ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Let’s do a fill within the clean. Sitting. Sitting is the other of – properly, for those who’re stumped proper now, then you might be clearly not among the many tens of millions of people that have heard this track.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SITTING (FEAT. TJ MACK) [JOSH MAC VERSION]”)

BRIAN JORDAN ALVAREZ: (As TJ Mack, singing) Sitting. Sitting is the other of standing.

SHAPIRO: That’s the singer and songwriter TJ Mack, who will not be an actual individual. Brian Jordan Alvarez is. He is an actor who’s created a bunch of personas on social media. And his character TJ Mack has been round for some time, however I had not heard of him till this tribute to sitting took off.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SITTING (FEAT. TJ MACK) [JOSH MAC VERSION]”)

ALVAREZ: (As TJ Mack, singing) Sitting. Sitting is the other of standing. Sitting is the other of operating round. Sitting is a superb factor to do.

SHAPIRO: Brian Jordan Alvarez, thanks for becoming a member of us to speak about this crucial information story.

ALVAREZ: (Laughter) Thanks, from the underside of my coronary heart. I couldn’t be happier to be speaking to you about this proper now.

SHAPIRO: TJ Mack – he’s a person who loves sitting.

ALVAREZ: Sure.

SHAPIRO: He has a barking giggle that always erupts in the course of a sentence.

ALVAREZ: Sure.

SHAPIRO: He is additionally received a specific look. Are you able to paint an image for us?

ALVAREZ: TJ Mack has huge, stunning eyes, a very broad smile, kind of a brief face.

SHAPIRO: It is all enhanced by a social media filter.

ALVAREZ: Sure.

SHAPIRO: What else ought to we find out about him?

ALVAREZ: You already know, the humorous factor is TJ Mack has thought-about himself a pop star. So what’s so humorous about that is I am doing this character and he is speaking about being a pop star. Now it is really occurring in the actual world.

SHAPIRO: He is an precise pop star.

ALVAREZ: It is a dream.

SHAPIRO: He has a form of imprecise, unplaceable Spanish accent. Ought to we be offended?

ALVAREZ: I do not suppose so. You already know, I am Colombian, and I’ve an enormous prolonged household in Colombia. And we go always. So I believe there’s a variety of inspiration in there from aunts and uncles and perhaps even my grandmother, actually.

SHAPIRO: You’ve got made greater than 100 movies as TJ Mack. So when the “Sitting” track got here to you, did you suppose like, oh, that is my “Unchained Melody,” that is my “Canon In D,” that is my “Like A Prayer”?

ALVAREZ: I did really feel prefer it was particular, you realize? And the humorous factor is often – you realize, my movies are very off the cuff, and I do one take and I publish them. And this explicit track – I did a take. And for some cause, the sound did not report. So I did it once more. And the second time I did it, it was a bit tighter and cleaner. It had all this construction kind of from the compelled rehearsal. However, yeah, I did have a suspicion that this may be the massive one.

SHAPIRO: So there are one million remixes. One particularly by the musician Josh Mac that we heard earlier even made it to the radio. However there are covers in actually each style – thrash rock, people singers, nation western, full choir singing in multi-part concord.

ALVAREZ: (Laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #1: (Singing) Sitting…

UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: (Singing) Sitting is the other of standing.

UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #3: (Singing) Singing is the other of operating round.

UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL GROUP: (Singing) Sitting is a superb factor to do.

SHAPIRO: What has it been prefer to see all of those folks reacting to your ridiculous track?

ALVAREZ: It has been unimaginable. You already know, and the humorous factor is, I do all these characters. And so now I’ve this track, and the track has a construction. It is received bones, proper? And then you definitely’re kind of seeing the track do characters. So the track is changing into all these completely different songs that it may very well be on this kind of multiverse of “Sitting” insanity.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SITTING (FEAT. TJ MACK) [JOSH MAC VERSION]”)

ALVAREZ: (As TJ Mack, singing) Sitting is definitely good since you need to chill out. It is form of like a nap. It is form of like one thing else, however it’s really simply sitting.

SHAPIRO: Brian Jordan Alvarez, that is actually crucial query to ask you. This track has been caught in my head on a loop for days, and I do know it isn’t simply me. There’s a viral video of someone actually popping out of surgical procedure, and the very first thing out of their mouth is…

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing) Sitting. Sitting is the other of standing. Sitting is the other of operating round.

ALVAREZ: (Laughter).

SHAPIRO: So Brian, what recommendation are you able to give us all for getting this track out of our heads?

ALVAREZ: I believe hold listening.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

ALVAREZ: I believe hold letting it go deeper and deeper. And it may work itself out.

SHAPIRO: You already know, considered one of my colleagues stated, he have to be actually aggravated that that is what has made him this well-known. However I get the sense that, no, you are leaning into it. You are actually simply devouring all of it with gusto.

ALVAREZ: (Laughter) I’m overjoyed. You already know, I’ve achieved little songs like this my entire life. And I’ve, in some ways, dreamed of various variations of this second. So I am grateful.

SHAPIRO: Effectively, does TJ Mack have any parting phrases of knowledge for NPR listeners?

ALVAREZ: (As TJ Mack) I believe that simply, like – I do not – I did not anticipate all of this. However, you realize, in your life, you possibly can’t – typically you are going to really feel like, OK, I received to go stroll round or one thing. However really, like, that’s, like – you possibly can really simply take that chance to simply sit and simply chill or no matter and speak to your spouse or one thing.

SHAPIRO: Wow. That was such an unique interview. I really feel like I ought to get a Pulitzer for this act of journalism that I simply carried out.

ALVAREZ: (Laughter).

SHAPIRO: Actor, comic, filmmaker Brian Jordan Alvarez, aka TJ Mack, it has been a pleasure, and I hope I by no means have to listen to this track once more.

ALVAREZ: (Laughter) Thanks a lot. Thanks.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SITTING (FEAT. TJ MACK) [JOSH MAC VERSION]”)

ALVAREZ: (As TJ Mack, singing) You need to be sitting. Sitting is the other of standing. Sitting is the other of operating round.

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