Oran "Juice" Jones, Shaniqua and SNL: How Donald Glover Helped Create the Most Amazing Deep Cut Comedy Reference in the History of Ever

I have been fumbling around the gym as of late, limited in what I can do. I can do some cardio stuff (stairmaster, bike) and some core stuff, but that's about it. I am also doing some light weight stuff to minimize atrophy. Very light. The kind of weights that a 75 y/o man would use. But that's all my feeble right side can do these days. But I digress.

I found myself lollygagging about the gym last week without my headphones, which I forgot. This happens once a month or so, because lost brain cells. I was forced to listen to whatever the gym was playing. And gym music is almost always terrible. While on a stationary bike that day, the gym played the early 90's dance hit "Everybody Everybody" by Black Box. As a loyal Clivilles and Cole disciple, I did not pay much attention to the tune. But you and I both know it.  Here it is:



So I was forced to listen to this tune. And I immediately began obsessing about that "Ow" sample that I kept hearing. First time it's used is one second in, and it's used a total of 14 times! It sounds so funny and strange and, well, effeminate. I went home that night and couldn't get that dumb song out of my earhole. I dove into the bowels of the internet and found out that the sample is from the song "Shaniqua" by an artist called Oran "Juice" Jones. Here is the video. Go to the 29 second mark to hear the "Ow."  But don't go any further. The song was posted to YouTube in 2008 and has 665 views, which should tell you how bad it is.



But Oran "Juice" Jones did have one "hit" song (allegedly) in 1990. It is "The Rain." The video is below. It has over 18 million views, although it doesn't hold up all that well in the #METOO era.



So here's where things get interesting. As I watched that video of The Rain last week, it seemed oddly familiar. So I logged on to my AOL account, opened up Netscape and began surfing the web to scratch this intellectual itch (no, not THAT itch. That itch was crabs and has been resolved. Thanks for asking.). 

It turns out that "The Rain" was the basis for a parody sketch done by Donald Glover in his SNL appearance in May 2018. He performed it very late in the show as a character named Raz P Berry. Watch the original video above, and then watch the sketch below.



This sketch is amazing - the Rambo reference, the jewels/credit cards reference, the addition of anal cavity jokes. Comedy gold! And it's amazing because Glover must have known that 99% of the viewers would be like "WTF is going on with this sketch about stalking and pee," while 1% of viewers would have their jaws drop and be blown away.  Of course, with a live/streaming audience of ~20 million people, a 1% hit rate for Glover still meant the sketch made 200K folks happy.

Working hard to make a very small group of people laugh is noble, and consistent with the mission of this blog, so I wanted to shout out Donald Glover. This post takes us form early 90's dance to Oran "Juice" Jones to SNL to Glover. That, my friends, is a four-sided comedy rhombus that Donald Glover helped make happen.

While we're celebrating Donald Glover, I want to go on the way-back machine to the early days of viral on-line videos. Donald and another up-and-coming comedy actor, both with ties to the UCB Theater, had great supporting roles in a funny video released on-line in the mid 2000's. Who knew that one cameo performer would become a groundbreaking actor/show-runner/hip-hop artist/social commentator, and another would have a long run on SNL and become one of the most prolific voice-over actors in Hollywood?



Enjoy your weekend, folks.