The First 8 Seconds Of "Lean Back" Are The Most Important 8 Seconds In Music History

So yesterday I tweeted this:

RT if you anxiously listen to the first 8 seconds of "Lean Back" waiting to hear "STOP...IT'S THE MUTHAFUCKIN REMIX"

— WJ (@WMsDiary) June 13, 2014

(FYI, if you have a Twitter and don't follow me, you are missing out on the musings of a psychopath genuinely hilarious person)

Back to the topic at hand.  "Lean Back" is, like, the weirdest song ever.  For starters, it was one of the first songs of the modern era that white people can sneak a veiled n-bomb in and claim, "I was just singing along!", so racial-bridges were being crossed whether we wanted them to or not.  More importantly, the remix happened.

To be honest with you, the song isn't even THAT good.  Yes, it let us know that Pastor Ma$e was not sleeping under an overpass near the Hudson River, but as far as big-time rap songs go, it's not really on the list.  But if you look closely, you can see why this song has the staying power that it does.

I remember the first time I heard Lil Jon scream in my ear the same way I remember getting accepted to college.  Shit was life changing.  Yeah, my eardrum kinda ruptured, but what I gained was WAY more important than the decibel-hearing range that I lost.

So, why do I say that the first 8 seconds of "Lean Back" are the most important 8 seconds in music history?  Because there is no greater dice-roll in life quite like having BOTH "Lean Back" and the "Lean Back" remix on your playlist and having zero clue which one is playing.  You just have to wait through the longest 8 seconds of your life to get a definitive response.  Personally, it lets me know that I'm alive and still have blood flowing through my veins.  

If you're like me, you've convinced yourself (at least 50 times) that there are small idiosyncrasies in the beat of the remix even though you know in your heart that isn't the case.  Sure, you're disappointed any time you hear Fat Joe belt out "YEAH!" instead of Lil Jon, but that's why you play the game.  That's why you pop the headphones in each and every morning commute.