User:BadWithUsernames/How it is

"How It Is (Wap Bap …)" is a song by the German web video producer Bianca Heinicke, better known as “Bibi” from the YouTube channel “BibisBeautyPalace”. The song is in English and was released on May 5th 2017 by the record label Warner Music. The corresponding music video is the most disliked video on any German YouTube channel.

Background


"How It Is (Wap Bap …)" was written by Dave Knight and Sam Sommer and composed by the latter. The production was undertaken by the film production company Chinzilla Films.

On December 10th 2016, Heinicke published a video on her YouTube channnel, reporting to be interested in a music career. After that, she contacted the songwriter Sam Sommer in order to produce her own song. He sent her the demo version of a song he had written years ago. Heinicke recorded the vocals of this demo version afterwards. Concerning the release as well as the promotion campaign, she worked together with Warner Music and additionally took singing lessons.

Musical Notation and Content
The song is composed in four-four time and starts with a catchy melody, played on a ukulele. The tempo is at 73 beats per minute. The rhythm is set by high-pitched piano sounds. After four beats, Heinicke sets in with the first stanza. In the chorus, a kick starts to accompany the song. After another two stanzas and a chorus, the song comes to a breakdown before the chorus sets in for a second time.

In the song, the narrator says to remain optimistic although pursued by misfortune, and that this proves to be the right way in the end. Heinicke summarized the content of the song in her announcement video, saying that it was about the story of a person who, in spite of many negative events, should not give up.

Music video
The official music video was shot in the house "Huize Herbosch" in Antwerp within two days. The editing took two months.

Critical response
The music video is the most disliked video on any German YouTube channel, more than twice as much as the former record holder. Worldwide, it is the fifth most disliked YouTube video.

The song received predominantly negative reviews. Main points of criticism were the lyrics, the voice and pronunciation of the singer, as well as the use of pitch correction. Nicolas Heine from the online magazine 'Dance-Charts' said Heinicke's pronunciation was very bad and afflicted with a strong accent. He also criticized the song in general, saying it was flat and childish, and comparing it to advertising jingles. In his opinion, the song's success was the only positive aspect about it, and it was most likely due to the song being so unoffensive.

Carsten Heidböhmer, writer for the magazine ‘Stern’, criticized the overall concept of the song: build-up and lyrics, as well as the image of Heinicke and the potential. According to Heidbröhmer, the chorus is obtrusive and the concept of the lyrics trite. The song has “the potential to become the most unpopular song of all time,” he says further.

Beyond the widely negative feedback, there were allegations that “How it is” plagiarized the song “The Show” by the Australian musician Lenka; rhythm, melody, and notes are said to be very similar.

The promotional campaign of the song also aroused criticism. Not many people believed the announcement that additional CDs would only be produced if there was a high number of pre-orders. Instead it was assumed to be an agenda for higher profit. Additionally, the question of the reason for the publication of the song was raised, especially if that song emphasized the vlogger’s lack of talent as a singer.

Two days after the release, Heinicke responded to the reproaches and the criticism for the first time. In her vlog, she appeared surprised about the massive attention and emphasized that not everybody had to like the song and everybody should judge for themself.

Commercial Success
"How It Is (Wap Bap …)" moved into the top 3 of several online music services in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland within the first day. The song entered the official single charts at #9, whereby Heinicke registered her first single ranking position.

Further Reactions
With over 1.7 million dislikes on May 9th 2017, the music video became one of the top ten most disliked videos on YouTube only a few days after uploading. Later, the video reached more than 2 million dislikes.

The song and the video also attracted mockery by other content creators who satirized it.

A few days after publishing, the rapper Jonas Platin uploaded a version of the original with edited acoustics which he claimed to be a recording of the song without pitch correction. His video spread quickly across various social networks and attracted a lot of attention. Platin later revealed the video to be fake.