.50 to $5. $2 including a copy of the whole song doesn't sound like such a bad deal by comparison.
@@stevethepocket Once music in the iTunes Store went DRM-free in 2009, users could create their own ringtones from purchased tracks, free of charge; but Apple also required users to pay a license fee to remove copy protections from any music purchased before the format change.
Also, the iPhone never let you select a song from your music library and set it as your ringtone, which would have been the natural functionality.
This is up there with "Who Let The Dogs Out" as a song that's more a catchphrase than a song. I say that because I have literally never heard this song, I just know the phrase "this is why I'm hot." Until now, I didn't even know it was a real song.
Yello’s Oh Yeah is probably the best example of that.
I also didn't remember this song, but I knew the next line after "this is why I'm hot" was "I'm hot 'cause I'm fly" because of a Drew Monson video I basically moulded my humour around at the age of 17 where he said that in his outro
@@ActuallyAnanya I miss that guy...
At least who let the dogs out had a message to send, this was just garbage
Don't forget "I'm Too Sexy". That was more of a catchphrase too.
I once worked at little Caesar’s in Montrose, CO. One day, we get a call from a guy, sounds kinda drunk, asking where we’re located and saying he wants to order pickup. I explain our general location, then ask for his name and order. It was Mims, and he was in Michigan and was trying to get pizza from the Little Caesars in Montrose, Michigan.
This is why i'm hot and ready
I've never gotten madder at Todd than when he called 'Don't stop moving' by S Club 7 a failed follow-up. This is an attack on 2000's British Primary School Disco culture and it will not stand.
yeah that was huge in nz too, i'm baffled by how much they were slept on in america
They have a very low tolerance for novelty, or tackiness, or cheese, what inmho is where some of the best unshamed music is, it's not high art or anything but is great music for music's sake, I remember mims second song while not as big as his main hit still was bigger here, when played I remembered it.
He clarifies that this was a hit outside of America in the S Club 7 episode.
@@kawaiilotus S Club 7 were definitely enjoyed by younger people at the time but as while they weren’t too big. Your right Americans tend to not like cheesy things for the most part.
@@Pinkladyisv you say that, while country music is big only in America
Please do an episode on “American Boy” by Estelle. Yeah, it wasn’t a huge hit in the US, but the song’s a banger, the artist never touched the Hot 100 again, and Estelle has an extremely interesting post-hit career.
Edit: as someone in the comments pointed out, she did actually notch another top 50 hit, but A) I think that’s still low enough for her to qualify, and B) unless you’re British or a diehard Steven Universe fan, chances are that “American Boy” is the only Estelle song you remember.
Edit 2: I was also wrong about the chart success. Apparently, this got up to #9. My point about this being a good candidate for OHW still stands, but I really need to do a better job proofreading.
She actually did chart again with a song called Conqueror that made it to 42 on billboard. Not a huge comeback but you can't say she never charted again
I don’t even like Steven Universe but I think it’s awesome how she played one of the main characters.
Wouldn’t be out of his wheelhouse! “I Melt With You” didn’t bubble into the Top 40 but the song was a massive cultural touchstone so he covered it anyway.
Was it not huge in the US? I remember radio here playing that song CONSTANTLY back in 08
She also had a pretty interesting pre-hit career - her first rap album (all the way from 2004) finally made it to Spotify last year. It produced two UK Top 20 hits at the time, but everyone had forgotten about her until "American Boy" came out...
I always love it when Todd In The Shadows discusses British acts in One Hit Wonderland...
This is one of those songs that almost feels like we collectively dreamed it
Hey for a lot of hip hop fans this comes up a lot lol
yeah i'm still not sure it's even real and i'm watching a todd vid on it.
Would the same be said about Desiigner's Panda?
