Posted Monday, May 14, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
There has been so many serious treatises about Childish Gambino's "This is America," an imaginative, mesmerizing, disturbing video by Donald Glover, raised in Stone Mountain.
But sometimes, you just need a good laugh because aren't we all easily distracted? Someone on YouTube named Loti last week synced the first minute of his song to Carly Rae Jepsen's cherubic pop tart of a hit song "Call Me Maybe." And it somehow works in the weirdest way. Heck, the point where Glover shoots the hooded dude syncs just as "Call Me Maybe" hits the chorus and his dance steps work just right with Jepsen's beats.
While "This is America" has passed the 110 million viewer point after eight days, Loti has gotten an impressive 2.3 million views after three days. Reaction was largely positive: 74,000 thumbs up, 2,900 thumbs down.
Loti responded this way: "I just want to make this clear, my intentions weren't to be disrespectful to the message of the song. There's some very messed up things going on in America right now, racism wise. There's no denying it. This is just a sh**post that spiraled out of control. I made it in 30 minutes and posted it to have a laugh with my friends. It's not meant to offend, but for laughter. The original video for TIA caused a great conversation, and still is. But most of the energy surrounding it is negative. I wasn't purposefully trying to be ignorant to the climate we're in, but i think the fact that so many people of all races are enjoying this is something to look at. It's just a meme made to laugh at, nothing else."
This type of syncing goes back decades to the time someone matched up "The Wizard of Oz" to the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon."
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