The Heavy feat 50 Cent - How You Like Me Now (NFL Draft Remix)

Along with being an all out, spend my last dime, music lover, I am also an avid fan of sports. I don't play any, but I love to watch them. So much so that I tuned into the NFL draft to see who my favorite team, the Detroit Lions, was going to pick.

Now, this year's draft was unusual. The #1 pick was a guy previously unknown even to the most die hard of college football followers because he came from Central Michigan University, a school not really thought of as a sports school. Heck, the school is not really thought of at all unless you go there. I grew up in Michigan and that school never crossed my mind unless one of my friends said they were going to go there.

There were quite a few other things that happened in this draft that made the first round really weird. The first three picks were all offensive tackles. Now that's not really unheard of, but it is rare. However, there was only one quarterback picked and no running backs were picked. I even saw back to back players with heart conditions get picked!

However, what I thought was the strangest part of all in this NFL draft, was the opening musical number. They featured a remix of The Heavy's “How You Like Me Now” that featured a verse by 50 Cent. First and foremost, I was shocked because I liked 50 Cent in this song, when I'm usually not a “Fiddy” fan.

Another thing that I couldn't stop thinking about was how incredibly long the legs on this song are. This song was released in 2009. Since then it has been featured in movies (The Fighter, Horrible Bosses), TV shows (Entourage, Community, White Collar), video games ( MLB 10 The Show, Borderlands 2), numerous commercials, and the list goes on and on it seems. It was even heard playing in the background at the McCormick Place Convention Center when it was announced that the projections showed that President Obama won Ohio. This song seems like it is never going to go away.

For as much time as “How You Like Me Know” gets, you would think you would know a little bit more about the band, The Heavy.

Name another song from them. I dare you.

If you could name another song from them, you are a rarity. Most people don't even know who sings the song.

The Heavy hail from Bath, England. They released their first album, Great Vengeance And Furious Fire, in 2007. In 2008 they were mentioned in Rolling Stone magazine's May “Hot List”, and played SXSW. Then, in 2009 they released, The House That Dirt Built, which featured “How You Like Me Know”. Last year, 2012, they released a third album, The Glorious Dead. Most of us missed all of this but “How You Like Me Now”.

However, I must say this song was made to win. They masterfully recreate the sounds to sample Dyke And The Blazers “Let A Woman Be A Woman, Let A Man Be A Man”.

The opening line to the song is a head nod to one of the deepest grooves James Brown ever performed, “There Was A Time”.

And the chorus gives it up for old school 80s Hip-Hop artists Kool Moe Dee.

Now that is some serious cross marketing. You can tell that The Heavy really and truly love music. Now, will they be able to get out from under the shadow of the monster they created with, “How You Like Me Now” or will they be thought of years from now as one hit wonders?

I personally will continue to check for their music in hopes that there will be something else worth remembering them by.

Roger

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