WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:04.740 Imagine spending over a year just meticulously 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:08.380 producing like 68 minutes of really aggressive, 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:10.640 totally alien sounding music. Right, blending 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:12.859 genres that basically have no business being 00:00:12.859 --> 00:00:15.000 in the same room. Exactly. And then you finally 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:17.920 finish it. And your grand business plan is to 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:21.129 just... dump it onto a random website for absolutely 00:00:21.129 --> 00:00:23.670 free. Which in the 2008 music industry, I mean, 00:00:23.829 --> 00:00:26.350 that sounded like absolute career suicide. Yeah, 00:00:26.390 --> 00:00:30.230 totally. But for the South African rap rave group, 00:00:30.589 --> 00:00:33.189 Die Antwoord, it was really just step one of 00:00:33.189 --> 00:00:36.320 this massive, heavily choreographed trap. It 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:38.479 really is completely counterintuitive to how 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:40.659 we are taught the entertainment business works, 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:43.140 because we usually treat internet virality like 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:45.259 this pressure valve, you know? Right, like a 00:00:45.259 --> 00:00:47.579 funny meme or a 10 -second clip. Yeah, and it 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:49.960 releases this massive burst of cultural energy 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:51.799 all at once. The whole world looks, and then 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:54.500 the tank is just empty. The fame vanishes as 00:00:54.500 --> 00:00:57.200 quickly as it arrived. But Diane Ward kind of 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:59.119 engineered a situation where that initial viral 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.780 explosion was just the bait. So, OK, let's unpack 00:01:02.780 --> 00:01:05.159 this. Let's do it. Because if you, the listener, 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:08.079 if you've ever felt completely overwhelmed by 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:10.959 just the sheer speed of internet culture, this 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:13.359 deep dive is definitely for you. Oh, absolutely. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:15.980 Like if you've ever wondered how on earth a bizarre 00:01:15.980 --> 00:01:19.680 15 minutes of online fame can actually be converted 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.060 into a lasting lucrative industry empire, we 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:25.840 are looking at Diant Word's 2010 debut album 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.879 today. The album S .O .S., which is sometimes 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:31.739 stylized with dollar signs. Yes, dollars. And 00:01:31.739 --> 00:01:34.000 this album is really the ultimate case study 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.180 in weaponizing internet chaos. The whole journey 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:39.480 of S .O .S. is practically a textbook on how 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:41.519 to break the traditional music industry. I mean, 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.400 every single step defies the standard playbook. 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:47.879 We really need to start back in 2008 and 2009 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.019 when the actual recording sessions for S .O .S. 00:01:50.019 --> 00:01:51.739 were happening. Right, because as we mentioned, 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:54.040 this album did not debut in physical record stores. 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:55.939 No. There was no multi -million dollar marketing 00:01:55.939 --> 00:01:57.939 rollout or anything like that. No billboards, 00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:01.400 no radio push orchestrated by some slick label 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:03.450 executive. When the music was ready, they just 00:02:03.450 --> 00:02:05.810 uploaded it as an internet -only release on their 00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:08.370 own website. You could just stream the entire 00:02:08.370 --> 00:02:10.990 thing for free. And the sheer volume of what 00:02:10.990 --> 00:02:14.189 they gave away is, frankly, staggering. It was 00:02:14.189 --> 00:02:16.169 huge. Yeah, the original digital release was 00:02:16.169 --> 00:02:20.710 18 tracks. It ran over 68 minutes. That is a 00:02:20.710 --> 00:02:23.710 massive creative output to just hand over without 