As a 30-something Canadian. Todd's take on our hip hop scene 20 years ago was bang on
pretty much most scenes in Canada, the southern Ontario screamo scene did spookily well and I think there was a faustian pact involved, well Tony Brummell is almost the devil. lol
@@mattday2656 I was gonna say, the 00s was a bad time to be a hip hop head in Southern Canada but a GREAT time to be into punk/alt/the various subgenres that ended in 'core.
y’all had Kardinal Offishall around that time, no?
@@McMaster1471 👆
@@McMaster1471 choclaire is pretty dope
I would _absolutely_ brag about being the King of Port-a-Potties if it made me a billion dollars.
Reminds me of a scene from Joe's Apartment where a urinal cake manufacturer said something like "before long, all of New York City will be pissing on my name."
😂😂😂
I love how Todd said "no one brags about being the king of portapotties" and shortly after, the movie Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers came out featuring a character using a portapotty business as a money laundering/organised crime front.
"Mims' tribute to circular logic."
- Todd's description of 'This Is Why I'm Hot', and the best description anyone could ever devise.
I'm Canadian and was like "Why don't I remember him from the early 2000s?" and then you said Mr. Mims and I was like "oooooh"
Madden 08 had a Mims song called “Cop It” that was actually pretty decent. That whole soundtrack was a weird but fun mixture of dated Bling Era hip hop, pop punk, and metal. I played it all the time and I’ve pretty much memorized “Cop It” at this point.
Was gonna comment this too haha
"Cop It" is a banger, not gonna lie!!
Just checked and my main playlist has 7 songs from that soundtrack, including Cop It. Just top to bottom bangers, right up there for me for most influential soundtracks with ATV Off-road Fury 2.
How about Rock 'n Rollin featuring Tech N9ne? that song dropped in '09 and was 🔥🔥🔥
Sports games soundtracks don't have to go as hard as they do.
One of my buddies once asked me if NU-metal was to me as metalhead as ringtone rap was to him...I stared at him at utter confusion. Thank you for your brief, but accurate description of the genre.
As a Gen Zer who hasn't taken his phone off of Do Not Disturb in eight years, this has always been a very foreign concept to me
As a millenial who actually bought ringtones, same.
A ringing phone stops being fun when it's either scam calls, your boss, or your landlord.
I remember in 2012 being a pre teen and perfectly editing dubstep drops to be my ringtone
It's been on silent ever since the cash register incident
Ringtones are a lot like a different late 00s/early 10s trend: social media websites. Fun to customize and play around with to suit your mood, but got really annoying really fast. Ringtones didn't try to steal your personal data, but they DID legitimately steal a lot of money from people though sketchy late-nite ads with fine print that tricked you into buying a subscription to a ringtone rather than a file.
I remember when you had to look up the notes of the Ringtones online in order to get that sweet sweet 20 sec snippet of a song
One question from a Gen Yer: how do you notice when you get phone calls/messages etc.? My girlfriend (also Gen Y) keeps her phone on Vibrate constantly and I never am able to call her because she doesn’t notice the damn thing 😂
there is something so incredibly simple and appealing about the hook. you can call it dumb but honestly is it really dumber than any other flex? what it lacks in specificity it makes up in mass appeal. "I'm hot because I just am" is something that after a few drinks resonates with people in most demographics
Sometimes I feel like there's a thing with half the population on earth where they know there are nerds and folks who think too much around them who make them feel silly so they just mass support songs that are essentially the music equiv of pulling your pants down and mooning someone/farting until some poo comes out
oh yes that's right, they're called teenagers 🤦♂️
Witnessing the the return of 00s aesthetics and styles is pretty surreal cuz instead of being like, idealized versions of the stuff like the 80s or 90s revivals, it’s just way way more sensory overloading and nightmarish.
To be fair, they are doing it as a backlash to the lifeless state of design in general in modern times (2013-onwards).
@@Astolfo2001goddammit ios 7
Todd: Mims was probably right because... here's the OTHER single from that album
Me: Oh fuck, please do NOT tell me it's "This Is Why I'm Hot (Remix)", he deserves so much better
For a minute I thought it would be the Rock remix of it.
