Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Unless you’ve been buried under a rock for the past month (and even if you have), you will have seen or heard the very good spoof of Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind’ put together by the very talented MJ Delaney. In case this means nothing to you, you can see it below:

With 2,473,414 views on YouTube AT THIS EXACT SECOND, it’s done quite well. It just so happens that they brains behind it happen to be friend with a colleague of mine, and so they very kindly agreed to answer a few questions about the CRAZY INTERNET WHIRLWIND which they’ve been engulfed in. Read on:

1)      How long did it take you to write and record ‘Newport’?

MJ and I came up with the idea back in May as we were singing along to the Jay Z version and it just made us laugh to replace New York with Newport. MJ is a young filmmaker trying to build up her showreel so she decided to make it into a video and was the driving force behind the project. It took us about 3 evenings over the course of 2 weeks to write, during which MJ also started casting for the Jay Z and Alicia’s roles. We found Terema through a casting website but weren’t able to find a Jay Z we were happy with (there doesn’t seem to be a wealth of talented Welsh rappers in London!), so we managed to convince our actor friend Al to take on the part. We recorded it in one day at our friend’s studio (not nearly as glamorous as that sounds – we were in a cramped basement room and at one point the light bulb hanging from the ceiling exploded above our heads). Simon Bloor is a very talented sound engineer who mixed and layered it for us that evening. Then in June we made the trip to Newport on a Sunday and filmed it all in one day. MJ then spent about 2 weeks on and off editing it and she put it up on Youtube on 21^st July.

2)      Did you have an active plan to get it to go ‘viral’? (sorry, I hate that term too)

We never actually sat down and discussed how to seed the video but I think you have to have confidence that if your friends and colleagues like it, then they will pass it on and it will grow organically. You can’t force people to talk about something or share links on social networking sites [MY BOLDING AND ITALICS, BECAUSE IT'S TRUE], which is why Twitter and YouTube are such great meritocratic platforms to showcase work. Our aim when we first set out was 10,000 views so we never expected the kind of response that followed.

3)      If so, where did you ‘seed’ the video?

We sent it to friends and colleagues and it just took on a life of itself from there. I also sent it to Newport City Council but I never got a reply…

4)      If not, at what point did you see interest really taking off? What was / were the catalyst(s) for it going EVERYWHERE?

Once it was tweeted by celebrities there was a massive surge in the number of hits we received. People like Example, Lily Allen, Caitlin Moran and Stephen Fry command such a presence on Twitter that when they shared it with their followers it soon caught the attention of the mainstream media.

5)      What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve received?

My personal favourite was when Alistair Stewart clapped and called it “genius” on ITV News at 10. That was pretty surreal.

6)      Have the offers of work come flooding in, and if so what’s been the best?

Al and Terema have had lots of offers to play the song live at various events. Otherwise there are some ongoing negotiations but nothing concrete yet. We’d certainly like to collaborate again as we had so much fun making it.

7)      Why do you think ‘Newport’ has taken off in this way (aside from the fact that it’s, y’know, good)?

It was something that the people of Newport and Wales enjoyed and were proud of, which helped a lot. On another level, I think it resonated with the British sense of humour and how we try not to take things too seriously.

8)      Can I be in your next video?

I’ll put in a good word with MJ! [THAT'S A NO, THEN]

As a bonus, check out the markedly less funny response by ‘real’ Welsh ‘comedy’ rap outfit Goldie Lookin’ Chain: