Pop Culture (song)
| "Pop Culture" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Madeon | |
| Released | 11 July 2011 |
| Recorded | 11 July 2011 |
| Genre | Mash-up |
| Length | 03:24 |
| Writer | Various |
| Producer | Hugo Pierre Leclercq |
"Pop Culture" is a mash-up song created by Hugo Pierre Leclercq, better known by his stage name, Madeon. The song was created on-the-fly by Leclercq, at the time when he was seventeen years old, using 39 samples from other popular songs, mixed using Ableton Live software controlled with a Novation Launchpad. Leclercq recorded video of him creating the mix which he uploaded to YouTube on 11 July 2011. The video went viral within a few days, and since has seen more than 31 million views. The video drew attention to Leclercq and would lead to him becoming signed by Columbia Records and launching his music career.
Composition
Prior to releasing "Pop Culture", Leclercq (at the time, using only his Madeon stage name) was a rising star in the EDM genre, having won a remix competition for the song "The Island" by Pendulum in late 2010.[1] He subsequently developed remixes for songs by Alphabeat, Deadmau5, and Yelle, with the last two praising Leclercq's remixes.[2][3]
Leclercq described the concept for "Pop Culture" on wanting to show the process that electronic mix artists use during live performances. Leclercq stated, "When you go see an electro band, we do not really know what they do on stage."[2] Leclercq created "Pop Culture" through taking short samples from 39 different songs, which included:[4]
- Alphabeat – "Boyfriend"
- Alphabeat – "Fascination"
- Bag Raiders – "Shooting Stars"
- The Black Eyed Peas – "I Gotta Feeling"
- Britney Spears – "...Baby One More Time"
- Capsule – "Can I Have a Word"
- Chromeo – "Mamma's Boy"
- Coldplay – "Viva la Vida"
- Daft Punk – "Aerodynamic"
- Daft Punk – "Around the World"
- Deadmau5 – "Raise Your Weapon" (Madeon Remix)
- Deadmau5 – "Right this Second"
- Ellie Goulding – "Starry Eyed"
- ELO – "Mr. Blue Sky"
- Girls Aloud – "Biology"
- Gorillaz – "Dare"
- Gossip – "Heavy Cross" (Fred Falke Remix)
- Gwen Stefani – "What You Waiting For?" (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)
- Housse de Racket – "Oh Yeah"
- Justice – "DVNO"
- Justice – "Phantom Part II"
- Katy Perry – "One of the Boys"
- Kesha – "Take It Off"
- Kylie Minogue – "Wow"
- Lady Gaga – "Alejandro"
- Linkin Park – "Crawling"
- Madonna – "Hung Up"
- Martin Solveig (featuring Dragonette) – "Boys and Girls"
- Michael Jackson – "Billie Jean"
- Nero – "Me and You"
- One Republic – "All the Right Moves" (Danger Remix)
- One-T – "The Magic Key"
- Ratatat – "Shempi"
- Solange – "I Decided" (Freemasons Remix)
- Stardust – "Music Sounds Better with You"
- The Buggles – "Video Killed the Radio Star"
- The Killers – "Losing Touch"
- The Who – "Baba O'Riley" (SebastiAn Remix)
- Yelle – "Que Veux Tu" (Madeon Remix)
The video quickly went viral within a week of uploading, and as of February 2015, the video has been seen over 31 million times.[5] The song was put into dance form by comedian Nathan Barnatt and uploaded to YouTube in August.[6] Due to the attention he received from "Pop Culture" and subsequent singles, Leclercq was approached by various record labels to sign up as an artist.[7]
References
- ↑ "'The Island' Remix Competition Winners!". Pendulum.com. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- 1 2 Doyez, Francois-Luc (14 November 2011). "Madeon, electro kid". Libération. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- ↑ Dorof, Jakob (19 July 2011). "Madeon Gets Hands-On With 39 Pop Songs". The Village Voice. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- ↑ Johnson, Bailey (12 July 2011). ""Pop Culture" mega-mash-up: 39 songs in three minutes". CBS News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- ↑ Beurger, Megan (20 February 2015). "Watch Madeon & Passion Pit Take Fans to the Future in 'Pay No Mind' Video". Billboard. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ Goodman, William (31 August 2011). "Epic Madeon song mix "Pop Culture" gets a dance". CBS NEWS. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- ↑ Corner, Lewis (5 February 2015). "Madeon interview: "I don't see myself as a DJ - I never really was"". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 May 2015.