[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmSbXsFE3l8]
UBIQUITY Expanded from a fragment in last fall’s Pitch Perfect to a full-length single, “Cups” is nearly double-platinum
LONGEVITY Kendrick’s sweet, family-friendly recording has been rising up the pop chart since January.
SOCIAL POWER Dozens of YouTube tutorials demonstrate how to play the song’s distinctive plastic-cup beat.
ROOTS Kendrick learned it from a 2011 video by Anna Burden, by way of Lulu and the Lampshades, via a 1931 Carter Family tune.
CONTROVERSY Please, someone, think of the cups.