Here’s The Story Behind MAGIC!, That Band That Sings That Random Reggae Song, ‘Rude’

by Tamar Anitai 33 mins ago

If you listen to the radio, then it’s likely that “Rude,” the sleeper hit of the summer, has been playing on a dubiously welcome loop in your head since October 2013. Or… you have no idea what I’m talking about or if the band is called Rude and the song’s called “MAGIC!” or the song’s called “Rude” and the band’s called “MAGIC!” (It’s the latter.)

“Rude” has been quietly crawling up the charts — all the way up to the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Digital Downloads chart behind Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.” The multi-platinum adult-contemporary beachcore track is currently chilling at the top of the charts in the United States, New Zealand and Australia. If Iggy’s “Fancy” is the audacious misfit pep rally of summer jams, “Rude” is right behind it bringing up the rear, politely golf-clapping to announce its presence, in the most unassuming Canadian of ways.

So how are there members of the general music-consuming human race who still can’t tell “Rude” from MAGIC!? Somehow we’ve let ourselves become a people divided between those who’ve never heard the tepid, reggae-Lite radio hit that feels like Sublime and Train hopped a plane for a week’s vacation in Montego Bay, and people who’ve collectively clicked on the video 33,046,117 times.

You might know MAGIC!, but do you really know MAGIC!?

If you find yourself humming a few bars of a Police song that isn’t a Police song that isn’t a Jason Mraz song that invaded your brain when the breezy, sing-songy hook got stuck in your head when you heard it blasting out of a car, know that it’s not magic. It’s MAGIC!. And it came from Canada. Here’s what else you need to know about summer’s “Rude” boys.

MAGIC! is from Canada.

The lead singer’s name is Nasri Atweh, he’s Palestinian-Canadian, and he kinda looks like Gavin Rossdale and Tony Kanal’s long-lost brother.

NASRI

He’s fond of knit caps.

rude

And fedoras.

NASRI

He and Adam Messinger are part of a songwriting/ production duo The Messengers. They’ve written A LOT of songs, including tracks for NKOTB and Michael Bolton.
bolton

Nasri met Scooter Braun in a hotel lobby.

… Which is how he ended up co-writing and co-producing music for fellow Canadian Justin Bieber, including the songs “Up,” “That Should Be Me,” “Mistletoe,” “All Around the World,” “As Long As You Love Me,” and “Never Say Never.”