S Poddar
The world hadn’t seen the last of Mark Zuckerberg’s unlikely exploits. There was an element of the tech tycoon behind Facebook venturing into the unknown realm of music. Stranger still, he had teamed up with rapper and producer T-Pain to record a cover of the Lil Jon hit Get Low. He was donning the alias “Z-Pain,” and his own version of the song was something that you were unlikely to hear-but definitely shouldn’t have.
While that bubblegum suckerup anthem ruled school dances, this rendition of Get Low takes things significantly slower, matching the lyrics to acoustic guitar and a heavy dose of autotune. Ever wanted to hear Zuckerberg singing that infamous line “Til the sweat drop down my balls”? Now’s your chance — though you might want to prepare yourself.
Adding to the overall experience, T-Pain drops by in mid-song, bringing some of his touches along. The collaboration has left many listeners stunned, amused, and sometimes cringing.
A Personal Connection
This book cover was no flash of inspiration— rather, it has a love story to it. According to Zuckerberg himself, Get Low is very meaningful to him and his wife, Priscilla Chan. In an Instagram post, Zuckerberg explained, “Get Low was playing when I first met Priscilla at a college party, so every year we listen to it on our dating anniversary.”.
Commemorating this year’s anniversary, Zuckerberg decided to move to the next level. “This year I worked with @tpain on our own version of this lyrical masterpiece,” he wrote in the post which also called followers to listen to the track that can be heard on Spotify as well.
While Zuckerberg’s Instagram post did contain the attempt to embed the song, some users pointed out that the feature appears not to work on desktop—possibly saving a few people the experience entirely .
Social Media Reacts
The internet, of course, freaked out over this unorthodox musical endeavor by the tech icon. While some fans appreciated the humor and emotion in the cover, others just couldn’t stomach the idea of Mark Zuckerberg crooning over a slowed version of Get Low. Memes and jokes reigned with complete disbelief.
One quipped that this was the day he will always remember, not ever considering that there would be a day when Mark Zuckerberg would sing Get Low. Another quipped that it was either the best thing he ever heard or the worst-he simply couldn’t tell.
Collaboration has also reignited debates concerning the unorthodox creative forays of tech CEOs. Some people appreciate that Zuckerberg took a step out of his comfort zone to create something, but others are of the opinion that perhaps something that this world needed wasn’t indeed asked for.
Whichever explanation you put on the cover-entertaining, endearing or outright weird-it’s undoubtedly the fact that Mark Zuckerberg’s foray into music has set mouths ablaze. By having teamed up with T-Pain for his rendition of Get Low, he can well add a new chapter to the legend which surrounds the original piece, still very far from this reinterpretation.
But if nothing else, the cover serves as a reminder of how music holds deep personal meaning, even for tech billionaires. Just be warned: once you hear Zuckerberg’s autotuned voice, it may be hard to unhear. Now, the question remains: will Z-Pain make another appearance in the music world? Only time will tell.
