These days, it seems as if YouTube is used primarily to watch random streamers, reaction videos, or old sports highlights that you forgot that you loved.
But there was a time, not all that long ago, that the site’s foundation was built on strange, inexplicable clips that would envelope the online world and be the only thing that you and your friends would quote for weeks at a time.
Those days are gone. But the videos remain as both a reminder of a simpler time and a tribute to the type of content that the site – now valued at $550 billion – was built upon.
10 Videos That Built The Foundations Of YouTube
Before there were the Paul Brothers or the iShowSpeeds of the world, there were a number of unheard of content creators, mostly comedians, posting their ridiculous, often absurd skits on YouTube hoping that maybe 500 people might find them interesting.
Sometimes, however, those skits or videos broke contain and became something larger than anyone could’ve imagined. It’s those types of videos, which you often only found about through word of mouth, that turned YouTube from a niche video site into one of the biggest websites in the world.
In this article, we’re counting down 10 videos that helped put YouTube on the map.
10) Antoine Dodson ‘Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife’ Interview (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNhaLUT520&t=1s
Antoine Dobson came along later in the YouTube era, but his impact cannot be overstated.
In 2010, Dodson was interviewed by a local NBC affiliate after an alleged intruder attempted to sexually assault his sister in her second-story bedroom, in Huntsville, Alabama’s Lincoln Park housing projects. What came next, nobody could’ve imagined.
“Well, obviously we have a rapist in Lincoln Park. He’s climbin’ in yo windows, he’s snatchin’ yo people up, tryin’ to rape ’em. So y’all need to hide yo kids, hide yo wife, and hide yo husband cause they rapin’ err’body out here,” Dobson said.
From that point on, “Hide yo kids, hide you wife” was a part of internet lore than still holds up today.
9) My New Haircut (2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5QJ9i_o5vo
Originally posted in 2007 on the account BroskiTV, “My New Haircut” was an extremely of its time comedy skit that parodied New York and New Jersey Italians well before “Jersey Shore” hit the scene.
The skit, which had more than 31 million views before it was removed in December 2011, show’s the main character, “Broski,” monologuing while getting ready for a night at the bar. He talks at length about his blowout haircut, later made famous by Pauly D on “Jersey Shore,” and the video repeatedly cuts to him posing in the mirror, lifting at the gym and yelling “Jagerbombs” at a bar.
If you didn’t go around to your friends in 2007 and repeatedly yell “Jagerbombs,” were you even on the internet at the time?
8) Keyboard Cat (2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J—aiyznGQ
What more is there to be said about “Keyboard Cat?” The original clip comes from a home video filmed all the way back in 1984, but it was uploaded to YouTube in 2007 and immediately took off, to the point where it currently has 81 million views.
The beauty lies in the simplicity. It’s a cat, wearing a shirt, and playing the keyboard with an extremely 1980s instrumental playing in the background. Cats don’t do that! What a ridiculous video!
Sometimes, viral videos don’t need to be complex. A lot of people love cats, and especially when they’re doing things that cats aren’t supposed to do. Keyboard Cat took on a life of its own and has since led to several parodies and additional fame for its creator, Charlie Schmidt.
7) Badgers: Animated Music Video (2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIyixC9NsLI&list=RDEIyixC9NsLI&start_radio=1
By the time YouTube began in 2005, “Badgers” had already gone viral on several other clip sites. But when it hit YouTube, it went absolutely bananas.
Remember earlier in this article when he said that the early days of YouTube were often obscure and inexplicable? Well, here’s your shining example.
I can’t exactly tell you why a video about dancing, animated badgers with occasional cameos from a snake and some mushrooms was so captivating. But I assure you that it was!
Like all of the above clips, the video was wildly quotable and quickly cemented its place in internet lore.
6) Shoes (2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCF3ywukQYA&list=RDwCF3ywukQYA&start_radio=1
Comedian Liam Kyle Sullivan went immensely viral in 2007 with his comedic song “Shoes,” which features him cross-dressed as a woman named Kelly and repeatedly talking about shopping for shoes.
The video ultimately won him a People’s Choice Award for Best User Generated Video in 2008 and it currently has north of 70 million views.
