You sit down and open up YouTube, prompted by your friends to check out this “awesome new song” that they just heard.
You search “Rebecca Black” and click on a song named “Friday.” All of a sudden, your ears are assaulted by a symphony of auto-tuned, prepubescent voices with sinus infections. No, you have not experienced hell; you have experienced the lyrical sensations of R.B., Rebecca Black.
Whether she likes it or not, the 13-year-old teenager from Orange County, California has become the newest viral sensation that has spiraled out of control. In just two weeks, Black’s video went from 400 views to a staggering 43,000,000, with no signs of stopping.
Black has also surged through the iTunes Top Downloaded list, beating other famous teen pop stars such as Justin Bieber.
Black’s video has a staggering 389,859 dislikes on YouTube, one of the highest any YouTube video has ever garnered.
Also, if one were to read the comments of said video, they would see post upon post bashing the teenager about her voice, looks and song.
The girl is just 13, so why the hate? Most of the hate stems from the uninspired, almost comical lyrics that she sings, as well as the tone in which she sings it.
Many of the lyrics of the song, such as “which seat should I take,” and “fun fun fun fun,” sound so elementary for a pop song that the juxtaposition is hilarious.
Although the lyrics are amusing, the brunt of the jokes comes from her horribly auto-tuned voice. Her voice is butchered by auto-tune, and she ‘sings’ monotone, while the music video goes on to showcase some of the worst cinematography the world has witnessed.
The video shows teenagers that can’t be older than 13 driving cars, dancing on top of a moving convertible and other horrors. Most of the time they don’t even look like they know what they’re doing; it’s like the video was an unintentional parody of modern pop music.
Many music critics have denounced the video as “the worst video ever made.” When Black read the reviews, she responded “When I first saw it… I cried. Being a teenager, you care what other people think about you.”
Black then said she isn’t bothered by the cyber bullying comments on the internet because she no longer reads them.
Black has also garnered the attention of several concerned parents. Some parents believe that her song encouraged children to skip school to hang out with their friends and drive cars underage.
They also think that Black’s video promotes people to dance on top of moving convertibles, an extremely dangerous and stupid thing to do.
Regardless, Black is now famous, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Black has now appeared on several television shows to explain her song, such as ABC News, The Today Show and Good Morning America.
The surprising thing is when she showcased her voice on a different song without auto-tune it wasn’t so bad. This shows that the video is more of the director’s fault than her own.
Rumors have surfaced that Black will be on tour soon, with a visit near us at Fair Oaks Mall on May 3. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going; if not for the music, for the comedy. Better start reserving my tickets and deciding “which seat should I take.”
