A spoof version of a hit song by Nicki Minaj has turned three pals into an overnight internet sensation – with their hilarious parody about SKEGNESS.
The American pop star’s feel good summertime anthem ‘Starships’ reached No 2 in the UK charts last year becoming a huge dance floor hit.
But a tongue-in-cheek take-off of the track by unknown Lincolnshire rap troupe ’50 Sniffs’ has received over 40,000 YouTube hits in just three days and is now spreading virally across the internet.
Band members Jimmy May, 24, David Vaughan, 25, and Jake Kelly, 25, (AKA Fiddy, Dizzle and Kizzle) spent three days creating the hilarious track on a budget of just £150.
Filmed at ‘Skeggie’ landmarks – including Natureland, Laser Quest and Tony’s Fish and Chip Shop – the rappers sing about riding the big dipper and taking donkey rides.
The trio, from Boston, Lincs., replace the original chorus of ‘Starships were meant to fly/ Hands up, and touch the sky’ with: ‘Fish chips, and donkey rides/ A stick of rock with my name inside.’
It continues: “On the shore-ore / I wave at all the Nans / And build a fort, fort / With empty Stella cans /Take off my trackie top so I can get sun tanned / Then I’ll go home, home to my caravan.”
The video for the group’s song ‘Fish Chips and Donkey Ridez’ (Skegness Summer Holiday) was uploaded to social networking sites on Tuesday and went viral in a matter hours.
Jimmy, a full-time DJ, said he was “overwhelmed” by the response.
He said: “We have had such a good summer this year we wanted to make a summer time anthem and since Starships was so big last year we decided to do it on that.
“Being a DJ I knew that the Nikki Minaj original song was so popular that it got everyone going so thought it was the best choice for us.
“I wrote the song a couple of months ago and got in touch with the lads.
“The video was shot last Tuesday and completely finished and edited by Friday.
“It was all paid for out of our own pocket but all we had to pay for was the props and the travel to Skegness.
“In total it was about £150, which is nothing really when you think how much music videos cost. We’re all overwhelmed with how popular it’s been.
“Skegness is great, we didn’t think it would be that easy to film there but we turned up with a camera and a crate of Stella and people were well up for it.
“I think our clothing made people laugh, and when we asked people if we could film them they took a genuine interest.
“The pensioners were great too, they were really good sports getting involved with the video.
“I hope people watch the video and realise we are not trying to say Skegness if rubbish – we are just having a bit of fun and hopefully making people smile.”
The band have been making music together since their school days, but only found their forte after delving into rap parodies within the last year.
Jimmy added: “Our last song took off quite well but not as much as this, we have been overwhelmed with the response we have had from this video and song.
“I think it is proving popular because people can relate to it, everyone has been to the British seaside at least once.
“I think my inspiration comes from people like Eminem and Limp Bizkit, I liked people who were controversial and had a punk attitude.
“But when Goldie Looking Chain came along, he made me laugh and then I thought – ‘I could do that’.”
*In 2010 a spoof version of a hit song by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys turned unknown rappers Alex Warren and Terema Wainwright into stars after they released their version of hit song about their hometown of Newport in Wales.
