Shawty Got Low in Those Apple Bottom Memes
July 11, 2021 2:01 PM Subscribe

Apple Bottoms was a fashion brand for callipygian women's jeans launched by the rapper Nelly in 2003. The brand proved to be popular with hip hop artists, who name dropped the brand in songs such as MC Jin, 36-24-36, Twista, Overnight Celebrity, and Flo Rida's Low. The brand stopped advertising in 2010, but Flo Rida's 2007 hit Low has unexpectedly proved to be the most influential in raising the profile of the jeans outside the hip hop community, after YouTuber JoedEcher posted a 25-second video of Apple Bottom Jeans by Louis Armstrong. Since then, covers of Flo Rida's Low (retitled "Apple Bottom Jeans") done in the style of different rock groups have become a new meme, as Nelly teases reviving his jeans once again. posted by jonp72 (34 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite

Oh man. I caught two or three of these in passing on TikTok, enough to realize there must be A Meme Afoot and not just some one-off, but I didn't realize it had covered this much ground.
posted by cortex at 2:04 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Ironically, I never thought to try out Apple Bottoms.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:09 PM on July 11, 2021 [33 favorites]

and the vocal performance isn't amazing but god DAMN if it doesn't fit the meter and weird dada lyrical vibe of Whiter Shade of Pale pretty well
posted by cortex at 2:11 PM on July 11, 2021 [5 favorites]

Fashion is absolutely not my thing, so it is no surprise that I always thought apple bottom jeans were just a style and not a brand.
posted by Twain Device at 2:18 PM on July 11, 2021 [4 favorites]

Well it’s a style of... bottom.
posted by atoxyl at 2:34 PM on July 11, 2021 [3 favorites]

In my house, we sing Cosmo the Parrot's version.
posted by Wobbuffet at 3:11 PM on July 11, 2021 [3 favorites]

Beastie Boys.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:21 PM on July 11, 2021

I thought MetaFilter was against jeanetic modification….
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:24 PM on July 11, 2021 [3 favorites]

This is unexpectedly delightful!
posted by radioamy at 5:44 PM on July 11, 2021

That Simon & Garfunkel one is so next level it's basically the final boss.
posted by oulipian at 5:49 PM on July 11, 2021 [3 favorites]

It is unexpectedly delightful indeed. I love this kind of dumb, everyone-is-invited, all-in-good-fun kind of creativity. And I love Nelly from my days living in St. Louis when we had outsized civic pride for each of his hits. #StLunatics
posted by AgentRocket at 5:50 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

No Psychedelic Furs or Camper Van Beethoven? Tears for Fears one was pretty good.
posted by snofoam at 6:21 PM on July 11, 2021

This is the hilariously weird dumb shit I want from the internet. Thank you.
posted by automatronic at 6:21 PM on July 11, 2021 [4 favorites]

Also holy shit, the Pavarotti version.
posted by automatronic at 6:33 PM on July 11, 2021 [4 favorites]

There is no Mark E. Smith version ...
posted by scruss at 7:14 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

The thing about 'the boots with the fur' for me is that it always conjured visions of those 70's apres-ski shag fur boots.
Still disappointed that I never quite had the chance to see someone roll up in the club, rocking the Full Clydesdale.
Gasp! Who is She !?!?
posted by bartleby at 7:42 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Linkin Park - Apple Bottom Jeans
posted by dobi at 7:55 PM on July 11, 2021

Shawty not only has boots with the fur but also Reeboks with the strap? I don't know if Reebok has yet made such a glorious piece of footwear, but if not they need to get on that, stat.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:02 AM on July 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

In the Hall of the Mountain Meme
posted by Hypatia at 6:42 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

To all the folks wondering why you never tried Apple Bottoms, your fuzzy nostalgia memories might be erasing the very prominently embroidered apples (along with the words APPLE BOTTOMS in big, Ed Hardy-style lettering) on the ass. I think they eventually offered some less aggressively branded jeans, but not until other jeans brands started varying their fits.
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:13 AM on July 12, 2021 [7 favorites]

(Reebok has been making the Reeboks-with-the-strap since 1982.)
posted by box at 8:20 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

Being necessarily posthumous, the Louie Armstrong was in actuality voiced by Grover from Sesame Street.
posted by Rash at 8:21 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

Other Apple Bottoms lyrical references include Lil' Kim, Shawnna, Lil Wayne, Field Mob, 6ix9ine, etc., etc.
posted by box at 8:36 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

I would be more excited about this if there hadn't been so many rape allegations against Nelly over the years. I feel like a buzzkill every time I bring it up, because I have nostalgia for his songs and those jeans too, but yeah, knowing that also kills my buzz, so there you go.

Also, proper tribute needs to be given to Tribe.
posted by limeonaire at 10:43 AM on July 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

I am not sure why I never tried Apple Bottom Jeans, I was the target age and physique. They are basically a punchline now, but honestly I think they were the first denim brand to make clothes for curvy women. Now most brands have a "curvy" style, but 20 years ago, most jeans gapped in the back if you had a big butt and smaller waist.
posted by radioamy at 8:48 PM on July 11

I was in college when Apple Bottom Jeans were a thing, and my favourite English professor - in her 50s and very tweedy and put-together - regularly wore and raved about them for exactly this reason. I can't imagine Chaucer being taught in any other outfit, now.
posted by ZaphodB at 10:55 AM on July 12, 2021 [8 favorites]

I wondered why this was a post. Hilarious! I hadn't gotten wind of this online at all. Too funny.
posted by cashman at 1:08 PM on July 12, 2021

The Cleverly’s bluegrass version will forever be my favorite..
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 4:21 PM on July 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

Wow, PBZM, that’s an incredible cover!
posted by darkstar at 4:30 PM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

Shawty not only has boots with the fur but also Reeboks with the strap?

The girl Flo Rida sings about in Low was wearing apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur, baggy sweatpants, AND reeboks with the straps all at the same time so we must conclude that she was, in fact, a centaur. In this essay I will

posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:07 PM on July 12, 2021 [10 favorites]

To all the folks wondering why you never tried Apple Bottoms....

Oh, I know, I was only cracking an eponysterical joke.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:35 AM on July 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Blue Öyster Cult. Shawty don’t fear the bouncer (1976)
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:22 AM on July 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

The Procul Harem version made me cry hot tears of joy.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:56 AM on August 10, 2021

Talking Heads version is sublime.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:22 PM on August 10, 2021

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