From September 2017 until now, DJ Kass’ “Scooby Doo Pa Pa” has undergone a million evolutions. The track started as a dembow flip of English comedian Big Shaq’s “Man’s Not Hot,” soon transforming into an Uptown sound system mainstay, until it became the backing track for Venezuelan Internet star Lele Pons’ dance parody video spawning infinite iterations. Now it’s pivoting to a full HD official video release, premiering today on Remezcla.
As an intentional crossover moment for the genre, DJ Kass’ track has definitively taken Dominican dembow out of its own robust music ecosystem by leveraging the transformative power of streaming to the utmost advantage. According to Nielsen Music, by the end of February, the track had accumulated 6.87 million streams, notched a Top 10 spot on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, and continues to be a top contender across Spotify’s Viral 50 charts in markets not exclusive to Spanish-speaking audiences.
Now with a visual pairing to match the sensation, Kass capitalizes on this “Scooby Doo Pa Pa” moment with an official video. Directed by Rock Davis and featuring Uptown influencers Kenstarz, Chrissy, and Kid the Wiz, the clip takes us through a comedic overture shot in a school, before making a transition into a club scene shot in Uptown establishment Opus Lounge, including a cameo from Pioladitingancia, another mark in the pair’s longtime friendship.
Having worked his way from private parties to baby showers to weddings and eventually making his way to the club, DJ Kass’ extensive experience in the circuit has afforded him the ground-level experience to know what might pop off virally by design. DJ Kass has witnessed the domination of dembow, reggaetón, and multilingual hip-hop/trap in Uptown nightclubs, and greatest strength lies in his ability to see the panorama of pop culture in NYC in conversation with its incalculable intersections with other cultures. “That’s what makes Uptown. It’s gotta be dembow,” he says in an interview with Remezcla. “Dembow has a future now that I’m here. We’re gonna make it more international – that’s the goal.” If now’s the time to make a run at making dembow go global, why shouldn’t he be the one to do it?
Watch our premiere of “Scooby Doo Pa Pa” below: