In “Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z raps that in New York, there is “nothing you can’t do.”
William and Mary alumnus J.T. Blau heard the lyric and cracked, “In Williamsburg, there’s nothing you can do.”
With that, a viral video was born.
Earlier this year, Blau, a 2008 graduate of the college, teamed with current WM masters’ student Michael Duarte to create, “Williamsburg State of Mind." They posted the video to YouTube on Feb. 11; by Tuesday afternoon, the video had been viewed 11,888 times.
Blau, a law student at the University of Richmond, says the project took a total of about 25 hours. He wrote the lyrics in one three-hour sitting. A friend supplied the microphone to record the track on a computer and a video camera was rented from the Earl Gregg Swem Library on William and Mary’s campus.
He estimates the men spent about 15 hours over two days filming throughout Williamsburg and Jamestown, wearing tricorner hats and rapping about everything from The Green Leafe to the college’s King and Queen Ball. Some people did double takes, while others didn’t seem to notice the filming; after all, tricorner hats aren’t out of the ordinary in the Historic Triangle.
Blau edited the video using iMovie on a borrowed Mac computer and within three hours, the video was ready to hit the Web.
The video pokes fun at stereotypes, joking that William and Mary kids are awkward nerds and Williamsburg is a sleepy hamlet. Duarte sings the chorus: “In the ‘Burg/Okay, let’s face it, it’s boring/ There’s not much you can do/Now you’re in the Burg/You cross the street and suddenly, it’s 1780.”
Another line riffs on a joke William and Mary President Taylor Reveley made at Blau’s graduation in 2008. Reveley said Williamsburg was “the city that always sleeps.” In the song, Blau raps, “The city always sleeps/You don’t need no Ambien.”
But lest any locals misunderstand, Blau is quick to say he loves the 'Burg. “I’m a big fan of Williamsburg,” he says. “I had a great college experience; there’s more to do there than people think. And not everyone at William and Mary is antisocial.”
Neither of them expected the video to be seen by so many people in such a short span of time. Both put links to the video in their Facebook profiles and by the end of the weekend, the video had been watched thousands of times. “We didn’t have to do a whole lot to spread it,” Blau says. “I was in Williamsburg over the weekend and we had a couple people stop us and ask if we were the guys from the video.” He’s also been recognized on the University of Richmond campus.
&feature=fvw
The video was partially inspired by a video satirizing the city of Arlington released last year. Blau grew up near Arlington and said the video resonated when he first saw it. Now he hopes to make more comedic videos in the same vein.
“We haven’t decided what our next project is going to be, but we would like to do something else,” he says. “We’ll just see if another idea strikes.”
Add comment
WYDaily invites you to join the community conversation. We expect civil discourse here. Personal attacks on others, indecent language and bad manners in general are unwelcome.
