Adding: I was disappointed in Keith Spera's story about the Crunk song in this morning's T-P for a couple of reasons. First, Spera hasn't yet learned that Rita Benson-Leblanc is a self-aggrandizing compulsive liar.
Saints owner/executive vice president Rita Benson LeBlanc, the granddaughter of principal owner Tom Benson, oversees entertainment during games. She takes suggestions from Lish Broussard-Sheridan, the Saints' assistant director of community affairs, and other staffers when selecting music. Songs sometimes bubble up from the music players pick for warm-ups.
An instrumental hook from "Halftime" first turned up in the Saints' music mix two years ago. LeBlanc noticed even the "square types" in the owner's suite moved to it. "It got everybody in our suite riled up and excited and wiggling," she said. "Which is comical for people who are not really dancers."
More importantly, players on the field responded. So this year, "Halftime" moved up to primetime.
"What's great about it to me is it's everything coming together," LeBlanc said. "We liked it, the players liked it and the fans have embraced it. In a very natural and viral way, it has become our mantra, our theme song. We play it as much as possible."
It's interesting to note that Rita, who "oversees entertainment during the games" has concocted a version of this story which suggests that 1) The first people connected with the team to get excited about the song were in the owner's suite. 2) This year, under Rita's direction, the song was "moved up to primetime". I'm not clear on what the second statement means, specifically. I think she's suggesting it was her idea to have the song played after touchdowns. Anyway, neither of these statements strikes me as true. For one thing, Rita tells Spera that "Halftime" showed up "in the mix" two years ago. That's just flat-out wrong. According to this Offbeat article and also according to the eyewitness account of your humble Yellow Blogger, the song has played after most if not every touchdown since 2006. Now it's possible that the people in the owner's suite happened to begin noticing Saints fans getting crunk in the stands only two years ago. I'd believe that. But I don't believe that Rita LeBlanc had much, if anything, to do with getting the song "moved up to primetime". Why does Rita LeBlanc have this compulsive need to tell so many lies?
The second problem I have with Spera's article is his incomplete attempt at describing why the song resonates so well with the New Orleans audience.
Technically speaking, why does "Halftime" work so well?
"It's the beat more than anything," theorizes Sanford Hinderlie, a Loyola University professor of music and Saints season ticket holder. "All that music in the Dome is dealing with the beat. It's moving your body more than anything."
Tom Benson's body language would seem to confirm that theory. "I do watch my grandfather," LeBlanc said. "If he bobs his head without knowing that he's getting into the song, then that's a good one. Because it means that it's got a bass rhythm that everybody is going to want to move to."
Um... that's nice but we were looking for something other than the owner's body language to go on here. I give Spera credit for quoting this awkward WDSU interview with the Ying Yang Twins where they talk about how they've built their musical style off of New Orleans hip-hop and bounce influences. But we would have liked to have seen him follow that thread a little bit... at least as far as the NOLA based Cash Money label and home-grown superstar Lil Wayne.
“I’m rooting for Brett because I’m a diehard,” Weezy explained to us early Thursday (January 21). A signed Favre football is one of the prize possessions in Weezy’s extensive sports memorabilia collection. As for who the dynamic performer thinks will win the game, Wayne — who’s appeared on ESPN a few times to talk sports — gave his analysis from an unbiased standpoint. Minnesota has a superior ground game and defense in his opinion.
“I believe the Vikings will win because of the running attack,” Wayne assessed. “The Saints give up about 150 rushing yards a game, and the Vikings have arguably the best running back in the game [Adrian Peterson]. … I believe the Vikings defense will frustrate Brees.”
Alright, actually, fuck Lil Wayne. The big point I think Spera is missing here is that the main riff in "Halftime" is built from marching band music. In other words, it sounds like a friggin Mardi Gras parade coming at you. Is it really any surprise the whole city is into it? Damn WDSU for their silly lack of embeddable video, but click here to see the Marine Corps band figuring it out. Watch for more of this throughout Carnival season.
Meanwhile, we so got this.
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