Whatever You Like ("Weird Al" Yankovic song)
| "Whatever You Like" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic | ||||
| from the album Internet Leaks and Alpocalypse | ||||
| Released | October 8, 2008 | |||
| Format | Digital download | |||
| Recorded | September 29, 2008[1] | |||
| Genre | Comedy hip hop | |||
| Length |
3:41 (album version) 3:43 (single version) | |||
| Label | Volcano | |||
| Writer(s) | Clifford Harris, James Scheffer, David Siegel, "Weird Al" Yankovic | |||
| Producer(s) | "Weird Al" Yankovic | |||
| "Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Whatever You Like" is a song and single by "Weird Al" Yankovic, the first song from the digital EP Internet Leaks and was later released on his thirteenth studio album Alpocalypse. It is a direct parody of the song of the same name by T.I.. As with T.I.'s song, Yankovic's lyrics describe a man wooing a girlfriend with gifts that she may want; however, in light of recent economic problems, these are inexpensive or economical options, such as clipping coupons or going out to dinner at Burger King or McDonald's.
"Whatever You Like" is the only Yankovic parody to have exactly the same title as the original it parodies. Yankovic commented that thanks to a rapid approval from T.I. he was able to write, record and upload the song to iTunes within two weeks and while the original song was still at No. 1 (it was there for 5 weeks).
Release
In late 2008 Yankovic started to explore the digital distribution of his songs. On October 7, 2008, Yankovic planned to release a parody of "Whatever You Like" from artist T.I., which Yankovic said he had come up with two weeks before. Yankovic said that the benefit of digital distribution is that "I do not have to wait around while my songs get old and dated—I can get them out on the Internet almost immediately."[2] On October 7, 2008, the planned release date, an unexpected error left "Whatever You Like" out of the iTunes new release list. Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, Yankovic's drummer and webmaster, posted this message: "Apparently there was a glitch at iTunes last night and Al's new single—'Whatever You Like'—did not debut with the rest of the new releases. We're being told that they're working on the problem and (hopefully!!) it will be up later today."[3] The song then became available.
In May 2009, "Whatever You Like" was retroactively dubbed the first track of Internet Leaks, an EP consisting of a series of digitally distributed songs by Yankovic.[4]
Music video
A music video was created by animator Cris Shapan. The video was featured on the deluxe edition of Alpocalypse.
Chart positions
During its first week of release, "Whatever You Like" reached #4 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Chart.[5] The song has also garnered over 13 million listens on YouTube[6] as of April 2012, and over 2.6 million listens on MySpace.[7]
| Chart (2008-10) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard) | 4 |
| US Comedy Digital Tracks (Billboard)[8] | 11 |
See also
References
- ↑ ""Weird Al" Yankovic: Recording Dates". weirdal.com. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ↑ Vreval, Jeff (2008-10-06). "Weird Al Goes Digital With T.I. Cover". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ↑ "The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site". weirdal.com. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
- ↑ "The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site". weirdal.com. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ↑ "Weird Al Yankovic – Chart History: Bubbling Under Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ↑ YouTube - "Weird Al" Yankovic
- ↑ MySpace - "Weird Al" Yankovic
- ↑ "Comedy Digital Tracks: January 23, 2010". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2014.