Voltron Watch

The Voltron resurgence continues with "Shake Ya Tailfeather," the P. Diddy/Nelly/Murphy Lee track (and the number one song on this week's Billboard Hot 100) that features a shout-out to everyone's favourite giant robot.

(Voltron's most recent cultural high-water mark came in early 2002 with this issue of Get Your War On. )

Murphy Lee isn't the first rapper to name-check the 50-foot robot (actually made of five robot lions who come together to form this kick-ass mechanical hero with a big energy sword). LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Wu-Tang Clan, DMX, Warren G, Eminem and others have all made reference to Voltron.

But "Shake Ya Tailfeather" may be the first single propelled to the top by Voltron force. Lee's seemingly offhand call-out to an 80s cartoon character (with a big energy sword) may be a calculated comparison of Voltron's gestalt robotics and P. Diddy's gestalt approach to music production.

Everyone knows Puffy's a mediocre artist on his own, and a genius when it comes to bringing other artists together to create a hit single. In fact, one could argue quite persuasively that Puffy's whole career is built on the Voltron strategy. On "Shake Ya Tailfeather" he seems just a few degrees away from acknowledging it. What I really want to hear him say--amidst all the verbal noodling at the beginning of the song--is "I'll form the head!!!"

Anyway, if things continue apace, there's a good chance Puffy will kiss Voltron on the 2007 MTV Music Video Awards. Oh, and a new animated Voltron series is in the works and expected to debut next year.