I'm not trying to dictate what young people should prefer. I'm proposing we attempt to establish a new tradition by co-opting a well known hip-hop song and turning it into a new Cal fight song. It is no different than playing Big C and Fight for California and Sons of California and encouraging freshman to learn the words and sing-a-long.01Bear said:evanluck said:01Bear said:evanluck said:Other reasons why I like California Love has to do with the tempo and that it is both a song capable of firing up a crowd but at the same time producing an environment that is formidable and even intimidating. There is a toughness to the song in both rhythm and chord structure. That is not an easy combination to find in a song.calumnus said:ducky23 said:Yeah....no on 7 Nation Army.wifeisafurd said:
It has been used by others (most notably FIFA) but 7 Nation Army would be my favorite. It is simple, has a great beat, is current, and has great guitar riffs. But heck yea if not this, I want something brash, with a beat to wake up the fan base at Memorial. Cal games need some adrenaline.
In my opinion, here's the criteria that should be followed for any song:
1. MUST be unique to Cal. Cannot be prominently used by any other teams, cannot be some generic sports song (see 7 Nation Army).
2. Intro must be iconic so the fans immediately know what song is coming (see Jump Around - Wisconsin)
3. Song needs to be catchy, danceable yet edgy (NOT GENERIC)
4. Song should at least be within the last 30 years (preferably newer - even though I'm not a huge fan of contemporary music)
5. Song should have some sort of tie-in to Cal or Berkeley or the Bay Area or California (see ND and Dropkick Murphys, USC and Tusk, Alabama and Sweet Home Alabama, etc)
The only song that has been suggested around here that comes close to fitting even some of that criteria is California Love, though I feel like that song has lost its edginess, isn't necessarily something an entire stadium can dance to and TuPac is east coast. But its at least close to what we should be looking for.
The problem is that any bands with Cal/bay area ties don't have suitable songs. Though there are many times when I think "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind is the pefect anthem for Cal sports.
Yeah, he was originally from Baltimore, but Tupac repped the Bay. He was from Marin City where he went to high school and lived in Berkeley and Oakland. He got his start with Oakland's Digital Underground. That is the whole point of "California Love" it is a West Coast (California, north and south) rap anthem. Dr. Dre and Snoop represent LA (Long Beach and Compton), though Tupac later lived in LA too.
Oakland recognizes Tupac Day
https://www.kqed.org/arts/11696060/its-tupac-day-in-oakland-where-he-once-sued-the-police-for-10-million
National news story on UC Berkeley and Tupac
But the reason California Love is perfect:
1. Dr. Dre's intro and beat
2. Tupac is a legend with East Bay origins.
3. The unification of, and love for, the entire state ("Its all good from Diego to the Bay"), it affirms the entire state as "California" which is critical to our team branding, especially as we enter the ACC.
4. "California knows how to party"
5. It is a battle anthem, California versus the East Coast, again perfect for competing in the ACC, but expressed as Love for California.
6. Dre tells ACC visitors to CMS: "Now let me welcome everybody to the wild Wild West, a state that's untouchable like Elliot Ness."
There is also an opportunity to hold a yearly contest for aspiring rappers to come up with verse lyrics that are specific to the team and even the players. It would be great to play the song just following the traditional Fight for California as the team takes the field pregame. This is an opportunity to play the extended version of the song even with an MC on the mic rapping Cal specific lyrics in the verse. Then it can be played in short versions after big defensive plays.
"California Love" is a great song. It's easily a classic and I love it. Doubly so because it's from the 90s, when I grew up. Unfortunately, that also means it's now also outdated and unlikely to connect with today's youth. The song is almost 30 years old; today's kids will likely take to it as well as kids from my era took to songs by the Rolling Stones. Sure, we may appreciate the classics and the artistry, but the songs won't resonate with us. Similarly, I doubt today's "California Love" will resonate with today's kids.
I get what your saying but searching for something modern is a snipe hunt in my opinion. Media is consumed in a very fragmented way nowadays. Things don't get globally popular in the same way they did even 20 years ago.
We live in the era of memes. The reason why things get popular is not really connected to the quality of the content. Everyone streaming their content at different times and pop trends are too diverse to find something iconic that everyone connects to.
California Love is not modern but it is modern enough. Just making a decision to choose a hip hop song is more modern than any Cal choice in the last 30 years and the connection of the song to the area and the classic quality of the song makes the choice fairly timeless in my opinion.
The silly thing is we're a bunch of old farts in this forum trying to dictate what song(s) young people should prefer. That's the real thrust of my argument. It doesn't matter that the Boomers want 60 year old songs or that their kids wants 30 year old songs. It's just utterly naive to think young people would relate to songs that meant anything to their parents and grandparents. How many of you rock out to "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" or "Jeepers Creepers?"
If Cal's fight songs are too old-fashioned or outdated for today's Cal students, let them decide what they prefer.
Virginia Tech using Enter Sandman (released in 1991) isn't to try to appeal to young people as much as it is to use a near perfectly designed musical build up to fire up to the crowd to the point of explosion just as their football team take the field.
Good music used in the right context doesn't require a personal connection to enjoy.
Check out these two young men who have a YouTube Channel where they react to all kinds of music. They listen to Phil Collins, Al Green and a bunch of other classic songs for the first time and give their honest reactions. Here is their episode on California Love.