I always thought the "this" in "this is why I'm hot" referred to song itself. The song "This Is Why I'm Hot" is what proves Mims' hotness.
What's your take on Ralph Wiggum saying that sleep is where he's a Viking?
I dunno... I thought he explained his hotness was because he was "fly".
You know, when I saw that interview clip of him with the little cartoon designs, I said to myself, "wait, are those monkey NFTs?" Before looking better and seeing it was a normal design.
Then you showed his Blockchain plans. The reeling was amazing.
2:44 if you're wondering when your hip hop song jumped the shark, a cover by Kelly Ripa featuring Jeff Probst is probably a strong indicator.
Basically, if Kelly Ripa is singing your hook, just pull a Bobby McFarrin
"You might as well say you're the hottest rapper in Boise, Idaho" got me good. As someone from Boise... yeah.
Allow me to introduce you to some talent.
19:36 As a Brit, I am personally offended by the inclusion of Don't Stop Movin' by S Club as a "failed follow up". That shit was EVERYWHERE here. You play that in any crowded room in the UK and immediately every Millennial and Zillennial will lose their SHIT.
Can confirm
@@jadedheartsz We know, it's a joke, but also Todd's been pretty aware of the difference between the UK (or at least European) and US pop scenes for a long while now.
Honestly it's a shame Don't Stop Movin did so badly because that is the only SC7 song I like.
I mean I’m American and S Club (7) was a Big Deal in my 3rd grade class, so it’s still kind of wild to me that they apparently weren’t actually super popular here?
Todd did an episode of One Hit Wonderland on S Club 7. In the U.K., they were superstars for a few years. In the U.S. though, they were mostly known for a moderately popular TV show and a single top 40 hit called Never had a Dream come True.
I was attending an arts school near Oakland in the mid-late 2000s, and knew a lot of aspiring rappers. So in addition to the aesthetic shortcomings of ringtone rap, I have the same allergic reaction to this style as Todd does to White Guy With Acoustic Guitar. For me, this will always be the sound of a teenage boy who just learned how to use Audacity trying to impress people.
Holy shit I went to Piedmont High in the mid to late 2000s lol. Most People there either listened to stuff like this or the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
@@real30yearoldboomerhours53 Yeah I was firmly at the Green Day/Killers/My Chemical Romance end of the popular musical spectrum in 2007. But because also no one has made me listen to ringtone rap since I graduated HS, I honestly didn't realize how much I hated this sound until fairly recently when a coworker started playing some and the sound of an 808 clap played through shitty cell phone speakers filled me with an incandescent rage.
@Real 30 Year Old Boomer Hours if u lived in the south including Florida, southern rap and ringtone rap were huge
I'm going to say, as someone from Boise, Idaho, there has never been a truer statement, and I cringe when I see locals trying to rap about "repping the 208" because, Sir, there are cows outside, please pull your pants up and go home.
In addition to said trash heap of Idaho would-be rappers, there are about a dozen actually respectable [i.e. - grown up] Hip-Hop artists in Boise. I can name them if you'd like.
...Also what's wrong with proclaiming inherent love for your hometown, anyway?
@@ChrisDeRoin Never said there was- but I think it's off putting at best when you have a group of people who think the epitome of "hardcore gangster" is the same group of people who all come from predominantly agriculture families.
If the point is to "represent" a group or an area, perhaps doing so with a level of honesty is better?
I'll be the first to admit that I'm incredibly picky when it comes to my musical taste, and hiphop has never been at the top of my list. However, I do know that Boise has a rather thriving musical scene with several incredibly talented artists across many genres- I wouldn't be completely surprised if there were a few hidden gems, just as there would be in any other "Anywhere Town USA".