00:02:23.710 --> 00:02:26.030 a paywall. Which honestly brings up a massive 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:29.069 hurdle for me. I look at this strategy, and it's 00:02:29.069 --> 00:02:32.250 like, um... setting up a free lemonade stand 00:02:32.250 --> 00:02:34.990 on the side of a busy highway. A very weird lemonade 00:02:34.990 --> 00:02:37.310 stand. Right. The lemonade you're serving is 00:02:37.310 --> 00:02:40.969 practically radioactive. It's so aggressive and 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:43.389 bizarre that people start flying in from across 00:02:43.389 --> 00:02:45.569 the globe just to taste it. But they're getting 00:02:45.569 --> 00:02:48.509 it for free. Exactly. And I have to push back 00:02:48.509 --> 00:02:50.689 on this approach a bit, because why would a band 00:02:50.689 --> 00:02:53.810 give away a 68 -minute, 18 -track digital album 00:02:53.810 --> 00:02:56.110 for free? Isn't that just bad business? You'd 00:02:56.110 --> 00:02:58.189 think so, yeah. Like, giving away your magnum 00:02:58.189 --> 00:03:01.210 opus doesn't seem like building leverage. Basic 00:03:01.210 --> 00:03:03.110 Economics says if you train your audience to 00:03:03.110 --> 00:03:05.189 expect free music, they're going to revolt when 00:03:05.189 --> 00:03:07.229 you finally put a price tag on it. Well, what's 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:09.870 fascinating here is how Dye Antwerp anticipated 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:12.409 this fundamental shift in the economy of attention. 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:14.819 What do you mean by that? Well, giving away the 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:17.340 album wasn't actually a financial loss. Because 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:20.900 in 2009, selling MP3s to an unknown fan base 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.840 was a losing battle anyway due to digital piracy. 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:25.919 Oh, right. Everybody was just downloading everything 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:29.319 illegally on LineWire anyway? Exactly. So instead, 00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:31.900 the free stream was a mechanism to just hoard 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:35.580 eyeballs. Under the old model, the record labels 00:03:35.580 --> 00:03:38.620 held the keys to the kingdom. They manufactured 00:03:38.620 --> 00:03:40.960 the audience's attention by controlling the physical 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:44.020 supply chain. Right. They printed the CDs, shipped 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:46.719 them to stores, paid for the radio placement. 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:49.979 They basically artificially restricted the supply 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:53.379 so they could charge 20 bucks a pop. Yes. But 00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:55.900 the internet completely removed that scarcity 00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:58.560 of distribution. And Die Antwoord realized the 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:01.310 new scarcity was actually a tension itself. So 00:04:01.310 --> 00:04:03.830 by giving the music away legally and easily, 00:04:04.370 --> 00:04:06.370 they just bypass those gatekeepers entirely. 00:04:06.569 --> 00:04:08.449 Right. They built a walled garden of attention 00:04:08.449 --> 00:04:10.949 on their own terms and they fueled it with these 00:04:10.949 --> 00:04:13.469 incredibly striking visuals. Like in June 2009, 00:04:13.530 --> 00:04:16.110 they released a video for the track Wattpomp. 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:19.550 But the strategy truly detonated with the massive 00:04:19.550 --> 00:04:23.350 viral hit, Enter the Ninja. Man, if you were 00:04:23.350 --> 00:04:26.810 anywhere near a computer in 2010, you definitely 00:04:26.810 --> 00:04:30.170 remember Enter the Ninja. It was just inescapable. 00:04:30.370 --> 00:04:32.410 It really was a viral juggernaut on YouTube. 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:35.670 Visually unsettling, completely left field fashion, 00:04:36.189 --> 00:04:39.129 but the hook was just undeniably catchy. And 00:04:39.129 --> 00:04:41.009 that momentum actually translated to the real 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:44.050 world too. By September 2010, Enter the Ninja 00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:46.949 had actually climbed to number 37 on the UK music 00:04:46.949 --> 00:04:50.050 charts. And hitting number 37 in a major global 00:04:50.050 --> 00:04:52.910 market like the UK is the exact moment the leverage 00:04:52.910 --> 00:04:54.790 kicks in. Because the labels have to pay attention. 