A global catastrophe wiped out every man on Earth except two from Colorado, and the only survivors were wearing nothing but briefs and neon singlets. This was the premise of the music video for Don't Trust Me, a song released in 2008 that would become the breakout hit for the electro-pop duo 3OH!3. The video, which premiered on the 20th of October 2008, opened with text typed on a screen declaring a virus of catastrophic proportions had attacked the entire male population. The narrative then shifted to a series of chaotic photo shoots where Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte posed as models in a hotel, wrestlers in a high school gym, and cavemen in the prehistoric era. The clip concluded with a mushroom cloud and the words Transmission terminated, followed by an apology. The duo spent sixteen to eighteen hours filming the video, a grueling process that left Motte exhausted but proud of the raw energy and strangeness they managed to capture. The video earned a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, cementing the song's place in pop culture history.
Lyrics That Divided
The song Don't Trust Me sparked immediate controversy over its lyrics, with critics labeling the content as misogynistic and offensive while the artists insisted it was a joke. The track was written by Sean Foreman, Nathaniel Motte, and Benny Blanco, with production handled by Matt Squire and the duo themselves. One of the most contentious lines, Shh, girl, shut your lips, Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips, was thought up by Foreman, who asked Motte to sing it despite his fear that it would generate significant backlash. Motte had initially wanted to cut the song from their second album, Want, because he was worried about the reaction to specific lines, but his father reassured him that people would understand the humor. Another line, tell your boyfriend if he says he's got beef, that I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fucking scared of him, came from Foreman, who was a vegan at the time and viewed the lyric as a good punchline. Critics like Lou Thomas of the BBC called the song lyrically disturbing, while Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly argued that no amount of loincloths could make up for recording such lines. Despite the criticism, the duo maintained that the song was tongue-in-cheek, with Motte later telling Paper magazine that they came up with the funny line and decided to keep it because people would get the joke.The Chart Breakout
Don't Trust Me became the band's first top ten hit in the United States, reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week ending the 7th of May 2009, after selling 123,000 copies. The song debuted at number 99 on the chart on the week ending the 15th of November 2008, and eventually peaked at number seven in its twenty-third week on the chart. It achieved massive success on U.S. Mainstream Top 40 radio, topping the chart for a week, and performed well internationally, reaching the top three in Australia and the top ten in New Zealand. The song also reached number five in Finland and entered the UK singles chart at number 21 on the 19th of July 2009, before re-entering the UK Top 40 at number 22 on the 26th of April 2010. In April 2009, the song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, denoting sales of one million units. As of June 2013, the single had sold 3,322,000 digital units in the United States, and by July 2023, it was certified five-times platinum. The song also found a place in the game Tap Tap Revenge for the iPhone OS and was featured in television shows including The Real World, Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, and The Hills.