Epsiode 10: Black Friday

It’s the first episode back after the sheer happened in 2011 – the release of a viral force of Steven Seagal’s life and times video hit that would unite people across knocked us for a six. The vibes were the internet in a whirlwind of digital too powerful and we had to take some criticism. time off to recuperate. But we’re back and ready to fist fight a million martial I’m Alex – this is Pop Culture Boner – the arts guys. It’s also the 10th episode of podcast edition, and today I’m thinking the season! So, we’re obviously going to about Friday by Rebecca Black. look at something that turns 10 this year. Sometimes I think about how the internet Now, I’ve got to confess my memory is works now and I’m like “Thank god I’m not super good, in the sense that I have not 13”. I mean there’s lots of reasons never had a particularly strong handle on to thank god you’re not 13 – puberty the concept of time. When did something sucks. If anyone listening remembers me happen? Yesterday? 4 months ago? Who at 13… no you don’t. But like, when I can say? was 13 puberty didn’t have the potential to be unforgivingly immortalised via So, what happened in 2011 that was digital streaming services. Which is important? I had to a list, and what happened to Rebecca Black. On the only thing that really stood out was February 10th 2011, Friday exploded that 2011 was the year Charlie Sheen onto the internet– a heavily autotuned, had that huge meltdown and was fired deeply silly pop song counting down the from his extremely high paying job on days of the week, with such profound the sit-com Two and Half Men. Which is lyrics as “everybody’s looking forward a sort of weird blip in the cultural radar to the weekend, fun, fun, fun, fun”, it where the phrases used by a man clearly was accompanied by an overly produced in the midst of a drug and alcohol-related and very awkward video hosted on the breakdown somehow slipped into the Ark Music YouTube channel. Exploded is cultural lexicon and suddenly everyone a bit of an overstatement – the video’s was saying things like “tiger blood” and first month online was pretty uneventful, “winning”. Which now that I’m writing but after it was picked up by a couple of it out is probably pretty an interesting middle-aged male comedians on indictment of the human race, but I don’t it suddenly jumped from being something have the emotional bandwidth to talk that a couple of Rebecca Black’s family about the ways we report on mental members have watched to something that illness and celebrity. was being lorded as the worst song and music video ever made. It was spreading Instead, I cast my net around a little like wildfire and suddenly Black had the further and I realised that there is most disliked video on YouTube (bumping another extremely important event that out ’s Baby with 1.192 million dislikes). She had redefined the to monetise their videos and receive concept of virality, and suddenly the advertising revenue for around 4 years. internet was awash with dubstep covers, A trivial fact, but it meant that at that death metal covers, and covers by late- point ‘YouTube sensation’ wasn’t like… night talk show hosts. Black herself was an actual viable occupation that people also inescapable, popping up on the had parlayed into McMansions, millions Billboard charts, morning and late-night of dollars and many, many makeup TV, and in music videos. Which lines. In fact, if you look at retrospective is a lot for a 13-year-old. interviews with early success stories from the platform, a lot of them talk But over the last few years, Black has about the first times they integrated been slowly reinventing herself. Friday branded content into their videos, and is still her most streamed song with the incredible backlash they received over 12million streams on Spotify, but from their audiences for doing so. Where she’s writing and releasing new music now we just accept that even if we have independently, she’s been touring and an adblocker, someone is likely to try and she’s got a YouTube channel that’s all sell us a VPN service or meal subscription her own. So, I thought on the 10-year box as part of the video content, in 2011 anniversary of Friday we could take a viewers were automatically suspicious of little look at the rehabilitation of Rebecca anything that was deemed to be out of Black. What does it mean to be one of step with the perceived authenticity of the first people to almost have your YouTube’s content. life ruined by YouTube virality? Why do we look back so fondly on the bad pop On top of this, in 2009, Vevo was stylings of a tween? And, perhaps most launched as a joint venture between importantly – do we chill in the front seat Sony, Universal and EMI to push out their or the back seat? Which seat should we music videos as premium content for take for maximum partying, partying, advertisers on YouTube, with revenue yeah? Let’s get into it. being split between Google and Vevo. In 2013, 90.3% of views on music videos I think to fully understand how we went to the 2.5% of artists categorized let a song by a literal child become so as “mega”, “mainstream” and “mid- universally-loathed she ended up being sized” (perhaps unsurprisingly, largely home-schooled, we’ve got to cast our signed under the big-three record labels minds back to the internet in 2011. Now, mentioned earlier). What this meant was I know it doesn’t feel like that that long that while the majority of the billions of ago, but time has soldiered on at a rate hours actual content on