{"id":2513196,"date":"2026-07-22T21:42:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2513196"},"modified":"2026-07-22T21:42:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:42:31","slug":"hey-there-mr-jambo-kyle-gordons-viral-song-is-one-big-joke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/hey-there-mr-jambo-kyle-gordons-viral-song-is-one-big-joke\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Hey there, Mr. Jambo!\u2019 Kyle Gordon\u2019s viral song is one big joke"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-editable=\"content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-reorderable=\"content\">\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lew500003b661coh11vw@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Ask any musician who\u2019s produced a massive hit song and they\u2019ll tell you about the pressure to replicate it with a follow-up. That burden is especially unique for someone like Kyle Gordon, a musician whose whole career is built around making fun of <em>other <\/em>musicians.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm900023b66ywm4q8hr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Gordon experienced massive success in 2023 with \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S-OgkNgxm3k\" target=\"_blank\">Planet of the Bass<\/a>,\u201d which parodied \u201890s Europop groups like Aqua. As that song <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/08\/10\/entertainment\/planet-of-the-bass-tiktok-europop-parody-cec\">blew up online<\/a> and made him an internet star, he was featured in the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/04\/style\/tiktok-planet-of-the-bass-90s-eurodance.html\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-news\/creators-comedy-kyle-gordon-sabrina-brier-1235084597\/\" target=\"_blank\">Rolling Stone<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/08\/15\/1193898457\/dj-crazy-times-planet-of-the-bass-full-version-kyle-gordon\" target=\"_blank\">NPR<\/a>. Some called it the \u201csong of the summer.\u201d The song was even remixed in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@anidom\/video\/7368277254943558958?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cThe Simpsons.\u201d<\/a>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm900033b662rc53l3u@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Gordon, 33, subsequently released two comedy albums with spoofs of genres including emo, nu metal and British rap, but none broke through in the same way that \u201cPlanet of the Bass\u201d did \u2014 until now.\n    <\/p>\n<aside data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/twitter\/instances\/cmrw7pq42001j3b667vbrqz2x@published\" class=\"twitter\" data-editable=\"settings\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter__tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"zxx\" dir=\"ltr\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gwZQKHxnnZ\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/gwZQKHxnnZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kyle Gordon (@kylegordon101) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kylegordon101\/status\/2077795222856097907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">July 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm900043b6698tvzwzq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            His latest work to take the internet by storm is <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qJBm1n8JUZ8\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cMr. Jambo,\u201d<\/a> a hilarious yet admittedly catchy song in which a character named Barry Bergen travels the African savannah and claims to experience enlightenment, all while the locals can barely abide him. As one particularly frustrated man tries to explain to him in Zulu that he can\u2019t understand him, Bergen simply decides the man is telling him about seeking love in \u201cthe valley of the soul\u201d and \u201cthe wisdom written on the ancient scrolls.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm900053b662a48eleg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The tune is inspired by Paul Simon, who traveled to South Africa in the 1980s to record his album \u201cGraceland\u201d \u2014 which Gordon insists he believes is a masterpiece.\n    <\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/youtube\/instances\/cmrw7qm7900003b662wi2qbu6@published\" data-editable=\"settings\" data-component-name=\"youtube\">\n<aside class=\"youtube__aspect-ratio-container\">\n<div id=\"2dm7B2A3\" data-video-id=\"qJBm1n8JUZ8\" class=\"youtube__content player\">\n\t\t<span class=\"youtube__video-title\">Kyle Gordon &#8211; Mr. Jambo (feat. Barry Bergen) [Official Music Video]<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm900063b66k4ik7c99@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Gordon so believed in his latest parody that he self-funded a trip for him and a small team to travel to South Africa and Eswatini to shoot the video in April. That turned out to be a good bet. Since he dropped the \u201cMr. Jambo\u201d video on his social channels last week, it\u2019s exploded in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/LoveTrash\/comments\/1uz5oej\/hey_there_mr_jambo\/\" target=\"_blank\">popularity<\/a> and been <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kylegordon101\/status\/2077795222856097907\" target=\"_blank\">viewed<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Da26YAexhm4\/\" target=\"_blank\">millions<\/a> of times. Streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hasanthehun\/status\/2078652333508931993\" target=\"_blank\">called<\/a> him a \u201cgenerational talent,\u201d while fellow comedian Gianmarco Soresi <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GianmarcoSoresi\/status\/2079591821420736621\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> he was \u201cobsessed\u201d with the song. As <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheAhmedRaafat\/status\/2078476252801835051\" target=\"_blank\">more<\/a> than <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/daveweigel\/status\/2079525718787059744\" target=\"_blank\">one<\/a> X user has <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/qrush\/status\/2078866584999780670\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>, \u201cWe finally found the Millennial Weird Al.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm900073b661jpzvw3s@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Gordon\u2019s third album, \u201cKyle Gordon Is Everywhere,\u201d will feature \u201cMr. Jambo,\u201d as well as <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/music\/news\/daniel-radcliffe-narrate-kyle-gordon-album-1236812133\/\" target=\"_blank\">narration from \u201cHarry Potter\u201d star Daniel Radcliffe<\/a>. It is set to be released on October 2.