It's almost scary to consider the colossal leverage that Youtube has on the current generation.
With 1,318,834 subscribers, Kevin Wu, aka "kevjumba", is currently ranked as the 13th most subscribed Youtube channel. With humorous videos with titles such as "Girls are like M&Ms" to guest features by Jessica Alba and Jalen Rose, Kevin Wu has the capabilities to influence millions of "youtubing" minds. His videos receive from anywhere between 1 to 3 million views. Such a guy must be doing something right in terms of rhetoric, no?
I decided to consider what exactly Kevjumba does to capture his audience. What kinds of rhetoric does he use, both consciously and unconsciously, to convey his messages? From the beginning of the video, one notices the casual and engaging mood of Kevin's speech that results from his ease with the extemporaneous mode of speech. Rhetorical technique number 1: check.
The video at hand discusses how the music of today's mainstream media is, for lack of a better word, rubbish. To make his point, Kevjumba takes the line "brush my teeth with a bottle of jack" from Ke$ha's popular song "Tik Tok", and he carries out the line into action--literally. He and his friends experiment with brushing their teeth with a cup of whiskey and crest toothpaste. Mmm...delightful, no? This technique not only shows how ridiculous the lyrics are, but conveys a deep impression critiquing modern society's conformation to our pop culture. Kev takes what is overlooked and overly accepted, and examines it with an approach that the audience can easily appreciate and understand.
Overall, one could consider this video to be a simple video of a guy trying to be funny. But what Kevjumba has done is that he has created a medium in which he can attract the attention of many while conveying an important social message. Parents could go on and on to their children about how trashy the music in their iPods are, but no quantity of nagging could amount to the subtle, but strong, influence a video like this leaves on the mind. No kid, not matter how deeply rooted in Ke$sha's world or strongly infected with Bieber Fever could deny that the lyrics of this generation's music are...struggling. Now if only all public service announcements, news reports, and lectures from wise old parents could produce the same effect...
I definitely agree with your viewpoint, as well as Kevjumba's. It is unfortunate that music of our generation has signifacntly lost meaning. However, it is people like Kevjumba who bring this to mind and may in fact have an influence. His witty, direct style is sure to turn heads.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat agree with what Kevin is saying in his video. While some songs are only about sex and drugs, some of the most popular songs on the radio have good messages. Take Pink's latest hit, "Raise Your Glass," in which she says
ReplyDelete"So if you're too school for cool
And you're treated like a fool
You could choose to let it go
We can always, we can always
party on our own"
This song appeals to outcasts in society, and is also loved by the general normal people. Ke$sha is an extreme of the music industry, and while I'm not encouraging people to go out and try to emulate her, not all of the songs played on the radio are about getting drunk and hooking up.
I agree that lyrics today can be complete rubbish, and the way Kevjumba explains it he makes it pallatable through humor (and his own brand of Ke$ha show and tell). Luckily, as Tessa eloquently pointed out, there are many songs out there that generate positive messages and those are the ones that we should be able to connect with the strongest.
ReplyDelete