Social Media’s #UNameItChallenge Goes Viral Before Thanksgiving, Gospel Star Shirley Caesar Responds
Social media outlets, particularly Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, are always a haven for people to come up with just about anything. Seemingly, every week there is some type of challenge, copy and paste status, or “fill in the blank” status for people to share. The oversaturation of challenges have diluted the interest of them significantly, and usually causes many to scroll right past it.
However, there is one challenge which looks to be going viral very quickly, and the videos that come with them are both hilarious and creative.
Aptly-timed for the Thanksgiving season, the #UNameItChallenge has been flooding social media sites, leaving spectators wanting more. The concept of the challenge is to create an artistic variation of an excerpt from Gospel Star Pastor Shirley Caesar’s live version of her song “Hold My Mule”, with a touch of another one of her songs entitled “Don’t Throw Your Mama Away.”
Somehow, a video of a concert she did was a perfect set-up for the current social media craze.
https://youtu.be/ZyutFBpelGE?t=5m49s
In the video, she belts these lyrics.
“I got beans, greens, potatoes, tomatoes
Lamb, rams, hogs, dogs
Beans, greens, potatoes, tomatoes
Chicken, turkeys, rabbit (You name it)!”
Sydney Scott of Essence explains the origin of the challenge.
“It all began with carefully edited videos and memes courtesy of Daquan Geese and iComplexity using Suede The Remix God’s remix, before spiraling into the challenge it is now. Soon, users began sharing their own memes and Chris Brown has even challenged fans to show their best moves.”
As mentioned, one of the original people behind the popularity of the challenge was R&B star Chris Brown. In a dance video that has been watched by over 17 million people, he used the sample to dance over.
The dance over the tune has become so popular, that there are now dozens of versions all throughout social media.
The Daily Dot‘s David Britton highly acclaims the song, giving the tune its due praise.
“It’s worth checking out the original performance, in all it’s nine minutes of James Brown-esque glory. [Caesar]’s amazing voice and heartfelt delivery are enough to convert the staunches of atheists… at least for the duration of the song.”
In this Facebook version, the editors decided to “take it to church,” and it is widely regarded as one of the best videos of the challenge.”
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialVicBeasley/videos/1671202793170513/
While people were compiling hilarious dance videos of the challenge, others decided to add some harmony to it. This four-person quartet added some smooth, melodic charm to the challenge.
https://www.facebook.com/Robbiethe2nd/videos/10210184118853272/
While this is incredibly amusing and innovative, speculation rose of whether the author of the song approved of it. Carrying the banner of traditional religious music, a potential issue stemmed regarding Caesar not endorsing the new-school twist of her old-school song.
However, many felt a sigh of relief after she cleared the air in a recent interview from the Willie Moore Jr. Show. Caesar, 78, explained how she found out about the challenge.
“I was out in the middle of the ocean. And one of the members from my church showed it to me.”
When asked by Moore, Jr. whether she is happy that so many people are being influenced by her song, she responded.
“Yeah, I am. But, you know, it is so strange. I’ve been doing it for years, I’ve been saying that on Hold My Mule, because they took it from the end of the song.”
She then proceeded to sing the famous part of the song again live on the show, much to the adulation of Moore, Jr.
https://www.facebook.com/WillieMooreJrShow/videos/1697702560544679/
This social media craze, unlike some others, is truly a family-friendly viral fad that leaves little criticism, and even more excitement and talking points around the family table come Thanksgiving. Moreover, most likely this will be leading into Christmas as well.
[Featured Image by Chris Pizzello/AP Images]