00:04:54.930 --> 00:04:57.689 Exactly. A viral video with millions of views 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:00.110 is pretty easily dismissed by old school industry 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:02.970 executives as just a novelty, but a charting 00:05:02.970 --> 00:05:05.500 single. That proves the transition from passive 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:07.860 viewer to active consumer. It tells the major 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:09.839 labels there's a highly engaged audience out 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:12.060 there. Right, an audience actively seeking out 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:14.120 and consuming the music on official platforms. 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:16.139 But having millions of people download your free 00:05:16.139 --> 00:05:19.660 album creates this immediate terrifying problem 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:23.060 for a major label like Interscope who actually 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:25.399 ended up signing the band. It's a huge problem. 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:28.389 Like how do you even convince a fan to pull out 00:05:28.389 --> 00:05:30.410 their wallet for something they literally already 00:05:30.410 --> 00:05:32.589 own. Well, you have to fundamentally change the 00:05:32.589 --> 00:05:35.350 product. You can't just slap shrink wrap around 00:05:35.350 --> 00:05:38.670 an 18 -track internet phenomenon and charge standard 00:05:38.670 --> 00:05:41.290 retail price. So the transition from an indie 00:05:41.290 --> 00:05:45.029 internet project to a major label release requires, 00:05:45.029 --> 00:05:49.069 like, a complete structural teardown of the music 00:05:49.069 --> 00:05:51.250 itself. Oh, absolutely. And here's where it gets 00:05:51.250 --> 00:05:54.110 really interesting. Because the album... literally 00:05:54.110 --> 00:05:56.410 mutates at this point. It really does. It becomes 00:05:56.410 --> 00:05:58.870 this sort of shape -shifting entity depending 00:05:58.870 --> 00:06:00.970 on what platform you happen to be buying it on. 00:06:01.290 --> 00:06:02.970 Like, take the American physical release, the 00:06:02.970 --> 00:06:05.310 actual CD you buy in a big -box store. Right, 00:06:05.370 --> 00:06:07.449 what did they do with that one? Interscope took 00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:10.910 that massive 68 -minute epic and basically chopped 00:06:10.910 --> 00:06:13.470 it down to just 10 tracks. They gutted out a 00:06:13.470 --> 00:06:15.509 lot of the skits and the localized references 00:06:15.509 --> 00:06:18.300 just to make it leaner. And the mechanics behind 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:21.259 that decision are purely commercial. A retailer 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:24.339 like Target or Walmart wants a streamlined product. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:26.800 They want something the everyday American consumer 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:29.740 can digest without needing a glossary of South 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:32.459 African slang. Plus a 10 -track album is just 00:06:32.459 --> 00:06:34.500 physically cheaper to manufacture, right? Exactly. 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:37.180 But a major label doesn't just subtract to justify 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:40.199 a re -release. They also alter the DNA of the 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:43.220 project by injecting their own industry equity 00:06:43.220 --> 00:06:45.800 into it. And their equity in this case was bringing 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:49.740 in Diplo. which is wild. A monolithic name in 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:52.399 electronic and pop music production, yeah. Intersoap 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.759 actually brought him in to produce a track called 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.600 Evil Boy for the commercial re -release, and 00:06:57.600 --> 00:06:59.540 they put out a massive promotional video for 00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:03.160 it in October 2010. Which is a classic form of 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:05.480 industry risk mitigation. I mean... Signing a 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:08.439 bizarre rap rave act from South Africa is a massive 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:10.459 financial risk for Interscope. Oh, for sure. