1.Hey YaOutkast
Its official. The party-o-meter has spoken, and Hey Ya! is Time Outs best party song ever. Why? Just try not dancing to this song when it comes on. Get through the whole four minutes without as much as a toe tap, and your soul is clearly as stale and shrivelled as a weeks-old jacket potato.
Produced and sung by Andre 3000 [the more flamboyant half of the Atlanta hip hop outfit], Hey Ya! is a leftfield R&B masterpiece on the one hand, a sexual statement of intent, and on the other a passionate lament for the death of love. But more than any of this, its a bona fide groover that makes us asthmatic with dancefloor appreciation. Here, more specifically, are the five elements that make up Hey Ya!s mojo.
Sex
Andre takes a leaf out of Princes sticky book by, simply, putting it all out there. Dont want to meet your momma, he states. Just want to make you come-ah! Orgasms all round!
Shaking it
Specifically in the manner of a Polaroid picture. Boringly, this wont actually hasten the speed at which your film develops, so why not simply jiggle with your Instagram app instead?
Nonsense
A great party tune relies on the three Rs: repetition, repetition and repetition. Hey Ya! features its titular holler 25 times, as well as 19 uh ohs and 14 consecutive alrights. You just cant argue with those numbers.
Funk
The songs gently strummed guitar and lovelorn lyrics touch the heart. But, its the body-shaking, P-funk bassline which bites the booty, reminding you to get on the floor.
Audience interaction
Hand claps; call-and-response yowling; an invitation to the neighbourly lending of sugar: Hey Ya! is as keen as a Butlins Red Coat to get you involved. Even the late, great Lou Reed was a fan, calling it the perfect rock n roll song. And what Lou says goes. Jonny Ensall