This article features a small number of highlights and takeaways from our Wiggle Deconstructed Report. The full report provides you with a comprehensive analysis of what made the song a hit coupled with immediately actionable insights to help take your songwriting and producing skills to the next level. To read the full report, click here.
Clever, crass and comical. These are the three “c’s” that define Jason Derulo and Snoop Dogg’s latest hit, Wiggle. Love it or hate it, one thing can’t be denied – Wiggle is exceptionally well crafted and achieves exactly what it was meant to do – ENTERTAIN.
One of Wiggle’s core strengths is the meticulous fusion of the familiar and the non-typical. Familiar characteristics enable a mainstream audience to easily connect with a song. This includes many of the qualities found within today’s mainstream hits including adherence to the K.I.S.S. principal (keep it simple and singable), the perfect balance of repetition and contrast, and the seamless blending of numerous popular genres under one roof, to name just a few of many.
It’s the non-typical characteristics, however, which provide Wiggle with a unique spin and heightened entertainment value, enabling it to stand out and resonate amongst its mainstream contemporaries.
Amongst these non-typical characteristics are lyrical, vocal and musical elements.
Lyrically, the song features a novelty theme, which is not typically indicative of mainstream hits. Thrift Shop and The Fox are two other recent examples. In the case of Wiggle, it features a “big butt appreciation theme,” which has also found success with such notable hits including Baby Got Back, Fat Bottomed Girls and My Humps.
Vocally, the verse sections feature a melody based on the “Patty Cake” Nursery Rhyme. This is something that is rarely, if ever, found within a mainstream hit. It’s further reinforced via the opening line within verse one, “Patty Cake, Patty Cake with no hands.” This, as one may gather, embodies the overall premise of the song.
Musically, the use of the toy flute is arguably the most unique element found within the entire song, and a mainstream hit in general. The instrument is utilized to communicate two of Wiggle’s key hooks, which heightens the song’s overall infectious, engaging and memorable nature.
Overall, it’s the perfect blending of these familiar and unique characteristics that took Wiggle’s success potential to the next level. To date, Wiggle has landed in the top 10 on 20+ charts throughout the world, hitting #1 on two.
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