YouTube propels Hurricane Chris to big stage

• By JOHN WIRT
• Music critic
• Published: Jun 5, 2009

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Like 2007’s “A Bay Bay,” Shreveport rapper Hurricane Chris’ new single, “Halle Berry (She’s Fine),” migrated from regional favorite to nationwide hit. It’s currently No. 10 on Billboard’s hot R&B/hip-hop songs chart. Named after the Oscar-winning actress, the song experienced its first wave of success thanks to a YouTube-powered dance craze. Then its popularity exploded after Berry herself danced the Halle Berry on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in March.

“As soon as that popped up,” the 19-year-old Chris said recently from New York, “that just pushed it all the way to the moon.”

Chris got a heads-up the day before the Ellen broadcast via a freeze-frame image from the show sent to his phone.

“They told me that Halle Berry was on there talking about the dance,” he said. “But when I got the picture, I saw how her body and her hands were positioned and said, ‘Oh, she’s doing the dance.’ So I couldn’t wait to see that.

“The next day when I turned it on, I almost jumped through the roof and got my head stuck. And Ellen hopped up and got to doing it right with Halle Berry. So that was nationwide, everybody doing the Halle Berry.”

Fans created the Halle Berry dance themselves and then posted their moves on YouTube. Chris and his team simply rolled with the growing phenomenon.

“When the song first came out, it was so catchy people just made up their own dance and got to dancing on YouTube,” he said. “After the first couple of people did it, other people watched it and took a little bit from what they saw and added on to it. It just became something that you do your own swag to. And if you listen to the song long enough, you automatically know how to do the dance. Nobody gotta teach it to you.”

Berry, as seen on Ellen, enjoys the song, too.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Chris said. “Big shout out to Halle Berry. We appreciate her for all the support. If it wasn’t for her, this song wouldn’t be going as far as it’s going.”

In addition to being entertaining, “Halle Berry (She’s Fine)” sends a message about women’s self-esteem.

“If you keep yourself up, keep your hair done, your nails done, keep your attitude right,” Chris said, “if you’re feisty when it’s time to be feisty, if you just got the whole nine, you’re a Halle Berry.”

The “Halle Berry” single precedes the July 28 release of Chris’ second album, Unleashed. Producers Play-N-Skillz, Justice League, the Inkredibles, Phunk Dawg and Jim Jonsin contribute to the new release as well as guest stars Mario and Bobby Valentino. And Chris’ “A Bay Bay” collaborator, Lil’ Boosie from Baton Rouge, co-stars in the new “Halle Berry” video.

Chris recorded most of Unleashed in Shreveport.