Warning: Video contains graphic images
Music is much like a labyrinth. Songs immersively take us through maze-like turns of emotions and before we know it, we’re dancing like crazy on top of a table or crying our sorrows away on the floor at 2am. Whether this speaks to you or a friend you might know, it stands true that music has a way of impacting us even when we least expect it and motivates us to share our finds with others; but poses the question of why and how it sticks to us in the first place?
Donald Glover, also known by his stage name Childish Gambino is an American musician, actor and director who’s song and music video “This is America” made major headlines earlier this year, sparking controversial conversations across several media platforms. The music video can be described to contain a “strong political message” (1) evidently speaking upon the problem of gun violence in the United States alongwith other issues facing “race […}and the entertainment industry” (2). It is without a doubt that a video like this would have ratings flying through the roof in a matter of days; accumulating hundreds of millions of views on the well known video-sharing website Youtube within a couple of months.
Gambino’s video stuck with a lot of people who then shared it with others, those people then sharing it with others and so on and so forth but what about it made it so engaging? Malcolm Gladwell first described the notion of “stickiness” as a means to “attract an audience’s attention.” (3) Furthermore, he mentioned that the term refers to the creation of content that propels audiences to engage in a certain way that will motivate them to share with others. Going back to Gambino’s video, it rings true that Gladwell had the right idea as his video not only captivated audiences all over the world with its “allusions of American history and pop culture” (3) but continues to be shared and discussed about today within groups of friends, classroom settings and social media platforms.
The ways in which people perceive not only music but all different sorts of material are important when it comes to how they participate in online communities. “This is America” attracted many people from all different walks of life who carried varying opinions about the music video which in turn led to the spark of blogs, videos and conversations online. Henry Jenkins made note of such a participatory culture in his introduction of “Why Media Spreads.” So the next time you find a song that speaks the secrets of the universe into you soul, share it with a friend if it sticks to you… engage in a conversation about it, you never know where it might lead.
Citations:
(1) Gorman, Sofie. “ ‘This is America’ goes viral with over 100 million views in nine days” France 24, 5 May 2018, www.france24.com/en/20180514-america-glover-childish-gambino-viral-100-million-views Accessed 30 Sept 2018.
(2) Berman, Judy, “ ‘This Is America’: 8 Things to Read About Childish Gambino’s New Music Video”, The New York Times, 8 May 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/arts/music/childish-gambino-this-is-america-roundup.html Accessed 30 Sept 2018.
(3) Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, Joshua Green et al. “Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture” New York University Press, ProQuest Ebook Central, 21 Jan 2013, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=1114591 Accessed 30 Sept 2018.