@@Karl_Marksman I'm not sure if you're familiar with Idaho's demographic, but the area is a predominantly white, ridiculously conservative state. Our POC population is mostly Hispanic, so I'm sure there's a difference in style/tone in how someone from that background might perform. However, this comment is definitely directed at the mayo white kids who have never left Idaho, trying to "build a career" on their *idea* of what it means to be a rap artist. But I'm first to admit that hiphop isn't really my genre, so I'm willing to bet there are plenty of hidden gems just about anywhere.
@@Karl_Marksman Lil Nas X is from Atlanta suburbs, he was just making a novelty song
@@Karl_Marksman uhhhh lil nas x has gotten two #1s post old town road
My big three wants for a future episode:
* "Zoot Suit Riot" by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Ah the late 90s... yes it didn't quite make the Top 40 but it was still everywhere
* "Because I Got High" by Afroman.
* "Jerk It Out" by the Caesars. The song that launched millions of iPods, but we never hear of them again.
Dude Zoot Suit Riot would be super fun! I would love to hear about the 90’s swing trend. Seriously I have no idea why that was a thing! I love it but no clue why it existed.
Zoot suit riot would be a great video! Surprised it hasn't happened yet
@@toric6005 I hate pop your cherry, but ZSR didn't crack the Top 40, much less the Top 20 that seems to be Todd'a threshold for including it here
NGL though Jerk It Out was a banger...would love to see that episode
@@yondie491 Todd did cover songs that are within the fringes of 40 (and I think almost made it). Video Killed the Radio Star comes to mind at least as far as America's concerned
I think I actually remember "Like This" more than "This Is Why I'm Hot." And yeah, the 2000s were a pretty grim time for music.
That was a weird era in Hip-hop. On one hand, we had some of the most memorable artists doing their thing [snoop, Jay-z, etc.], amazing newer rappers [ Kanye, Ludacris, etc], and legendary producers [ Timberland, Pharrell, El P]. even the South had great stuff coming out [ Outkast], and the underground dance scene was thriving [Krump, Clowning, etc].
And yet... That whole era has this weird malignant aura of the ringtone rap scene just hovering over it, along with all the worst the South had to offer at the time 🤷♂
reminds me of when mumble rap was “all there was” in the 2010s… u know what that’s can DAMN’s singles fit right in on the radio we forgot it was Kendrick
@@morganburt2565 You know the funny thing about Mumble rap though is that it at least sounds, idk, real. Its these kids jumping on their laptop mics and uploading directly to sound cloud, and it evolved into probably the most punk era of Hiphop (with Carti being the latest iteration). I cant say I have ever felt any sort of "realness" from the ringtone scene
@Perverted Alchemist Idlewild was so disappointing for me, but I know it did have some fans, including some of my friends lol
Honestly, as a southern rap fan
since a kid / participant,
I hated that time.
I remember us gettin' blamed
4 "k***in' Hip Hop", when Scarface,
The S.U.C., Dungeon family
& others put on 4 what we do.
I think the resentment of that scene
& the bacclash is what fueled
the fire of me pursuin' music.
Dont forget, late 2000's is also when we got the best Lil Wayne.
I really love when one of these episodes covers a very specific period in time that explains why the song became a hit. It's like a time capsule
Since he seemed capable of identifying what made other artists and songs popular, is it possible he KNEW this was going to be a ring tone song? That makes 'This is why I'm hot' a flex for those who rock it, it's very meta. I'm hot because I'm popular, people call me, want my company, my time, to talk to me. It becomes a meta flex. Others then notice.
a great point!
That..im not sure if i wanna say that's true, but *damn* if it is that's kinda genius.
To be honest, I remember “Like This” being bigger than “This Is Why I’m Hot.” I heard the later more on the radio but I heard the former WAAAAAY more at house parties and bars.
"Like This" definitely got played at a lot of school dances I attended.
Todd’s portable toilet joke revealed that he is (understandably) not a connoisseur of Australian cinema, where we have an iconic movie called Kenny about a bloke who cleans portaloos
Ive never heard portaloo before.
