Alfred Matthew Yankovic proves himself as a master of parody as his songs go viral and his album tops the Billboard chart.
- July 28, 2014
AceShowbiz -
It's a sweet week for Weird Al Yankovic. His hard work of releasing a new music video everyday for eight continuous days paid off when he finally climbed atop Billboard Hot 200 with his latest record "Mandatory Fun". He said, "I've been doing the same thing for 30 years and all of a sudden I'm having the best week of my life."
Due to the relentless viral music video campaign, his latest spoofs of such hit singles as Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" made headline on the internet. His popularity on social media jumped more than 3,000|percent| this month, giving him more exposures than Beyonce Knowles, Jay-Z, and Justin Timberlake.
Yankovic said "the Internet [...] is the new MTV" and an eight-day campaign "would make an impact because people would be talking about the album all week long." Moreover, he did it without the funding from his record label. Instead, he turned to comedy media portals like Funny or Die and CollegeHumor to cover the production cost.
The positive response from music lovers was echoed by the artists whose songs he spoofed. Pharrell said he was honored to be parodied by the comedian, while Imagine Dragons gave him tips on how to create similar sounds as their original song.
