Fortnite is a bundle of memes and dances taken from TikTok, so let's take a look at what this latest alien-themed season has brought us, because it's no doubt something timely and trendy, like... Ska? Huh. Okay!
Well, actually, ska is experiencing somewhat of a revival. Drawing its inspiration from the original ska music, which is all about loud, vibrant brass, upbeat songs with staccato guitars, and the behind-the-beat style of Jamaican Dancehall, there's now a new bunch of ska artists on the scene. This would be the "fourth wave", with the third wave happening in the '90s — think pop-punk-tinged ska, like No Doubt, Less Than Jake, and Reel Big Fish.
Ska has always been tuned in to the political landscape, whether it's The Specials singing about urban decay or The Mighty Mighty Bosstones singing about women's health clinics, so it's no surprise that it's experiencing renewed interest today, and that Fortnite is jumping on the bandwagon with its "Ska-Stra-Terrestrial" emote, which makes the characters perform the "skank" dance well-known in ska circles.
The Fortnite ska dance is performed to a song that appears to be an original called "Sunny's Song", which is all about wanting to see and/or be aliens. It's pretty damn catchy, but the lyrics are kinda dark:
"I know they're coming here to make friends with the human race
I want to meet them and to greet them and take my place on their flying ship
In the sky
Take me away from this world that I despise"
Many of us probably learned about ska and ska-adjacent music through Tony Hawk games and Crazy Taxi, so here's a question: Would you love more ska in games? Or is the Fortnite ska dance plenty enough ska for the time being?
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Comments (30)
I was looking into ska about a month ago, and man I kinda love it, I'm not a big mainstream music fan, and The kind of music I like have no lyrics but ska is just its own thing.
I only learnt about ska as a result of a video on Polygon about Fallout music...
Ska is good, it’s like eating a mozzarella stick and drinking a red bull at the same time.
Check out The Skints, Streetlight Manifesto, Buster Shuffle, The King Blues and The Interrupters if you want to hear some good ska bands on the current scene.
Streetlight Manifesto is about the only ska band I like. Buck O Nine was okay back in the day, but Less Than Jake isn't listened to by this old dude.
Omg is this the mythical fourth wave????
Thanks for the emoji at the bottom of the story under the poll - I just spent five minutes researching what the heck it is.
Any future development of Ska died in the third wave of the 90's. What's left are the super hardcore bands that carry the spirit on, whether they be more Ska-Punk, 2-Tone style or just the normal version everyone knows about.
For me I got into Ska way past its prime in the late 2000's and early 2010's. Bands like Streetlight Manifesto, Big D and the Kids Table, and Bomb the Music Industry! kept the spirit alive while older acts like Less Than Jake, Suicide Machines, and The Toasters kept on truckin'.
Just to say it, my personal favorite Ska band will always be Operation Ivy, who really did the Ska-Punk thing more than just Ska itself.
A few others I liked were Against All Authority, MU330, Skankin' Pickle, Mustard Plug, Hepcat, The Pietasters, Catch-22, Five Iron Frenzy, Madness, RX Bandits, The Slackers, Dance Hall Crashers, Buck-O-Nine, I Voted for Kodos, Fish bone, and Slapstick.
I actually quite like a lot of 2-Tone/‘proper ska’ but ska punk is a bit of a guilty pleasure too. Jeff Rosenstock is keeping the dream alive though, his ska cover of the entirety of his album No Dream is brilliant!
Ska in a videogame that's Madness!
@Mr-Fuggles777 I see what you did there.
My main introduction to Ska was through Bruce Greene, so I just always assumed that ska never left.
Why oh why did they not choose One Step Beyond for this dance !
Just Complete and Utter Madness!
Love me some ska and ska-punk. Adding brass instrumentation to punk rock is such a perfect combination. Days and Daze is a good group I've been listening to as of late. Although I suppose they're more folk-punk, but who cares they're awesome.
Aw yeah rise of the Rude Boys 2021 🤣 Too bad it's in this game.
AHAHAH oh no, kids will be skanking!! This is actually hilarious. I do not even like ska!
Yes! Let Ska live!!
This is Madness .. ..
There has been a lot of talk since this launched today about the ska thing. I dont get it. Why is this a big deal?
@eatdogs Anyone who promotes Five Iron Frenzy gets my vote! Nice!
<—— This guy approves!
Who's ska and why am I commenting on a Fortnite post when I have no interest in the game?
I've never been into ska but I really, really like Streetlight Manifesto, so I'm glad to see shoutouts in here 😃
I personally find them way more interesting and dynamic than the other few bands I know in the genre; I recommend checking out their animated music videos, they're super cool!
The only other ska-related band I listen to is Rx Bandits, one of my all-time faves, though to be honest I like their material from the 3rd LP onward, which is when they left ska punk for a progressively more and more prog-oriented punk.
Mandala is one of the best albums I've ever listened to, hands down, and it has wonderful cover art to boot too!
Middle school was rough
Stop your messing around. Time to straighten right out.
@clvr Yoooo, RX Bandits rule. Hell yeah!
I also see a lot of BTMI/Jeff Rosenstock love in this thread. Wonderful taste, Nintendo Life commenters.
Crazy taxi.... ska? All the tracks are by the offspring? Ska? Really? ........ really?......??
Did everyone not mention reel big fish on purpose, or am I missing something
@imgrowinglegs yeah they do, I absolutely love 'em!
Such a shame they haven't put out anything in 6 years or so, but Matthew was teasing a couple months back so who knows!
Coincidentally I just ordered a limited hoodie from their store last night as soon as it came back on sale ahahahah
@mjharper thanks for noticing! A wee little ska reference
It's good to see that We Are Number One is continuing to have ripple effects throughout society
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