...You call em portaloos over there?
It’s a mockumentary about a guy whose business hires out portaloos to big events. It’s a brilliant piece of our culture.
Australians make films? And know what toilets are? That doesn't exactly jive with my lived experience.
“The stink will outlast religion”
“This is why I was hot
For about 15 minutes
Because after this
I won’t have
Any other hits”
-Rap Critic
My strongest memory of this song is of a LOT of 12 year old girls using it as a cheerleader chant at sport events, subbing the team's names in as needed. So the bling bling/ringtone era of hip-hop to me is more like the Schoolyard Chant era.
I had no freaking idea it was technically Canadian, though - I'd nominate Mims as our hip-hop ambassador over Drake any day.
"Never explaining it" is great. I always love that take on stuff. 30 Rock did 7 seasons about a sketch comedy show, and never showed us a single sketch. SCTV's Bobby Bitman was allegedly a comedian, but we never heard him tell a single joke. He was always getting interrupted, or getting angry, or whatever. So, yes, I like not explaining.
@@jadedheartsz Remember that one time when Aaron Sorkin played himself on 30 Rock, and during a walk-and-talk scene where he’s listing his TV shows, Liz says, “and studio 60 on the…” and he tells her to shut up? I laughed my ass off.
It is an apples to oranges comparison. Studio 60 it was an hour long show, and arguably a dramedy rather than a sitcom, or sometimes just a straight drama. They had time to do that stuff, and the biggest complaint about the show I remember was that the sketches weren’t funny, but everyone in the show kept acting like they were. On 30 rock theY only had 22 minutes a week, and the premise was that it was a sketch. Comedy show that honestly wasn’t very good. So why bother to show stuff that isn’t very good and take up valuable screen time with sketches that deliberately do not make you laugh? Personally, I do not see that as lazy, I think it’s just a really good use of their allotted time.
Going to post this again: please OHW “Walk the Dinosaur” by Was (Not Was). Their combination of “weird novelty song making the charts” and “legitimately impressive oeuvre” rivals Chumbawamba. Also it’s about nuclear war
@@rommix0 Funny enough that was a cover of it... featuring George Clinton.
They do technically have another hit, "Spy in the House of Love", but I really want to see him cover them too.
I can't help but think of that one greentext where all these ridiculously dramatic and awful things happen, just for it to be an elaborate walk the dinosaur trollpost. Iconic, but it does make me feel old
@@rommix0 by “the critical flop” I think you mean “the brilliant work of cinema that accurately prophesied the Trump administration”
As long as this comment’s got some traction I’d like to repost my bullet-pointed Was (Not Was) career highlights from a similar comment under the “Return Of The Mack” video:
- Their mentorship under Detroit leftist figure John Sinclair, known among other things as the founder of the White Panther Party (who shared the political goals of the Black Panthers but were white)
- Recording their first single after one of the chief songwriters sent the other one a letter saying he was so desperate for cash that he’d picked out a convenience store to rob if his friend didn’t leave his job as the Los Angeles Herald jazz critic to come cut a demo
- That demo being a disco record with (fellow Sinclair protege) Wayne Kramer of the MC5 on guitar, which ZE Records (the weirdo art-funk label from Todd’s Waitresses episode) agreed to put out as long as they added some vocals besides the LA Herald jazz critic rambling in a campy mad scientist voice, which led to them finding their eventual lead singer so he could re-record parts of the same monologue
- Making a bunch of their debut album with crack musicians who’d ordinarily be touring with Parliament but happened to be available because they were stranded in Detroit after George Clinton skipped out on paying them
- Getting a pre-fame Madonna to record a guide vocal for one of their songs in anticipation of replacing her with the big celebrity guest they were able to land through the jazz critic’s connections: Ozzy Osbourne
- Having their third album sent into turnaround because the label wanted them to replace their (black) lead vocalists with more (white) celebrity guests
- Taking that album to a different label and having it be the one with “Walk The Dinosaur” on it
- Breaking up almost immediately afterwards so the one who threatened to rob a convenience store at the start of all this could focus on his new career as a hotshot producer, which eventually led to him handling the late-career work of pretty much every boomer rock icon (including a 90’s Bob Dylan album where the entirety of Was (Not Was) served as the lowkey backing band, which featured a song with lyrical input from the jazz critic that’s widely regarded as the worst thing Dylan ever released)
Songs like this pretty much defined middle school and early high school for me, even though my tastes drifted more towards Green Day and Fall Out Boy. It was played at all the dances, blasted in the halls during class, over the PA during 8th grade basketball games, etc.