YouTube is user- that is beyond my comprehension and generated, for a long time (and perhaps yours. We’re just slowly marching toward still, to some extent) people associated the void. Which means you probably music content on the platform with big- don’t remember the internet being that budget, big label productions. They different in 2011. But it was. Importantly expected musicians on the platform, and at that point, content creators on their accompanying videos, to be either YouTube’s platform had only been able slick and well-produced, or obviously DIY in a way that heralded them as not being hundreds of videos on the Ark channel? big or mainstream. Is it really the worst song on there? Look, I’m not a music guy, so I couldn’t tell you. What’s weird about Rebecca Black’s All of them seem equally bad but none Friday is that it kind of sits somewhere of them inspire incredible vitriol in me in the middle – the song and video were because I have at least two functioning produced as part of a package deal with brain cells. What I can say is that the a now-defunct company called Ark Music beauty of internet virality is that Rebecca Factory. Ark’s premise was that kids (or Black has told this story hundreds of their parents) paid between $2,000 times to hundreds of media outlets as and $4,000, and the company would an adult. One of the things that really write and record a song, and produce an stood out to me in a retelling to Buzzfeed accompanying music video. As you would was that initially Ark had sent her a probably expect results are… varied at song about having a crush on a boy, and best, but for all intents and purposes, she’d rejected it because the concept of they were professionally recorded and boys and dating was scary. Ya know? produced, making them slicker than the Cos she was 13. And I mean… also now average DIY piece. Friday didn’t look a lesbian. But primarily at that point, or sound like a teen in their bedroom 13. So instead, they sent her Friday, mucking around with recording software which she said resonated more with her and a video camera. And it wasn’t. This because it was about meeting friends and led to what musicologist Paula Harper hanging out, so that was the one that calls ‘context collapse’. Essentially, she eventually went with. Now, not all when audiences approached Friday of Ark’s videos are up anymore (I think and by extension, Rebecca Black, the because artists…or parents of had the YouTube environment at the time meant option of taking them down), but of the that rather than approaching this as a ones that are still up and feature young comparatively low-budget production women, much of the content is about by a Glee-obsessed 13-year-old whose crushes, boys and dating. Which I think parents wanted her to have a good audiences are probably more willing to time, they approached it as a proposed let slide because we expect teen girls to competitor to other pop products on the be kind of adult-like, or at least pretend market. It was seen as an attempt to buy to be. But Friday doesn’t really give a career for a spoiled rich kid that was you space to forget that Black is a teen, encroaching on an organic creative space. because all of its subject matter points to At least part of the scathing response to it being by a teen about being a teen. So, its overall presence on YouTube was due while it may not be the worst thing Ark to an audience already wary of being ever produced sonically, it was a perfect sold to, believing that they were being target for the ire of the middle-aged male sold to. comedians, because what’s worse than a teen girl? A teen girl who isn’t playing up But Rebecca Black wasn’t the only some Lolita fantasy, probably. Ironically, teenage girl to put out a song through all the hatred drove the song onto the Ark Music, so why Friday out of the charts, ultimately doing the thing people were mad about in the first place – which society managed to land on the concept was giving Rebecca Black the footing for of influencers, lots of women in music a musical career. or movies around this time were hung out to dry in tabloid media for the crime Which brings me around to the of being too visible. And now that the reinvention of Rebecca Black. Over rest of the world has caught up, a lot the past decade something kind of of those celebrities are having career fascinating has happened. People kind of renaissances. Girls who were too young love Friday now, and not even ironically. at the time to fully absorb or internalise It definitely started as irony. As the video the narratives being pushed about these gained traction, while comedians like the women are revisiting them as icons. awful Daniel Tosh were making a series Hyper-visibility can’t really be a crime of hideous jokes about it, the funniest anymore, when it can be moulded into position you could possibly take on a career on YouTube or Instagram. We something so universally reviled was to understand now that virality is both declare it good and worthy. These takes unplanned and can either make or started early. In March 2011, right as break you. And now that we have that the ‘we all hate a teenager” train really knowledge, we can better appreciate started to gain momentum, Rolling Stone the context of Friday as something that had already run a piece by Matt Perpetua was unplanned and effectively made by titled Why Rebecca Black’s much-mocked a child. No tricks here – just kids chilling viral hit Friday is actually good. The in the front seat, kicking in the back premise of the