The song, an upbeat, hip-hop-tinged track called “Party With Me,” got an instant thumbs-down from the top brass at CNN, who decided not to air the video. “We refuse to offer our network as a platform for Mr. bin Laden to get ‘jiggy,’ as I believe the youngsters say nowadays,” a CNN executive told reporters.
The Al Quaeda leader’s single also received a tepid reaction on MTV, where it stalled at No. 27 on “Total Request Live.” “I found it kind of derivative,” says TRL" host Carson Daly. “The first time I heard it I was like, whoa, Osama sounds just like Aaron Carter.”
Daly, who pulled bin Laden’s video in favor of a new release by Britney Spears, was willing to make some allowances for the song, however. “For a guy who’s basically recording a song while he’s running from bunker to bunker, it’s not half bad,” Daly said.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, however, had harsher words for the ‘Evil One’s’ musical effort. “It does not have a good beat, and I can’t dance to it,” Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon today. “The United States would like to send a strong message to Mr. bin Laden: don’t quit your day job.”
Rumsfeld immediately corrected his statement, however.
“On second thought, we would like you to quit your day job,” Rumsfeld said. “But stay out of the music business, too.”
The failure of bin Laden’s dance single raised doubts that his highly anticipated debut CD would ever be released. The CD, entitled “Yo! Sama,” had been expected in stores in time for the holiday season.