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.399 So by stamping a proven hitmaker like Diplo onto 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:16.420 the track list, they immediately signal to radio 00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:18.379 programmers and festival bookers that this is 00:07:18.379 --> 00:07:21.639 a premium, mainstream, viable product. It's essentially 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:24.680 a corporate cosign that translates all that weirdness 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:26.980 into a language the American music industry actually 00:07:26.980 --> 00:07:30.899 understands. But the platform mutations go way 00:07:30.899 --> 00:07:33.680 beyond just the physical CD. If you decided to 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:37.360 buy the album digitally, on US iTunes, you received 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.420 a totally different architecture. Oh, iTunes 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:41.199 was completely different. Yeah, iTunes added 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:44.259 bonus tracks back in, like Dagapuff and Wattpomp. 00:07:44.339 --> 00:07:47.199 And then, if you migrated over to Spotify, the 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:49.680 album shifted shapes yet again. Right, the streaming 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.839 version. Spotify featured this incredibly explicit 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:56.139 alternate mix of Evil Boy that was literally 00:07:56.139 --> 00:07:59.430 titled, The Fuck You and the Face Mix. And those 00:07:59.430 --> 00:08:02.509 variations perfectly map onto the distinct business 00:08:02.509 --> 00:08:05.230 models of those platforms. I mean, iTunes operates 00:08:05.230 --> 00:08:08.269 on an a la carte digital marketplace model. So 00:08:08.269 --> 00:08:09.769 they need you to buy the whole thing. Right. 00:08:09.889 --> 00:08:12.269 To drive a full $10 album purchase instead of 00:08:12.269 --> 00:08:15.209 a fan just cherry picking a 99 cent single, the 00:08:15.209 --> 00:08:17.670 platform relies on perceived bulk value. You 00:08:17.670 --> 00:08:19.670 literally have to offer digital bonus tracks 00:08:19.670 --> 00:08:22.389 as an exclusive incentive. Whereas Spotify operates 00:08:22.389 --> 00:08:25.100 on pure engagement. Exactly the opposite of a 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:27.519 retail store. Spotify doesn't care if a song 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.920 is radio friendly. It cares about algorithmic 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.600 curiosity. So an aggressive, expletive label 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:35.600 and title acts as clickbait for the year. Exactly. 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:38.259 There are no physical retail sensors to worry 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:40.600 about. No conservative store managers refusing 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:43.679 to stock the CD. It's an environment that rewards 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.240 edgier, high friction content that just keeps 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:49.059 the user on the platform. It's just such a brilliant 00:08:49.059 --> 00:08:52.519 way to segment an audience. And they didn't forget 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:54.850 their home. turf either. The South African release 00:08:54.850 --> 00:08:57.470 of S .O .S. ballooned back up to 16 tracks. Yeah, 00:08:57.470 --> 00:08:59.669 they kept the weird skits for that one. And it 00:08:59.669 --> 00:09:02.549 heavily featured diverse local acts like Jack 00:09:02.549 --> 00:09:06.230 Pero and Folk Off Polisi Car, which is just an 00:09:06.230 --> 00:09:07.809 absolutely incredible name for a band, by the 00:09:07.809 --> 00:09:10.450 way. It really is. So depending on your geographic 00:09:10.450 --> 00:09:13.129 location and your preferred tech platform, you 00:09:13.129 --> 00:09:16.269 literally owned a customized parallel universe 00:09:16.269 --> 00:09:18.990 version of this album. It's a masterful tightrope 00:09:18.990 --> 00:09:22.110 walk between global ambition and local authenticity. 00:09:22.669 --> 00:09:25.190 A massive international label wants a homogenous 00:09:25.190 --> 00:09:27.870 product they can easily market worldwide. But 00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:31.149 if Diant Word completely sterilized their sound 00:09:31.149 --> 00:09:34.389 for America, they'd totally alienate that hardcore 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:36.850 South African fan base that built their viral 00:09:36.850 --> 00:09:39.549 momentum in the first place. Exactly. The 16 00:09:39.549 --> 00:09:42.210 -track local release preserves their cultural 00:09:42.210 --> 00:09:45.649 credibility while that lean 10 -track U .S. version 00:09:45.649 --> 00:09:49.210 really attacks the mainstream. But throwing Diplo 00:09:49.210 --> 00:09:52.029 into the mix, trimming the track list, and slapping 00:09:52.029 --> 00:09:54.610 a major label barcode on an abrasive rap rave 00:09:54.610 --> 00:09:57.909 project really forces a reckoning. Eventually, 00:09:58.149 --> 00:10:00.330 this shiny corporate Frankenstein of an album 00:10:00.330 --> 00:10:02.789 had to land on the desks of traditional music 00:10:02.789 --> 00:10:05.029 critics. And the critical establishment reacted 00:10:05.029 --> 00:10:07.850 with utter confusion. The reviews for SOS are 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:10.090 a fascinating case study in what happens when 00:10:10.090 --> 00:10:12.370 established tastemakers are confronted with art 00:10:12.370 --> 00:10:14.730 that actively defies their metrics for quality. 