After having such a emotional and epic Dance Party with Ms. Ellen Aim last week, I thought I should take this weeks’ edition back to the streets. Hip-Hop has influenced many cultures, people young and old, and thankfully so, because if not, we wouldn’t have this clip from Teen Witch. The song is Top That and while it takes 35 seconds to get to the gold, the dialogue between our two bike riding babes is certainly worth the wait!
As already mentioned, Top That comes from the 1989 film, Teen Witch, staring one time über crush, Robyn Elaine Lively and the recently deceased Zelda Rubinstein. This groundbreaking track in the vein of Public Enemy meet’s KRS-1, Top That was written by Larry Weir and performed by The Michael Terry Rappers, who I could not find out all that much about, nor did I try all that hard either. Why ruin the mystique of something as impactful as Top That?!
Everything about this clip is amazing, from the close up of the boom box, the rolled up tight jeans with matching Hawaiian shirt, right down to the spastic, seizer like dance moves. And how about that dude with the suspenders?! Now THAT is Hip-Hop! My favorite part of the entire clip is when Teen Witch and her “normal” friend, Darlene Conner spot the Hip-Hop dance crew and Darlene says “Look at how funky he is,” then lingers for a moment before saying ”I’ll never be hip!” But how wrong she is, because thanks to the power of Witch Craft, Darlene spit’s some lyrics of her own! Back and forth Rap battle at its finest…I can’t even handle it! This might be my favorite clip of all time!
Funny (or sad?) that I knew exactly what this was as soon as I saw your tweet then reacted with an earth shattering, "Noooooooo Waaaaaay!"
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 7, that scene was the coolest scene in the cinematic universse. As an adult, massively cringe worthy and redeemable by the found memories that spring forth.
But oh... it's...bad... REALLY bad!!!
YES! This is in my DVD collection and I may have to trick my boyfriend into watching it tonight. Yes that is the plan.
ReplyDeleteAmaaaaaaaaaazing! Especially since I always assumed "The Most Popular Girl" was the best song in the film (and that also has a kickass rap verse, by the way) but this, pun intended, TOPS THAT!
ReplyDeleteMatt, have you ever seen the Mario Von Peebles film Rappin? It's amazing on so many levels...
Love, love, love this movie! I was so excited when this came out on DVD. "Top That" and "The Most Popular Girl" are my two favorite parts to watch. My sister always said that Polly (Darlene's character) reminded her of a pre-nose job Jennifer Grey =) We also liked to refer to Dan Gauthier (Brad) as the "poor man's Tom Cruise". Anyway this movie is all kinds of awesome, so thanks for showing it some love.
ReplyDeleteAshlee: I knew someone would know what movie I was doing with the Top That title! And yes, it is sooo bad, but man do I love it! It's always a trip looking back on what was cool when we were young and dumb!
ReplyDeleteAndre: I hope you do and I need to know how he reacts to such a film! To appreciate something like Teen Witch takes a person with special taste!
Emily: I have never seen rappin', but I checked out the trailer and new something good was ahead when I saw the Cannon logo! Thank you for mentioning it, I will be adding it, then bumping it to the top of my queue right away! The trailer is AMAZING!
Dorian: She does look a lot like Jennifer Grey! But with a Hip-Hop flavor! I haven't seen Teen Witch since I was a kid and actually forgot all about it until it came up somewhere about a year ago and the memories flooded in! I would love to see it again and maybe I will add it to the queue, though I think it may already be there!
I totally forgot about this scene until I saw this on 30 Rock:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dOkWqgM_oI
OK update! It worked, he was sort of revolted and kept saying how it was the worst movie ever- but he laughed a lot? So I'll take that as a win. Also fun fact! Polly is friends with Jennifer Aniston and is her yoga instructor!
ReplyDeleteRIchie is also my favorite character.
JLG: That's an awesome clip! Shows the impact that Top That has on American culture!
ReplyDeleteAndre: If he laughed a lot, then secretly, deep down, he loved it! If I never knew about the movie and my girlfriend showed it to me now, I would probably have the same reaction!
My gf sprung this video atrocity on me a few months back, and I sat there, just trying to imagine a time when I would have considered this "cool". I was unsuccessful.
ReplyDeleteNifty new banner, btw.
We used to watch this at work all the time, the hilarity ensues to this day in all of our hearts =D
ReplyDeleteJ.: I think it was only cool to people not yet old enough to know any better!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the banner compliment...Dylan from Paracinema made it for me back in the day, so I brought it out of retirement!
Carl: It is so funny and as I said to some of the other commentators, I would love to see it again just to laugh my ass off at how terribly bad it is!
I've had "THe Most Popular Girl" in my head all weekend. Curse you, Teen Witch (pun intended)!
ReplyDeleteAnd wow. That clip totally made my life worth living.
The female rap part sounds like Roxanne Shante, better known for her 80's song Roxanne's Revenge, a rebutle to Roxanne, Roxanne by UTFO.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9St84PIuZ6E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOTp3-jEMjQ
K-Fleet
www.sideshowreview.com
It does kinda sound like it a little...it has the same venomous lyrical ferocity! Roxanne Shante sounds like she's 8 years old in that song!
ReplyDeleteOh my god, that made my entire day. Thank you! I love Teen Witch. LOVE. It's one of my ultimate pick me ups... I guess Rich Girl before Teen Witch but Just One of the Guys after those two but Killer Party before them all! Or maybe not. Depends on the day, I guess!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Amanda! I never would have thought Top That would get so much love, but it sure as hell deserves it! And for the record, I have seen Just One of the Guys like 900 times...Greg Tolan is a God amongst men!
ReplyDeleteI love Just One of the Guys. It's the Soul Man for women!
ReplyDelete