article is that Rebecca seat. I think once you’ve thought through Black’s bizarre tone and the song’s that component, you sort of swing back mimicry of pop music staples forces us around to a unironic defence of Friday. It to reckon with formulaic pop as a whole, doesn’t magically make the song good – and that its delivery and packaging it’s as lyrically silly as it ever was. But if unintentionally hits the same comedic you’re accepting that it’s not some sort notes as SNL musical sketches like those of attempt to buy fame, it’s much more produced by The Lonely Island. Which is likely to inspire a 1,500 word love letter certainly a take, and was definitely one than it is a mean comedy sketch about of the kinder ones that emerged at the the idiocy of teen girls. time. Which in turn, has allowed Rebecca Black But that logic doesn’t really explain to build a sustainable online presence. the enduring popularity of the song. Early internet examples of video virality I actually think, as we came to better were often really removed from their understand the nature of viral fame and creators, or the people who were in internet celebrity, we started to gently them weren’t interested in engaging unpick some of the context collapse with their new-found fame. Now that that I mentioned earlier. We’ve talked we have a stronger understanding of about the weirdly amped up misogyny internet virality, there’s been a recent of entertainment media from like 2006- trend with a lot of millennial media 2012 on the podcast a few times. Before outfits where they dig back through memes to get to the bottom of the story. absorb a lot of the narrative that was Buzzfeed has a series called I Became A being pushed about her. So, what they Meme, which talks to people whose face get instead is a really good-natured and has become visual shorthand for feelings honest version of events in Black’s voice. on the internet. VICE has a similar series She got the big break that at lot of kids which digs into niche digital happenings dream about, but she’s upfront about and huge viral moments. Rebecca Black the cost. It’s authentic and surprisingly has appeared on both these channels unguarded given the amount of vitriol attempting to explain Friday. We actually that came her way at a young age. have her live and in-person on YouTube to tell us about how sudden and accidental It probably helps that she is actually fame impacted her as a teenager. In also a reasonably talented musician. For her own words, she didn’t do the video its 10 year anniversary, Black released thinking “that was going to be the thing a hyper-pop remix of Friday featuring that starts everything”. It was a fun thing , Big Freda (the Queen to do that she didn’t have any creative of Bounce) and 3OH!3, who you may control over, and which she thought her remember from their 00s hits and the grandma would see. When it started to iconic lyric “Tell your boyfriend if he says take on a life of its own, she was suddenly he’s got beef/ That I’m a vegetarian and confronted with adults promising to help I ain’t fucking scared of him”. That’s a her capitalise on her fame. combination which displays an incredible amount of curatorial ability, even if it is a What stands out about Rebecca Black is nightmare. On a side note: one her decision to engage with Friday on her of the reasons I know that I’m getting own terms. She hired a team of people to old is that I know what hyperpop is and I help her with the influx of opportunities wish that I liked it because it seems cool, that came her way following the video’s but actually I just think it is very noisy “success” – which makes sense because and I am so very tired. Young enough she as a child and her parents were to know hyperpop exists, old enough doctors. No one had entertainment to wish the kids would just be quiet for industry experience. And she admits to a goddamn minute. This is the duality feeling really naïve and ashamed when of being in your 30s. Anyway, she can confronted with all of these adult opinions sing, and she’s making gay pop songs of her. Which is why it’s so incredible that about getting back with your girlfriend. she not only fired her entire team 16 and It’s wholesome and stylish, and most started uploading videos to YouTube, but importantly it feels like it’s coming from continued working on her own music. Rebecca Black. The audience build has been slow but steady and she has a reasonably sized All this is to say – Happy Birthday Friday internet fanbase – large enough to keep and congratulations to Rebecca Black for her employed. Black’s fanbase is largely managing to survive a viral shitstorm and people her own age, meaning that when become a well-adjusted, well-dressed, she was swamped with hate throughout almost-24 year old. I’m not even being the 2010s, they were too young to a little bit sarcastic when I say that it’s extremely impressive. This episode premiered on 28th April 2021. So, that was our revisitation of Friday. I would be lying if I said it had not been in Episode written by Alex Johnson and my head for at least a week. Lyrically it produced by Wes Fahey. may just be a list of the days of the week, but it’s certainly catchy. If you would Theme tune by Wes Fahey. (Soundcloud: like to discuss either hyperpop or your lee snipes) preference for front seat vs. back seat in the lead up to the weekend’s fun, fun, Visit us: fun, fun… talk to me about it next time you see me at the pub! Peace! Web: www.popcultureboner.com

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