00:10:14.970 --> 00:10:17.370 Let's look at the actual data here. On Metacritic, 00:10:17.450 --> 00:10:19.889 which aggregates review scores from across all 00:10:19.889 --> 00:10:23.590 major publications, SOS landed a 69 out of 100. 00:10:23.710 --> 00:10:26.350 A 69. Right. And when you see a 69, the immediate 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:28.480 assumption is, okay, that's a solid C grade. 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.460 It's a slightly above average, mostly forgettable 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:33.059 piece of music. That's usually what it means, 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:35.779 yeah. So what does this all mean? Because a 69 00:10:35.779 --> 00:10:38.879 implies consensus, and I just refuse to believe 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:41.539 this album generated anything resembling consensus. 00:10:41.820 --> 00:10:43.899 It's too weird for that. You've hit on the exact 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:47.779 flaw of aggregated scoring. A 69 suggests everyone 00:10:47.779 --> 00:10:50.019 thought it was just fine. But the reality of 00:10:50.019 --> 00:10:52.620 S .O .S. is that almost nobody gave it a middle 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:55.789 of the road review. The Metacritic score is basically 00:10:55.789 --> 00:10:58.649 a mathematical illusion. It's the mathematical 00:10:58.649 --> 00:11:00.950 average of a war zone. When you actually dig 00:11:00.950 --> 00:11:02.990 into the individual publications, it's wild. 00:11:03.509 --> 00:11:05.789 The legendary critic Robert Crisco gave the album 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:10.570 an A-, and the site 130BPM scored it an 87%. 00:11:10.649 --> 00:11:12.950 They lauded the energy, the vision, the sheer 00:11:12.950 --> 00:11:15.029 audacity of it all. But then you walk to the 00:11:15.029 --> 00:11:17.309 other side of the critical aisle and Pitchfork, 00:11:17.590 --> 00:11:19.990 arguably the most powerful indie music kingmaker 00:11:19.990 --> 00:11:23.230 of 2010, slapped it with a 5 .5 out of 10. And 00:11:23.230 --> 00:11:25.389 NME gave it a 5 out of 10. Right. So the divide 00:11:25.389 --> 00:11:28.230 is just stark. Well, that divide perfectly illustrates 00:11:28.230 --> 00:11:30.250 the friction between different schools of music 00:11:30.250 --> 00:11:33.149 criticism. Publications like Pitchfork and NME 00:11:33.149 --> 00:11:36.269 often champion indie purity or authenticity or 00:11:36.269 --> 00:11:39.799 established rock traditions. And die ant words 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:42.620 aesthetic felt like an assault on those values. 00:11:42.899 --> 00:11:44.879 It really felt like an elaborate prank being 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:47.080 played on the critics themselves. It's the definition 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:49.740 of a split room. Like half the critics think 00:11:49.740 --> 00:11:51.740 they're witnessing the future of transgressive 00:11:51.740 --> 00:11:54.100 pop art and the other half are genuinely insulted 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:57.299 they even have to listen to it. If we connect 00:11:57.299 --> 00:11:59.399 this to the bigger picture we really have to 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:02.059 examine the actual sonic mechanics of the music. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.259 The album is officially categorized as a blend 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:08.279 of alternative hip -hop, rave, and electronica. 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:10.840 Which is a lot to take in. It is, and that combination 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:13.759 is fundamentally designed to be abrasive. Rave 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:17.340 music relies on high BPM, repetitive, harsh synthesizer 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:20.620 loops to drive physical movement in a club. Hip 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:23.039 -hop traditionally relies on a pocketed groove 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:26.299 and complex vocal flow. Smashing those two distinct 00:12:26.299 --> 00:12:28.740 rhythmic philosophies together just creates massive 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:31.320 sonic friction. It is actively designed to challenge 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:33.769 your ear. not to fade smoothly into the background 00:12:33.769 --> 00:12:35.970 of a dinner party. Oh, it practically demands 00:12:35.970 --> 00:12:37.950 that you either turn it off immediately or turn 00:12:37.950 --> 00:12:40.769 it up to maximum volume. There is absolutely 00:12:40.769 --> 00:12:43.990 no passive listening to this album. Which brings 00:12:43.990 --> 00:12:47.110 up a question for you, the listener. I want you 00:12:47.110 --> 00:12:49.129 to think about your own media consumption for 00:12:49.129 --> 00:12:51.409 a second. Yeah, that's a good point. Do you prefer 00:12:51.409 --> 00:12:54.289 art that is universally palatable, perfectly 00:12:54.289 --> 00:12:57.149 safe, and designed to offend absolutely no one? 