Six13 Parody ‘Whip/Nae Nae’ and ‘Hotline Bling’ for Hanukkah

By Talya Zax December 2, 2015

Has Hanukkah started early? Yesterday we wrote about and today we have the pleasure of bringing you yet another Hanukkah-themed cover of a song – well, actually, two.

A capella groups of the world, the Forward now challenges you to bring us covers in this style for the next six days, so we can have one, albeit early, for each night of Hanukkah.

Today’s pick is Jewish a cappella group Six13’s “Watch Me (Spin/Drey Drey),” a take on Silentó’s “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” and Drake’s “Hotline Bling.” Unlike “Shalom,” it is mostly on-key (and helpfully autotuned), and features some neatly giggle-inducing lyrics (“Now watch me spin/I spin my drey-drey/Now watch me spin/Shin, nun gimmel hay-hay”).

Like Baum, Six13 displays a helpful awareness of the fact that they are taking music that is supposed to be cool and making it about as unhip as can be, embracing the goofiness with some half-hearted Maccabee cosplaying, an audience of adorable children, and a dancing janitor.

There is something fundamentally weird about booty music being turned into a Hanukkah song — family-friendly lyrics are a weird match with a drop-it-like-it’s-hot beat — but eh, we’ll take it. And anything that turns Drake’s ode to a former lover into an ode to, well, potatoes, is good in our book.

Talya Zax is the Forward’s opinion editor. Contact her at zax@forward.com or on Twitter, @TalyaZax.

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