After being disappointed by her birthday gift, “Kelly” leaves her house to go get some shoes with her friends, repeatedly stating “let’s get some shoes” as a techno beat plays before stating “these shoes rock. These shoes suck.”
The video was very much of its time, but at that time, it was wildly popular.
5) Charlie The Unicorn (2008)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsGYh8AacgY
Originally released in 2005 and later published on YouTube in 2008, “Charlie the Unicorn” is the peak of YouTube of absurdist humor.
The four-minute video, which has more than 44 million views, features Charlie, a lethargic and pessimistic unicorn. Charlie then journeys to magical Candy Mountain with two other unicorns, only to learn that he has been tricked by the two other unicorns.
After entering Candy Mountain, Charly is knocked unconscious, and when he wakes up, the two other unicorns have removed his kidney.
If this sounds insane to you, yeah, welcome to the internet in the mid-2000s.
4) Charlie Bit My Finger (2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM
Behold, a much more wholesome video involving a main character named Charlie!
In 2007, brothers Harry Davies-Carr (aged 3) and Charlie Davies-Carr (aged 1) went viral in “Charlie Bit My Finger,” which, as it sounds, features the the younger Davies-Carr brother chomping on his older brother’s finger, prompting Harry to laugh and say in a delightful British accent, “Charlie bit me.”
But when Harry sticks his finger near his brother’s mouth again, Charlie bites down harder, eliciting a much less fun reaction.
The video is straightforward, short, and wholesome, which is why it now has an astonishing 897 million views on YouTube.
3) Drinking Out Of Cups (2006)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdU635esPpQ
Aaand we’re back with the absurdist humor!
In 2003, Dan Deacon released the track “Drinking Out of Cups,” which was later animated and posted on YouTube in 2006 by Liam Lynch.
The insane video features a talking lizard with a New York accent, seemingly ranting away about anything and everything that came to mind. It immediately went viral thanks to quotes such as the namesake, “Drinking outta cups, being a b—-” and “Oh I’m king of the trees, I’m the tree-meister.”
Many surmised that Deacon was on drugs when recording the track, but he later claimed that “I recorded myself watching television with the sound off doing a character that was meant to embody long island culture (where i grew up). i was NOT on acid when i made this piece. i have NEVER DONE ACID.”
2) Chocolate Rain (2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA&list=RDEwTZ2xpQwpA&start_radio=1
In 2007, Tay Zonday and his absurdly deep voice went viral for the song “Chocolate Rain.”
The contents of the song itself, while comical, are really irrelevant. The virality here comes from Zonday’s unbelievable voice and facial expressions, the former especially. Zonday sounds like he swallowed a man twice his age and twice his size.
Ironically, the clip first went viral on 4Chan before that site became a breeding ground for the modern alt-right.
“I’m pretty sure the ‘Chocolate Rain’ attention started as a joke at 4chan.org, an internet forum that is credited with starting lots of popular internet phenomena,’ Zonday said of his fame. “It spread to a general audience and people started uploading spoofs. I don’t know what causes people to listen to my music. If I could speak it, there would be no reason to write songs.”
1) Leeroy Jenkins (2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLyOj_QD4a4&t=1s
While the current version on YouTube was uploaded in 2014, “Leeroy Jenkins” first hit the site in 2005 and was one of the first truly viral videos on the site.
The video features a group of “World of Warcraft” players discussing a well-organized battle plan. Leeroy, however, had other ideas, shouting his name and diving headfirst into combat while completely ignoring the plan.
The group of players are all killed as their plan completely falls apart, and they can be heard flipping out and complaining, with one uttering simply, “God d— it, Leeroy.”
The beauty in this video lies in the simplicity and the reliability. “Leeroy Jenkins!” quickly became a battle cry for people who dive into a dangerous situation without abandon, and seemingly everyone can relate to the frustration of a friend or coworker ruining a well-constructed plan by going off script.
In essence, Leeroy Jenkins became one of the first real widespread memes of the internet era, and it has stood the test of time, still being referenced 20 years later.
The post 10 Iconic Videos That Put YouTube On The Map appeared first on BroBible.
10 Iconic Videos That Put YouTube On The Map
Pinoy Human Rights
0 Comments