Paul McCartney Cosigns Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles” With Mannequin Challenge Video

Paul McCartney, one of the two living members of The Beatles, has officially cosigned the young and Black reinvention of his legendary group — made up of the Rae Sremmurd brothers, Gucci Mane, and Mike Will Made-It. Currently sitting at No. 9 on the Hot 100 — and expected to jump next week — “Black Beatles,” the SremmLife 2 song that was released as a single in September, is now the biggest-ever hit for Rae Sremmurd (and for Gucci Mane, too). And Sir Paul is a fan. 

Some of the song’s recent success is attributed to its role as the standard background music in the hottest viral trend of the moment, the #MannequinChallenge, which has now been attempted by 2 Chainz, Young Thug, Destiny’s Child, and even Hillary Clinton. The concept is simple — have a camera weave through a group of people who all must remain still like mannequins. For whatever reason, it’s especially enjoyable when “Black Beatles” plays in the background. The Sremm bros send their fans into a frenzy when they employ the stunt during live renditions of “Black Beatles.” Little did they know that it would not be them, but an original White Beatle who would officially conquer the Mannequin Challenge. 

To begin his Mannequin Challenge video, Sir Paul appears frozen with one hand on his grand piano whilst he’s locked in an entranced gaze toward the ceiling. “Black Beatles” plays throughout the clip, beginning with the Slim Jxmmi lyric that mentions his name. “Love those Black Beatles,” wrote McCartney when he shared the video on Twitter. 

Of course, Swae and Jxmmi are elated at McCartney’s endorsement of the song that he inspired. They might go their whole careers without a more eminent cosign, and that’s fine with them. “So crazy the legend himself,” the duo wrote on Twitter. “The most love and respect to Paul McCartney… this is so big just the utmost respect man.” 

Congrats to the Black Beatles for earning this spectacular moment in pop music history. The only thing that could be better would be an official collaboration between the Beatles of both races.