Six13 Parody ‘Whip/Nae Nae’ and ‘Hotline Bling’ for Hanukkah
By Talya Zax December 2, 2015
Has Hanukkah started early? Yesterday we wrote about and today we have the pleasure of bringing you yet another Hanukkah-themed cover of a song – well, actually, two.
A capella groups of the world, the Forward now challenges you to bring us covers in this style for the next six days, so we can have one, albeit early, for each night of Hanukkah.
Today’s pick is Jewish a cappella group Six13’s “Watch Me (Spin/Drey Drey),” a take on Silentó’s “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” and Drake’s “Hotline Bling.” Unlike “Shalom,” it is mostly on-key (and helpfully autotuned), and features some neatly giggle-inducing lyrics (“Now watch me spin/I spin my drey-drey/Now watch me spin/Shin, nun gimmel hay-hay”).
Like Baum, Six13 displays a helpful awareness of the fact that they are taking music that is supposed to be cool and making it about as unhip as can be, embracing the goofiness with some half-hearted Maccabee cosplaying, an audience of adorable children, and a dancing janitor.
There is something fundamentally weird about booty music being turned into a Hanukkah song — family-friendly lyrics are a weird match with a drop-it-like-it’s-hot beat — but eh, we’ll take it. And anything that turns Drake’s ode to a former lover into an ode to, well, potatoes, is good in our book.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