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm900083b6612oh7gtv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The comedian spoke with celebrity.land about the viral success of \u201cMr. Jambo,\u201d the comparisons to Weird Al Yankovic, what it takes to pull off a dorky white guy aesthetic and whether he thinks Paul Simon is mad at him.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm900093b66f2oeighe@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <em>This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/em>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm9000a3b667c0th8wq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Hello \u2014 or should I say \u201cJambo!\u201d<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm9000b3b66mxlg7f7c@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Jambo! Or in Zulu, \u201cSawubona!\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm9000c3b6618icb38o@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Your song made me recall my own trip to Africa when I was just out of high school and learning some basic Swahili, but also how cringeworthy most of the stuff I probably said about the trip was.<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgm9000d3b66fhuixixz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            It\u2019s kind of par for the course for Westerners going abroad. There\u2019s something instinctually cringey about everything we end up doing. It\u2019s something I am just as guilty of.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000e3b66ial0km9x@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Like a lot of your work, the joke underscoring this new song and video is incredibly niche and also evidently instantly comprehensible to millions of people. How do you pull that off?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000f3b66amnb6i37@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            I appreciate you saying that because that balance is my number one goal. I enjoy going niche because it means it\u2019ll be unique. Ideally, it\u2019s a territory and a subject that hasn\u2019treally been covered in comedy. But the goal is also to make it accessible. I try not to create stuff 50 nerds like me are going to jump up and down for. It\u2019s sort of just vibes and hunch at this point.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000g3b66v4i6gf4c@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Tell me about the journey from the idea for this song to this trip to Africa. I mean, this is a long way from the Oculus World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan, where <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kylegordon101\/status\/1684963728427462656\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>you filmed \u201cPlanet of the Bass.\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000h3b66mwlvo7fw@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            I started cooking this idea probably last fall, so almost a year ago. It happened naturally. Obviously, it\u2019s heavily and primarily influenced by Paul Simon\u2019s \u201cGraceland.\u201d That album was interesting to me because in Western pop music it\u2019s a very unique, strange hit record to have that combination of sounds. But it was really when I heard the music of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/07\/16\/entertainment\/johnny-clegg-dead-trnd\">Johnny Clegg<\/a> about a year ago when I got more excited about this idea because that\u2019s when I realized, \u201cOh, it\u2019s not just \u2018Graceland.\u2019 There\u2019s a whole trend that happened here with combining Western rock and pop music with traditional African music.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000i3b66ovptr24v@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>This trip was self-funded. That\u2019s a big bet to place on one idea. What made you so confident?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000j3b664cagffp6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Tunnel vision! There were a lot of people telling me, \u201cWhy do you need to go to Africa? You can just find somewhere out west that kind of looks like that.\u201d But I really just got deeptunnel vision. I was like, <em>I really know what it has to be<\/em>, and I was just like super gung-ho about it.\n    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cmrw7xppi00073b66dto7q2vc@published\" class=\"image_large-elevate vossi-image_large-elevate  image_large__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image_large\" data-name=\"image00007.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image_large--eq-extra-small=\"\" data-original-ratio=\"0.7432432432432432\" data-original-height=\"440\" data-original-width=\"592\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00007-20260722135554100.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n<div class=\"image_large__container \" data-image-variation=\"image_large\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image_large--eq-extra-small=\"\">\n       <picture class=\"image_large__picture\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"679\" media=\"(max-width: 479px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00007-20260722135554100.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_679,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"967\" media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00007-20260722135554100.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_967,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"860\" media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00007-20260722135554100.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"860\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00007-20260722135554100.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"860\" media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00007-20260722135554100.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00007-20260722135554100.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\" alt=\"\" barry=\"\" bergen=\"\" is=\"\" looking=\"\" for=\"\" wisdom=\"\" in=\"\" africa=\"\" but=\"\" refuses=\"\" to=\"\" try=\"\" understand=\"\" what=\"\" the=\"\" locals=\"\" are=\"\" telling=\"\" him.=\"\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"440\" width=\"592\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000k3b66bepp9ku5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>In \u201cPlanet of the Bass,\u201d we met your alternate persona \u201cDJ Crazy Times.\u201d Tell us about this new character.