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.440 Or is there inherently more value in a piece 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.399 of media that makes half a room walk out in absolute 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:06.600 disgust while the remaining half stays and cheers 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:09.940 wildly? Honestly, give me the split room every 00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:12.779 single time. A split room means you are actually 00:13:12.779 --> 00:13:15.120 pushing a boundary and you know the commercial 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.559 charts reflect that polarized reaction perfectly. 00:13:17.659 --> 00:13:20.320 Oh so? Well on the mainstream US billboard 200 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:23.200 which measures overall universally accepted popularity, 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:27.139 SOS peaked at number 109. That is not setting 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:29.460 the world on fire. Not at all. It barely made 00:13:29.460 --> 00:13:31.519 a dent in the mainstream consciousness. But the 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.720 mainstream chart is the wrong metric for a split 00:13:33.720 --> 00:13:35.860 room album. You have to look at the specialized 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:38.580 data and the specialized data is just wild. It 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:40.559 hit number four on the U .S. top dance albums 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:44.240 chart. It reached 14 on top rap albums and 21 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.360 on indie store album sales. That's a huge difference. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.659 But most impressively, it went straight to number 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:54.139 one on the U .S. Heatseekers albums chart, which 00:13:54.139 --> 00:13:57.340 specifically tracks breakout and developing acts. 00:13:57.740 --> 00:13:59.360 And reaching number one on the Heatseekers chart 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:02.139 is the ultimate proof of concept for their initial 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:05.059 strategy. It really is. It proves that the audience 00:14:05.059 --> 00:14:07.399 they captured by giving the album away for free 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:10.919 on their website stayed fiercely loyal. The mainstream 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:12.860 might have been apathetic and the traditional 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:15.460 critics might have been offended, but those underground 00:14:15.460 --> 00:14:17.679 club scenes were consuming the physical product 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.940 in massive numbers. But honestly, if you were 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:22.379 just casually observing all of this in 2010, 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:26.919 you know, the chaotic YouTube videos, the terrifying 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:30.100 haircuts, the abrasive synthesizer beats. Yeah, 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:32.259 it was a lot to take in. It would be incredibly 00:14:32.299 --> 00:14:34.679 easy to write die ant word off as a flash in 00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:37.240 the pan, like just a bizarre novelty act that 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:39.419 threw a bunch of strange aesthetics at a wall, 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:42.899 got blessed by the YouTube algorithm, and stumbled 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:45.440 their way into a lucrative major label deal. 