It's always a funny feeling when you start getting nostalgic for something you honestly weren't that into when it was new and popular
That's how I feel about Naruto now. I'm 29, I remember it coming on, but I never watched it until 2 years ago, but I still feel MAJOR nostalgia when the first 2 intro songs play. Weird.
Same - I was already deep into metalcore and deathcore, but I feel a weird sense of nostalgia and almost...comfort? When I hear the hiphop/RnB of the bling/ringtone era. Mims and 50 Cent were just as much the sound of my adolescence as Bring Me The Horizon and A7X were, I just had no idea at the time.
@@Replicaate Don't forget Norma Jean, Maylene, TDWP, As Blood Runs Black, Lamb of God, Veil of Maya (The Common Man's Collapse specifically), the list could go on forever lol
@@jojoversus1100 Oh heck yeah. We got flak for it at the time, but the Scene-Core/Myspace Era was a rich one for metal - who's laughing now, trad-heads, amiright?
(I know LoG aren't Myspace-core but you get it)
@@Replicaate Dude, we are kindred spirits. I remember when it became cool to be "minimal", so I HTML'ed my scroll bar away, hid my song player, made my background solid black, & only had 1 small text paragraph explaining simple sh*t like "josh.14.guitarplayer.metalhead.8piercings."
kevin rudolf's let it rock is a interesting one hit wonderland episode i'm still waiting on from this era. better off alone by alice deejay is another interesting one i'm also waiting on.
Oh that's a blast from the past. I actually really liked Let It Rock
For Kevin,I Made It and Don't Give Up didn't chart? I only know those songs from WWE using them for ppvs
He had “I made it”, which entered the top 20. Kevin might not count.
@@carybeweary7209 don't give up didn't charted at all but i made it did chart to 21 on the billboard charts. however, i think he is eligible for the ohw series because people only know him for that song since people refer to him as the let it rock guy. like you don't see people referring to bruno mars as the uptown funk guy, why? because everyone has heard all his other hits on the radio and stores. like you get me? it's almost similar to hanson and men without hats, they have other songs that charted well but todd made a ohw episode on them because mmmbop and the safety dance are the only songs that made it so big. you still hear them on stores, the radio, tv shows, commercials, movies, etc while their other songs that charted well people forgot completely about them.
@@SteeZy644 but people refer to him as the let it rock guy. like when have you heard people calling, let say bruno mars the uptown funk guy or adele the hello girl.
If you mention your hit song in your follow up, you're pretty much guaranteed to be a one-hit wonder.
Back when this song was big, I was working in hip hop clubs, and I wanted a t shirt with a picture of Mims on it that said "TAUTOLOGIES, BABY."
Also, I was sad that Mims never did a collaboration with Jibs.
I know the nostalgia cycle comes for everything but I truly, sincerely hope it doesn't come for the music that was popular when I was in high school.
I'm more worried about the bulk of music from NOW than from the early 2010s.
I love how he says he's representing New York and then for some reason in the music video it randomly just shows a picture of Wrigley Field in Chicago
Sometimes Todd is talking about an artist or song I've never heard of and I think, "Damn, I am officially an old." Then sometimes he talks about one of the biggest hits from 15 years ago and I've still never heard of them and I can't help but think, "maybe I'm not an old, maybe I've just been out of touch since I was a young." But also probably I'm an old.