<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000l3b66fshmyroi@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            His name is Barry Bergen. All my songs have a corresponding character; I\u2019m never really performing as myself. In the lore of this world, this song came out in 1985 and won the Pulitzer Prize for music. And so, as Daniel Radcliffe spells out in the introduction to the song on Spotify, he\u2019s essentially based on Paul Simon, loosely, but he\u2019s an aging singer\/songwriter who discovers African music and just kind of wings it. He\u2019s very ignorant about Africa in general.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000m3b66nfihyb2a@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>That style of song is both, as you said, incredibly corny, but also undeniably popular. Many of those songs are bops, right? Especially \u201cGraceland\u201d! How do you square those two things?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000n3b665950ofvv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That\u2019s what made it so enticing for me. I unambiguously love \u201cGraceland.\u201d I am not sick of it. Top to bottom, every song I love. I think it\u2019s a pop masterpiece. It definitely has a corniness that\u2019s extremely \u201980s.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000o3b664r38ocxv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>\u201cGraceland\u201d has this inherent juxtaposition of the whitest guy in the world being in Africa and finding his soul \u2014 <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/05\/11\/movies\/under-african-skies-about-the-paul-simon-album-graceland.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>somewhat controversially<\/strong><\/a><strong> given that Simon went to South Africa despite the anti-apartheid cultural boycott at the time. Where do you fall on that controversy?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000p3b66fh5fyunu@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Well, to the first part of your question, the music on \u201cGraceland\u201d is incredible. Paul Simon is one of the best songwriters of all time. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s debatable. But the comedy for me is that, yes, it\u2019s the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-I_T3XvzPaM\" target=\"_blank\">whitest guy in the world with Ladysmith Black Mambazo behind him.<\/a> But the fact that there was such controversy around the album also gave me the confidence that it absolutely justified being a subject of parody. It\u2019s a totally legitimate target.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000q3b663txo7omt@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>So if Paul Simon\u2019s coming your way on the street, are you crossing to the other side?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000r3b664426n23a@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            No! I\u2019m going to go up behind him, give him a kiss on the cheek and take him out for a pastrami sandwich. I hope he would like it and would find it funny and could see where it was coming from. It\u2019s also been 40 years, so this is not his first rodeo. If I had to guess, he\u2019s probably rolling his eyes rather than punching a wall. It\u2019s definitely done with love.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000s3b66ik5nuwm7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Do you think good parody comes from a place of love?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000t3b66sde2eub9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Most of the time, yes. My favorite stuff that I do comes from that. You can both love something and recognize what\u2019s funny or silly or cringey about it. Both can be true.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000u3b66ebam800v@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Let\u2019s talk about the logistics of this shoot because I\u2019m so curious. How did you find this choir, for example? What was the brief to these people as you were dancing in front of them?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000v3b66n2tyy9vx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            We shot this in South Africa and Eswatini, which up until recently was called Swaziland. All the stuff with the choir and Mr. Jambo was shot in Eswatini. We had a Swazi producer there, Myxo Mdluli, who did all the casting. I knew I wanted a choir and the brass band.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000w3b665e2l1nfz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            I took some Zulu lessons, which is very close to the Swati language they speak there, so I could kind of brokenly explain the song and thank everyone. But the producer was translating too and they could all understand the Zulu part of the song, so they could get the joke. I explained I\u2019m a character that\u2019s a dumb American tourist and doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s doing. They got that. They were laughing at me the entire time.\n    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cmrw7z4j300093b66eejp3mz3@published\" class=\"image_large-elevate vossi-image_large-elevate  image_large__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image_large\" data-name=\"image00010.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image_large--eq-extra-small=\"\" data-original-ratio=\"0.7495462794918331\" data-original-height=\"413\" data-original-width=\"551\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00010-20260722135657996.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n<div class=\"image_large__container \" data-image-variation=\"image_large\" data-breakpoints=\"{\" image_large--eq-extra-small=\"\">\n       <picture class=\"image_large__picture\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"679\" media=\"(max-width: 479px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00010-20260722135657996.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_679,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"967\" media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00010-20260722135657996.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_967,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"860\" media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00010-20260722135657996.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"860\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00010-20260722135657996.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source height=\"undefined\" width=\"860\" media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00010-20260722135657996.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\/f_webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/image00010-20260722135657996.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\" alt=\"\" mr.=\"\" jambo=\"\" was=\"\" played=\"\" by=\"\" mandla=\"\" dlamini=\"\" a=\"\" retiree=\"\" in=\"\" eswatini=\"\" who=\"\" thought=\"\" filming=\"\" the=\"\" video=\"\" would=\"\" be=\"\" bit=\"\" of=\"\" fun.