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:47.320 And that was the prevailing narrative among a 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:49.559 lot of industry veterans at the time. They really 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.379 assumed it was just a chaotic accident. But there's 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:54.879 a specific detail from an interview with the 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:58.440 group's member, Ninja. that completely shatters 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:01.139 that assumption. It reveals a level of cold calculation 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:04.519 that is almost chilling, honestly. Yes. Right 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:07.820 around the time SOS was released, Ninja explicitly 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:10.360 stated to the press that this album was never 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:13.039 intended to be a standalone project. Right. He 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:15.480 actually said he considered SOS to be merely 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:18.960 the first step in a meticulously planned five 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:21.519 -album overarching narrative. Now this raises 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:23.960 an important question regarding intentionality 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:26.700 in art and how we judge artists who emerge from 00:15:26.700 --> 00:15:28.500 digital spaces. Because we usually don't give 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:30.320 them that much credit, right? Exactly. If an 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:32.320 artist creates something weird and it goes viral, 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:34.600 society tends to treat them like a lucky fool. 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:37.259 But the moment an artist states they have a five 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:39.840 -album conceptual arc mapped out before their 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:42.710 debut record even hits store shelves, it forces 00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:45.389 a massive cognitive shift. You can no longer 00:15:45.389 --> 00:15:49.769 dismiss them as a meme. It's like watching someone 00:15:49.769 --> 00:15:51.850 flail around in the street, assuming they're 00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:54.250 just having a meltdown, only to suddenly realize 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:57.230 that you're perfectly executing act one of a 00:15:57.230 --> 00:15:59.690 heavily choreographed five -act avant -garde 00:15:59.690 --> 00:16:01.929 ballet. That's a great way to put it. It completely 00:16:01.929 --> 00:16:04.169 changes the context of everything you just watched. 00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:07.009 It reframes the entire timeline. So giving away 00:16:07.009 --> 00:16:10.320 an 18 -track album for free Wasn't a desperate 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:13.299 plea for internet attention? No, it was the calculated 00:16:13.299 --> 00:16:16.080 opening move on a much larger chessboard. They 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.519 knew the exact destination they wanted to reach. 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.899 They just needed to engineer a spectacle loud 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:24.379 enough to get the global music industry to look 00:16:24.379 --> 00:16:27.379 in their direction first. It is genuinely brilliant. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.840 They took the unpredictable chaotic energy of 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.879 the internet and just weaponized it to fund a 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:35.179 long -term artistic vision. They absolutely did. 00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:37.139 So let's take a step back and look at the sprawling 00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:41.129 journey of SOS. It started in 2008 as a massive 00:16:41.129 --> 00:16:44.110 68 -minute passion project dumped onto a website 00:16:44.110 --> 00:16:46.789 for free. It spawned viral videos that literally 00:16:46.789 --> 00:16:49.269 crossed oceans, eventually charting in the UK. 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:52.190 And from there, they traded that hoarded attention 00:16:52.190 --> 00:16:55.169 for major label backing. Interscope stepped in, 00:16:55.450 --> 00:16:58.399 dismantled the album, brought in Diplo to mitigate 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:01.820 the commercial risk and reassembled it into multiple 00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:04.240 shape -shifting versions. Versions perfectly 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:07.220 tailored for physical retail, iTunes, and Spotify 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:10.559 algorithms. It collided with the critical establishment, 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:13.359 completely fracturing the room. It scored that 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:16.460 deceptive 69 on Metacritic while A minuses and 