Dammitt. I was halfway thru the CSNY episode when I had to stop. I came back and it was gone.
DARTH VADER: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
I didn't remember "like this" until the chorus played, but I also instantly remembered the line about "this is why I'm hot" at the same time.
I completely forgot "move if you wanna" but the line of getting tailored actually brought forth a hidden memory.
This music instantly takes me back to middle school and once and a while I'll get nostalgic for it and listen to some of the "dance songs" as I call them
I'm not sure why, but this reminded me of another song I'd love to see a One Hit Wonderland on. "Love Me or Hate Me" by Lady Sovereign!
It is interesting to say the least.
or All the Things She Said by Tatu because there's a really interesting story behind that.
Britain's Big Midget! Wasn't she the first white female rapper to sign to a major label or something? Doesn't matter.
I was obsessed with this song for weeks as a kid, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't find more of her music at the time...found some later on as an adult and realize that was a good thing
You know what would be a good one hit wonder, MARRS - Pump up the volume, that's not just a One Hit Wonder but their only song
This is a song that you hear on the radio, enjoy it for about... the length of a ring tone... and then can't believe the song is still going and going as you scan through your preset stations.
Oh yeah, the short lived crank era. Now Todd, please clean your ears and make an episode on Skee-Lo cause his backstory is pretty interesting
i NEED the skee-lo episode
Seconded! Skee-Lo is more than "I Wish," for sure, but there's a good reason why everyone thinks of that particular song when you mention his name.
Next songs you should consider for One Hit Wonderland, since we’re keeping with the Ringtone Era:
-Danity Kane ‘Showstopper’
-Cassie ‘Me & U’
-Hurricane Chris ‘A Bay Bay’
-Yung Joc ‘It’s Going Down’
-Unk ‘Walk It Out’
I’d argue Yung Joc is at least a 2 hit wonder. I Know You See It was going crazy for a decent period within the 2000s
Todd pointing out that failed follow-ups often involve moving has me convinced that after my first big hit my failed follow-up will be about detailing moving from a tiny apartment to a slightly bigger apartment.
Sort of like that scene at the end of the Jerk.
I worked in the electronics department of a big box store in the mid 2000s we had the stereos on the top 40 channel all day everyday. I heard young joc, young dro, plies and MIMS all the time. At the time I was shaking my 90s rap loving first in air that hip hop was dying. But now I look back at this time more fondly. They were fun songs and have their place in hip history too
I'm surprised you didn't mention "This is Why I Rock" aka the rock remix to This is Why I'm Hot. I heard that remix just as much as the original.
It's Friday, it's national donut day, and Todd dropped a new video. That makes for a stellar day!
"and recently he's started getting into (sigh) NFTs"
And suddenly I lose all sympathy for his current state of affairs.
it was also a good song for your myspace page at the time... what a great and terrible time to be alive
What I remember most from this song is that it and Party Like A Rockstar featured heavily in My Super Sweet Sixteen. They'd use either one to show the party finally being successful and the sweet sixteener entering.
"You ain't, 'cause you're not" is honestly a very elegant bit of (intentional) anti-logic. If a Mark Twain type "wit" had said it first, it would be quoted all the time.
something I could imagine Shakespeare saying
The antithesis to I am that I am.
I thought the line was “you HATE cause you’re not”, not ain’t. Nobody would blame you either way though
@@fduranthesee You absolutely should. Check out Marc Antony's description of the crocodile
I wonder if we’ll ever get a one hit wonderland episode about Alex Clare’s Too Close
Good idea because reading your comment immediately gave me that "Ooooh, yeah. That was a thing!" flashback from Todds OHW uploads.
Such an odd time when dubstep partnered with radio ballads. Good song, though.