=\"\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"413\" width=\"551\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000x3b66sz15x03e@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>What about Mr. Jambo himself?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000y3b664ps2o7iy@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            His name is Mandla Dlamini. He is the nicest guy. We still talk all the time on WhatsApp \u2014and he actually does speak English! Sorry to destroy the illusion for everyone. He was a friend of the producer, and he was just a retired guy with time on his hands and thought it would be fun. There were a few different guys that the producer thought could play it, but he sent me a video of Mandla being like, \u201cGet out of here!\u201d and that was enough. <em>Done! You\u2019re hired! <\/em> He crushed it. He sent me a really nice voice note the other day and said he had a lot of fun, so: mission accomplished.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma000z3b66o50vwsz7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Does he know he\u2019s a breakout star?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00103b664zveyyb8@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            I sent him the video. I hope he knows!\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00113b66lflr4d8v@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>The costuming here is so specifically dorky. You know, the idea of you traveling to Africa with this in your suitcase is just hilarious to me.<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00123b667f850uzy@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Before anything else. I had this outfit. It\u2019s the quintessential \u201880s\/early \u201890s yuppie guy. Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Simon would wear versions of this sometimes. There\u2019s a real me inside that would actually feel more comfortable if I had the courage to.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00133b665npa2vkf@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>When \u201cPlanet of the Bass\u201d blew up for you three years ago, it forever changed your career. What was the pressure like to replicate that success on that scale?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00143b66heg2gn0x@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            I learned so much through that experience. I\u2019d had viral TikToks and built up an online audience before, but it is a totally different ballgame to expand and permeate a level of culture beyond that, and it was one I really wasn\u2019t used to. Post that, the biggest thing for me was not trying to do \u201cPlanet of the Bass\u201d over and over again, even though I could have maybe cashed in. I knew the most fun for me would be doing all these different characters and keeping myself from getting bored. My goal was never to follow up the success, but just to ask how I could keep doing what I want to do as long as possible. The fact that I\u2019ve been able to do that for three years \u2014 testing things and seeing what works and getting more comfortable with this type of songwriting \u2014 was leading to this moment.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00153b66t33kygws@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>I\u2019ve seen multiple people compare you to Weird Al in the last week. What\u2019s that like to see?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00163b6675jwxscs@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            I mean, I\u2019m speechless. That\u2019s like the George Washington on the Mount Rushmore of comedy. I\u2019m just flattered people even put me in the same category.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00173b66hpxntnqf@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Who inspires you?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00183b66zmfwgjzo@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            So Weird Al, absolutely. But really my biggest one is Christopher Guest. In \u201cSpinal Tap\u201d and \u201cA Mighty Wind,\u201d which is my favorite movie, the songs aren\u2019t related to the plot. He did what I try to do, which is that if you squint you could imagine that this song might have conceivably come out.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma00193b66w9draaxj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>Just lastly, your song makes fun of white tourists who travel to Africa and claim to experience some sort of spiritual awakening. But I\u2019m wondering if there was anything about your trip there \u2014 short as it was \u2014 that did change you? As an artist, or just as a person?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma001a3b668b6hrpw2@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Yes, in the sense that everyone I worked with there was so nice and we were all having a really fun time, as I\u2019ve had on all my other music videos. That just proves how silly the song is because they\u2019re just nice, good people that are great to work with. So if there\u2019s some humanist message that crosses boundaries, I think that\u2019s what I would take away.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma001b3b66exhvo5by@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <strong>But no spiritual enlightenment to be found \u201cin the ancient scrolls\u201d?<\/strong>\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrw7lgma001c3b66cul0nmo1@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            I\u2019ll probably just go upstate and do some ayahuasca, and <em>then <\/em>I\u2019ll have my spiritual experience. Shooting a video in Africa? That was just good times.\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ask any musician who\u2019s produced a massive hit song and they\u2019ll tell you about the pressure to replicate it with a follow-up. That burden is especially unique for someone like Kyle Gordon, a musician whose whole career is built around making fun of other musicians. Gordon experienced massive success in 2023 with \u201cPlanet of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2513197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[353132],"class_list":["post-2513196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-ctt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/\u2018Hey-there-Mr-Jambo-Kyle-Gordons-viral-song-is-one.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2513196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2513198,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513196\/revisions\/2513198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2513197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2513196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2513196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2513196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}