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:19.240 five out of tens battled it out. It topped the 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:21.950 Heatseekers chart. proving its absolute dominance 00:17:21.950 --> 00:17:25.150 over the underground. And all the while, as the 00:17:25.150 --> 00:17:27.430 pundits debated whether it was a brilliant satire 00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:30.069 or just terrible noise, the band was simply checking 00:17:30.069 --> 00:17:33.779 off step one of a massive master plan. I think 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:36.240 the most vital takeaway for anyone trying to 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.599 navigate our current era of endless information 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:40.859 overload is really understanding the mechanics 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:43.119 of leverage. Yeah, that's the real lesson here. 00:17:43.220 --> 00:17:45.119 We are constantly told that the internet is just 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.380 a sea of noise and that traditional institutions 00:17:47.380 --> 00:17:50.500 still hold the real power. But Diant Word proved 00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:52.440 that capturing attention on your own terms is 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.140 the ultimate form of leverage. If you can build 00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:57.920 an undeniable audience, even if you have to give 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.940 your finest work away for free to do it, the 00:18:00.940 --> 00:18:03.319 corporate date keepers will eventually have no 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:06.279 choice but to rewrite their own rules to accommodate 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:09.420 you. That is the ultimate lesson in modern leverage. 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:12.640 But before we wrap up this deep dive, I want 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:16.460 to leave you, the listener, with one final fascinating 00:18:16.460 --> 00:18:18.519 Easter egg from the source material. Oh, this 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:20.240 is a good one. We haven't touched on it yet, 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:22.700 but I think it beautifully encapsulates the band's 00:18:22.700 --> 00:18:25.819 entire philosophy of manipulating their audience's 00:18:25.819 --> 00:18:27.319 expectations. You're talking about the hidden 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:30.180 tracks. Yes. If you go back to that American 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:33.410 physical release. the Interscope CD, with the 00:18:33.410 --> 00:18:36.049 highly streamlined 10 -track list, the final 00:18:36.049 --> 00:18:38.609 song on the album is called Doos Drunk. And if 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:40.369 you look at the track listing, it says the song 00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:43.289 is 12 minutes and 52 seconds long. Right. Now, 00:18:43.289 --> 00:18:45.750 if you actually sit and listen to it, the music 00:18:45.750 --> 00:18:48.390 eventually fades out into total silence long 00:18:48.390 --> 00:18:50.150 before the track actually ends. But if you keep 00:18:50.150 --> 00:18:51.869 listening... If you don't hit the skip button, 00:18:51.930 --> 00:18:54.390 if you just sit in the silence, at exactly the 00:18:54.390 --> 00:18:57.470 8 minute and 52 second mark, a hidden track suddenly 00:18:57.470 --> 00:19:00.440 kicks in. And that hidden track is called S .O 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.099 .S. It is the actual title track of the entire 00:19:03.099 --> 00:19:05.720 album. They buried the conceptual anchor of the 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:08.220 project almost nine minutes deep into the final 00:19:08.220 --> 00:19:11.210 song, just shrouded in dead air. which is just 00:19:11.210 --> 00:19:14.230 so profoundly audacious. I mean, in our modern 00:19:14.230 --> 00:19:17.069 world of instant gratification, where we are 00:19:17.069 --> 00:19:19.589 trained to swipe away a video if it doesn't hook 00:19:19.589 --> 00:19:21.549 our attention in three seconds, what does it 00:19:21.549 --> 00:19:24.690 say about an artist who intentionally buries 00:19:24.690 --> 00:19:27.849 the very core identity of their album in a place 00:19:27.849 --> 00:19:30.569 where 99 % of people will never ever hear it? 00:19:30.630 --> 00:19:33.049 It's a bold move. It really forces you to wonder 00:19:33.049 --> 00:19:35.549 what hidden gems are you completely missing out 00:19:35.549 --> 00:19:38.009 on in your own life simply because you're rushing 00:19:38.009 --> 00:19:40.789 through your media consumption. Just think about 00:19:40.789 --> 00:19:42.289 that the next time you're tempted to hit the 00:19:42.289 --> 00:19:43.430 next button a little too early.