About
Ignition (Remix) is a 2003 hit single by R&B singer and songwriter R. Kelly, which has inspired many covers, parodies and remixes on the video-sharing site YouTube.
Origin
The song was released on January 22nd, 2003 as a single for R. Kelly’s fifth studio album Chocolate Factory. The track became a commercial success, peaking at the #2 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[3]
Spread
On March 26th, 2003, a parody of the song was featured in an episode of the Comedy Central sketch comedy television series Chappelle’s Show (shown below), which mocked a video that had surfaced in 2002 of a man fitting R. Kelly’s description engaging in sexual intercourse and urinating on an underage girl.
On August 14th, 2008, YouTuber pbdyjr uploaded an “Ignition (Remix)” parody video mocking R. Kelly’s statutory rape charges (shown below, left). Within five years, the video received over 75,000 views and 80 comments. On April 6th, 2009, YouTuber andye1221 uploaded a video featuring two men performing a choreographed dance to the song (shown below, right). The video gained upwards of 90,000 views and 120 comments within the next four years.
On October 24th, the RKellyVEVO YouTube channel uploaded the official video for the song, garnering over 23 million views and 13,000 comments in the following four years. On January 25th, 2010, YouTuber ScrewTube989 uploaded a chopped and screwed remix of the track (shown below, left), accumulating more than 77,000 views and 20 comments in the next three years. On November 8th, 2011, YouTuber SmileForJoyce uploaded a video of actor Joseph Gordon Levitt performing a live acoustic cover of the song (shown below, right). Within two years, the video received over 373,000 views and 300 comments.
On September 11th, 2012, YouTuber Bruce Ackharath uploaded a remix of the song played in conjunction with an anti-masturbation video for deaf people put out by the Jehovah’s Witness Christian denomination (shown below, left). Within the next six months, the video accumulated more than 86,000 views and 100 comments. On January 29th, 2013, YouTuber jamesdalbyacoustic uploaded an acoustic cover of the song (shown below, right). The same day, Redditor test0 submitted the video to the /r/videos[2] subreddit, where it received over 6,500 up votes and 370 comments in the next month. As of March 2013, the YouTube video has received over 860,000 views and 2,000 comments.
White House Petition
On March 3rd, 2013, a petition was creating on the White House[1]“We the People” website urging the Obama administration to make “Ignition (Remix)” the new national anthem of the United States of America. Within two weeks, the petition received over 10,000 signatures of the 100,000 goal.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Whitehouse – change the national anthem to R Kellys 2003 ignition
[2]Reddit – This guy does an amazing cover
[3]Billboard – Billboard hot 100