Ladies and gentlemen, Billboard has crowned its song of the summer, so turn up OMI’s Cheerleader and celebrate it accordingly.
After edging out Wiz Khalifa’s See You Again in sales, streams and airplay between Memorial Day and Labor Day, OMI – born Omar Samuel Pasley – is the third newcomer to take the honour after Iggy Azalea’s Fancy last year and Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe in 2012, cementing Cheerleader as the summer jam of 2015.
While some of us (hey guys) would’ve given top honours to, say, Uptown Funk or indeed One Direction’s Drag Me Down (bless that song, bless it), OMI still checks the box for the quintessential song we can sing along with while not hating ourselves in the process. Mainly because the point of Cheerleader is to herald the strength and wonderfulness of a woman, as though it’s the anti-Blurred Lines. (Bless us, everyone.)
Which is another reason why Cheerleader is the summer hit we need and also the one we deserve. In terms of pop music, it’s relatively controversy-free. (Even Bieber’s latest is about deciphering a woman’s intent, as if “no means no” isn’t a thing.) It’s fun. It’s not about a musical artist stealing another’s backup dancers (Bad Blood), nor is it a diss track between two rappers we all know/love. It is the sonic equivalent of being offered – and going on to enjoy – sparkling water instead of plain tap. It’s refreshing, and it’s fine.
And that’s also how I guess we can all sum up the last three months of popular culture: fine. Taylor and Nicki made up. One Direction grew up. Drake and Meek Mill seem to have dialed it down. Miley and Nicki ... well, honestly, had a remix of Nicki Minaj’s “Miley, what’s good?” been entered into the Billboard 100, that would’ve been my ideal summer hit for sure. The rest? It’s fine. It’s great. We survived, you guys.
And honestly, all we needed to survive was a happy-sounding song that made us forget that during those long summer months, Taylor Swift called everyone we’d ever met minus us up to the stage, and Zayn Malik is going to drop an album soon that will inevitably change our lives.
So thank you, OMI, for the lovely distraction. That is exactly what summer hits are for.