Todd is the answer to my inner vh1 loving child … i love the 90s and other classic programming teaching me about music and pop culture … those were them days
I got so excited in 2008 when I realized that an mp3 of “Never Wanted to Dance” by Mindless Self Indulgence worked as a ringtone on my Sony Ericsson W300i. At least 5 of my friends ended up hating the song because I kept letting it play and dancing to it instead of picking up the phone.
Ps - had no idea Die Antwoord did a remix of this song 😂
Man, I'm getting flashbacks to the ringtone rap of my childhood and it is not a good memory. I do have to say it makes the moral panic over rap seem even more ridiculous in hindsight. "This rap music is teaching our kids to kill, do drugs, and repeat the same line over and over until it gets really annoying!".
I forgot this song existed. Also growing up at this time in music, it really explains why it took me so long to like rap.
Memory unlocked. I completely forgot about this song
The modern version of Mims bragging about not needing lyrics is Playboi Carti rapping "Fuck that mumbling shit? Bought a crib for my momma, off that mumbling shit"
0:35 One of the few times I agree with an informal poll on the internet. Perfect ranking of 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s, for hip hop.
Pole
"...or the owner of an enchanted magic shop."
Now I want to see what a crossover between Mr. Mims and the Great Biz would have been like.
If Rich Boy counts as Ringtone Rap, then "Throw Some D's" is the "Stairway To Heaven" of that genre. Just sayin'...
I love Todd's piano cover at the beginning. It feels so mysterious and menacing.
Also, is this the first time he used a metronome or some other rythm device? I think it is. Sound really great.
I'm glad I got to see the CSNY video before it got taken down. Total bummer, cuz it was a good one. Now I know that I need to watch these ASAP. You're my favorite music critic!
So annoyed. Saw it last night for me (UK) and didn't watch as wanted to watch it properly and go to watch it this morning and it's gone. Hope copyright stuff gets sorted and gets put back up.
There's an episode of the podcast "20 Thousand Hertz" that talks in detail about the whole ringtone process, start to finish, and the details of how it was licensed. It didn't get into how music ended up being catered towards working as a ringtone, though, which would have been a great contribution. The episode's called "Phone Tones".
you are definitely BACK ON YOUR SHIT BRO!!! from the "dont worry be happy" vid to this... youre picking all the interesting one hit wonders again!
Praying that one day he covers Sweet Disposition on OHW
@@credenzamostro I'm still holding out hope for Tarzan Boy
@@roseolivas08 oh man another Italian classic, wanna see Todd deal with my country again
Ah yes, the "ringtone rap" era, where everyone used Big Pimpin' as their ringtone. Everyone!
This song is the reason I remember the Zune. That "This is Why I Rock" remix with a group called Purple Popcorn (WHO?) was #3 on my Myspace playlist. Followed by a John Mayer song (Waiting?) to "cool down" after such a hot track (God, why were we so cringey back then?)
Purple Popcorn is featured at the end of Mims album! I wonder if the feature or the remix came first. 17:46
This is the most 2000s sentence I have ever read.
This song immediately popped right into my head as soon as you said it. These songs were good for going to the club and just bouncing around to if nothing else. I was like 21 when this came out so $1 drinks and random beats were enough
Todd really forgot about Kardinal Offishall when talking about Canadian hip hop
Imagine your only hit getting goofed on by Die Antwoord.
This song has the same energy as "Are you Jimmy Ray?"
Within the first few seconds of the song playing, I knew it had to be 00s. This was the soundtrack to my school years which I think tells you all you need to know about my adolescent experience.
Can’t wait for the Trinidad James, “All Gold Everything” episode!
My personal wishlist for OHW videos are Bad Day and Rude (both of which went to #1 and then neither Daniel Powter or Magic! charted another song on the Hot 100). I was actually surprised Magic! didn't have another minor follow up hit off that album (the follow up singles, weirdly have 25 million, 55 million and 109 million views)
The Expectations album is actually very good
He's done rude! He better get through, at least, most of the decent ones cuz he still has quite a few to go