Last Halloween, a prominent LA radio station dropped a bonus track from Drake’s 2011 platinum album Take Care. And with this world premiere of “The Motto,” the masses fell under the seductive spell of YOLO. YOLO — which, for those of you over 35, stands for “you only live once” — is hotter than Hansel right now, asserting itself at the ends of millions of sentences and tweets over recent weeks. With a sound that rolls off the tongue like Jell-O and a versatile message that can excuse away a range of risqué behaviors from snorting an illicit drug to wearing non-matching socks to class, YOLO is becoming as ubiquitous in youth culture as yoga pants. It’s the “carpe diem” for young people too busy living to learn Latin. And while YOLO is experiencing a bit of negative blowback on social media sites, I generally remain supportive of any phrase or fad, like planking or Kony, that reaches widespread viral prominence in this age of copious internet content, even if the premise of the fad — like Kony — is a little suspect.
Original Author: Brian Gordon