Arnold Schwarzenegger Just Dropped a Rap Video Called ‘Pump It Up’ And It’s So Bad It’s Good
“Hey, I’m Arnold Schwarzenegger and listen carefully…”
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Seven-time Mr. Olympia, action movie icon, former Governor of California, and now…rapper?
Seriously. The Terminator: Dark Fate actor has inexplicably teamed up with Austrian singer Andreas Gabalier to co-write and perform “Pump It Up (The Motivation Song).”
The duo even made a music video, which has already racked up nearly 1.3 million views on YouTube in less than two weeks.
Never mind that the beat sounds like it was composed by a bad Christian rock band or that some of the lyrics are a little questionable (Ah-nuld tries to rhyme “fail” with “gain”)—we challenge anyone not to feel the urge to bang out some reps or run up a hill after listening to Schwarzenegger’s verse:
“Hey, I’m Arnold Schwarzenegger and listen carefully/ Dig deep down and ask yourself, who do you want to be/ Not what, but who – if you believe success will come to you/ Work like hell, trust yourself, and all your dreams come true.”
Other lines reference Schwarzenegger movie staples like Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator right up until the song’s final phrase: “I’ll be back.”
“Break some rules, knock the wall, don’t be afraid to fail/ You have to think outside the box, I say no pain no gain/ I don’t want to hear it cannot be done, always give something back/ My name is Arnold Schwarzenegger and I’ll be back.”
The video itself plays like a jokey Saturday Night Live sketch. Clips of Schwarzenegger in his bodybuilding prime are spliced in between inspirational b-roll of California beaches and shots of both performers pumping iron at Venice Beach’s Gold’s Gym and recording in the studio.
Many of the video’s comments are written in German, but one English-speaking viewer hit the nail on the head in describing how we all feel about “Pump It Up.”
“This is so bad that it’s actually good. Can’t wait to play this in people’s cars when they tell me to put on some music.”
If you agree, feel free to buy the single from Universal.
And in case you missed it, see Schwarzenegger reprise his role as a time-traveling cyborg in the latest trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate below: