Chet Faker Covers Blackstreet’s “No Diggity”

Chet Faker by Larry Hirshowitz

Australian singer/songwriter/producer/avid tweeter Nicholas James Murphy aka Chet Faker broke into the collective consciousness of music fans with his cover of Blackstreet’s No Diggity when it was featured in a 2013 Superbowl commercial for Beck’s beer.

During his recent visit to the KCRW studios in support of his debut full-length album “Built On Glass,” he talked to Jason about the song that propelled his career and how he ended up covering a song nearly 20 years old.

“I never decided to cover it. I recorded that in one session in 2011 in one night. I remember it was a tuesday night.” He recalled the exact night of the week because he DeeJayed a club every Tuesday night and would get home late.

Still awake from the night he began going to work in his home studio. “I did the beat and then added the Wurlitzer part and I had that song stuck in my head from the night. And just because it was late at night I just started singing. I had to sing soft because of my neighbor was home. And it just happened. ”

When Jason asked why he thinks it took off, Murphy offered his theory about the popularity of covers saying that people want things that are both new and familiar. A cover is both and you can also sing along to it.

We don’t disagree and we’re certainly glad he decided to stay up late that night.

Check out the full Chet Faker session at KCRW.com and find his live rendition of No Diggity below.

Chet Faker Live On KCRW — “No Diggity”