Here we go to Newport! (In our minds)
The original "Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)" was sadly taken down my EMI, who own the rights to the "original" song and video by rapper Jay Z. No matter what your opinion may be of Jay Z, we at TheSpoo think it's a real pity that EMI can't have more of a sense of humor, and a sense of what's right, about what is being spoofed here.
n the words of Charles Caleb Colton, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". Whether you buy that or not is clearly also up to you and entirely your own opinion. Personally, I think that with parodied items such as this spoof, the result is so far from the original, and the intended audience so incredibly different, that to interpret the use of the imagery, tune and song as stealing is just outright silly.
This story generated a lot of news when EMI first took down the video, and although copies of it keep springing up on YouTube and other sources, the video keeps getting slapped back down again. I really wish that someone at EMI would hear that there are many fans of this spoof music video that would love to be able to enjoy it, and get their heads out of their collective holes for long enough to see that it will not lead to any loss in revenue for either themselves or their act. And wow - everyone's amazed that they even think so.
If you have seen the original video clip of Newport State of Mind, please keep those wonderful images in your head - because no-one wants you to see this funny spoof ever again. Sad face.
In the meantime, if you want something related, check this out:
NEWPORT STATE OF MIND (YOU'RE NOT FROM NEWPORT)