There was story in The New York Times by Melena Ryzik about Redfoo and Sky Blu — the two guys who together are known as LMFAO (“Party Rock Anthem”).
Melena points out “The two men, who rap, sing and D.J., have high musical lineage: Redfoo, 36 (born Stefan Gordy), is the son of Berry Gordy, the Motown mogul, and Sky Blu, 25 (Skyler Gordy), is Berry Gordy’s grandson and Redfoo’s nephew.”
And Motown influenced them from the beginning.
The same reason why we’re doing music is the same reason why Motown did: to make the world a better place and to make people happy. “The main message is, just have a good time.”
Here’s one Motown example, Martha & The Vandellas “Dancing in the Streets.”
RedFoo talked in the piece about the Debarge influence.
“El DeBarge has an amazing voice, and it’s one of those songs that makes you feel good, no matter what you were doing before.’
Debarge – Rhythm Of The Night
They were also influenced by Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy/Rick James – Party All The Time
The whole article is like an exercise in “the adjacent possible.”
“…whatever you imagine, whatever you think about it, what you are drawn to is what you attract in your life. If you are thinking about making a hit song, and you think I want everybody in the world to love it, then you kind of make it up, and you do it…”
They were influenced by the adjacent possible and are now the source of influence for others. That’s a great story!
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Party Rock Video
Teach me how to shuffle
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
[…] quoted was John Change, 21, of Berkeley, who said, “It’s like the K-pop version of (LMFAO‘s) ‘Party Rock Anthem.’ It’s got all the elements of a great hip-hop song, […]