Longform recently called attention to a great Vulture oral history that I missed last month:
Sir Mix-a-Lot: There was one event that really made me think that I should do a song about this, which was irritating the shit out of me. Amy and I were at a hotel on tour, when we saw one of the Spuds MacKenzie ads for Budweiser during the Super Bowl. You’d see these girls in the ad: Each one was shaped like a stop sign, with big hair [and] straight up-and-down bird legs. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I was so sick of that shit… If you look at Dolly Parton at her peak, a lot of white guys were like “daammn!” At the same time, when I did casting calls for videos, curvy women wouldn’t show up. They thought they didn’t have a chance.
Frustration led to lyric-writing, which eventually led to this: “Walked on the set, and the first thing I saw was a 50-foot yellow ass.” The history also explores whether the hit was “objectification” or “a revolution.” It’s all well worth the read.
