Black also made it onto the Hot 100 with The Super Mario Bros. Movie's Peaches.
Jack Black‘s meme song Steve’s Lava Chicken from A Minecraft Movie is now the shortest song ever to crack the Billboard Hot 100, which tracks the most popular current songs week-by-week. Steve’s Lava Chicken is 34 seconds long.
The song debuts at No. 78 on the Hot 100 and, according to online data tracker Luminate (thanks Billboard) had over seven million streams in the US between April 18 and April 24. The Hot 100 made its own debut in August 4, 1958, and yep there’s never been a shorter track on there.
As well as being an actor Jack Black is also a professional musician, best-known for his work with jokey rock group Tenacious D. Their song POD, from 2006’s Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, spent one week on the Billboard Hot 100 at the exact same position. This is not even Black’s first hit videogame song. Black plays Bowser in the Super Mario Bros. Movie and performed the song Peaches, which also broke into the Hot 100. It spent five weeks on the charts, eventually peaking at number 56.
The previous shortest song on there was Kid Cudi’s Beautiful Trip, which clocks in at a frankly indulgent 37 seconds.
The Minecraft song happens when Black’s character Steve decides to show his companions what happens when you combine lava with, yes, a chicken. Black then bursts into song, extolling the virtues of Steve’s Lava Chicken, which admittedly does look kinda delicious. What the hell, here are the full lyrics:
La-la-la-lava ch-ch-ch-chicken
Steve’s Lava Chicken, yeah, it’s tasty as hell
Ooh, mamacita, now you’re ringin’ the bell
Crispy and juicy, now you’re havin’ a snack
Ooh super spicy, it’s a lava attack!
I bet Black just improvised the thing to be honest. Note: Steve’s lava chicken should not be confused with the chicken jockey meme.
A Minecraft Movie was released on April 4 and has been a commercial smash, grossing over $800 million worldwide accompanied by an all-out marketing blitz. It’s going to continue making absolutely silly money for Warner Bros. and, unsurprisingly, a sequel is a certainty.
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