美国国家公共电台 NPR In The Race For The Song Of The Summer, 'Panda' Runs On A New Track

In The Race For The Song Of The Summer, 'Panda' Runs On A New Track

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Every summer has a song, one that you listen to on the beach, at barbecues or in your car with the windows rolled down. And that song is everywhere. But it's getting harder to figure out which song is the song of summer. If you go by downloads, it could be Katy Perry.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RISE")

KATY PERRY: (Singing) Don't be be surprised, I will still rise. Don't doubt it, don't doubt it...

CORNISH: But if you track by radio plays, it could be Drake.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE DANCE")

DRAKE: (Singing) Higher power's taking a hold on me.

KYLA: (Singing) Baby, I like your style.

CORNISH: And there's a third contender. Jasmine Garsd of NPR's Planet Money team has that story.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PANDA")

DESIIGNER: (Rapping) Panda, panda, panda, panda, panda. I got broads in Atlanta. Twistin' dope, lean and the Fanta. Credit cards...

JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE¹: This song, "Panda," has been one of the most streamed songs in America for months. It's a very 2016 story, a hip-hop Cinderella tale for the digital age, with a Kanye West sneaker instead of a glass slipper². It starts off in England.

ADNAN KHAN: I'm from Manchester.

GARSD: Adnan Khan was a college student with a part-time job as a cellphone technician. And he had another side job, he composed beats that rappers could buy off his website.

SOUNDBITE OF DESIIGNER SONG, "PANDA")

KHAN: I sold my first beat for - I think it was around about $30. In two years I made about 20K.

GARSD: One day, he got home from work. He was in a bad mood. And he headed into his studio to make a beat.

(SOUNDBITE OF DESIIGNER SONG, "PANDA")

GARSD: That dark, beefy beat that's tripping all over itself is called trap music. On the other side of the Atlantic, in Bed-Stuy, N.Y., a high school kid was listening, Sidney Royel Selby III. He went by the rap name Desiigner, with two I's. Desiigner bought the beat for just $200. And he laid his tracks on it.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PANDA")

DESIIGNER: (Singing) Black X6, Phantom³. White X6 looks like a panda. Goin' out like I'm Montana. Hundred killers⁴, hundred hammers...

GARSD: He called the song "Panda," after the black and white BMW X6. He did what aspiring⁵ rappers do right now, posted it online for everyone to listen to. It became a street hit, got bumped out of cars of hip-hop fans everywhere. Rapper Kanye West heard it, and he loved it. Kanye decided⁶ to add some of his own lyrics⁷ and put it on his highly-anticipated album, "The Life Of Pablo."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PANDA - REMIX")

KANYE WEST: (Singing) I just want to feel liberated⁸, I, I, I.

DESIIGNER: (Singing) Panda, panda, panda, panda, panda, panda, panda, panda...

WEST: (Singing) Taking all the stacks, oh.

DESIIGNER: (Rapping) I got broads in Atlanta...

GARSD: There are three versions of this song - the beat made in Manchester, the Desiigner version, from Brooklyn, and then the superstar Kanye West version. Only one can claim to be the song of the summer, and it's not Kanye's. It's Desiigner's. Here's how that happened. Kanye's album was initially⁹ only offered on the streaming service Tidal, which you have to pay for. But the original was still out there free to stream on SoundCloud and YouTube and Spotify.

CHRIS MOLANPHY: The viral nature, the way people are discovering this record is an indication that this is the future of hit consumption.

GARSD: Chris Molanphy tracks the music charts for Slate¹⁰. "Panda" hit number one on the Billboard¹¹ Hot 100 and not because of radio play or because people bought it. Molanphy says its success shows how hard it is to measure the song of the summer today.

MOLANPHY: Streaming is no longer an afterthought, whereas recently as three or four years ago, you scored a hit largely through sale and radio. It is now possible to have a truly massive hit that is led largely by streaming.

GARSD: Whether or not he meant to, with "Panda," Desiigner practically gave out a free product so that he could get a platform and start cashing in later. But it was a big win for everyone. Kanye, he got indie cred. Adnan Khan, the young producer from Manchester, he got signed on to a label. Desiigner, he got signed on to Kanye's label. And in summer 2016, that counts as a hit. Jasmine Garsd, NPR News, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF DESIIGNER SONG, "PANDA")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 slipper   

n.拖鞋

参考例句：

• I rescued the remains of my slipper from the dog.我从那狗的口中夺回了我拖鞋的残留部分。
• The puppy chewed a hole in the slipper.小狗在拖鞋上啃了一个洞。

3 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

4 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

5 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

8 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

9 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

10 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

11 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。