Generally speaking, mash-ups can either go really good or really bad. It definitely takes skill to be able to weave 2 (or more) songs seamlessly into a totally new track. YouTuber Todrick Hall makes short work of these massive musical tasks , as evidenced by the ridiculously virtuosic projects on his channel. His latest video series, however, are taking things to another level.
Titled “4 Rihanna“, the latest video depicts four copies of him singing to some of RiRi’s biggest hits. This comes after similar artist-centric mashes “4 Taylor” and “4 Beyoncé“. BONUS: Read all the YouTuber inside jokes appearing as Instagram comments at the bottom of the screen.
There’s always a degree of doubt for me when I come across a video of someone doing a Rihanna cover or mash-up. Let’s face it, Rihanna has some pretty dope vocals (her rawness in “Stay” still leaves me speechless). RiRi has come a long way since her “Take A Bow” days and her vocals have gotten as fierce as she has (just take a look at some of her social media replies. Meow!).
But Todrick totally hit it out of the park with this. Incorporating all of Rihanna’s musical styles, the mashup is nothing but flawless. Strong vocals mixed in with a really addictive beat; it’s one of those tracks that you can leave on replay all day, every day.
Then again Todrick is a pro at mash-ups by this point. The 30-year-old Texas native has been posting YouTube videos since 2006 and I must say most (if not all) of his videos are pretty darn good. Todrick has done mash ups of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and even a few of our favourite Disney classics. To mix things up, he brings his artistic talents out into the world and has even organised flashmobs.
Covering Bey and then dancing to her greatest hits is tough enough but getting a nod from Queen B is the biggest endorsement a budding artist can get. Check out Beyoncé’s thank you vid here. AND because Her Royal Highness is gracious, Todrick was invited to be one of the choreographers for the skating-themed video for “Blow“.
On YouTube, Todrick has over 1.7 million subscribers. Like Andrew Garcia and Tori Kelly, Todrick was also on American Idol once upon a time. While he only made it to the semi-finals in the ninth season, his talent proved insuppressible and opportunity came knocking at a different door.
Since Todrick’s videos are amazingly entertaining, MTV has picked him for a full-fledged docuseries titled “Todrick“. The series follows Todrick as he creates amazing, out-of-this-world videos together with his friends.
It seems like Todrick has done it all. He’s amassed a strong following on YouTube, he’s been on American Idol, worked alongside Beyoncé, was on Broadway, and he’s been on MTV. The best part of Todrick’s creative may be the fact that he’s on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list.
Since this musical mastermind is now managed by Scooter Braun (the guy who also manages Justin Bieber), is there hope that Todrick will release a full album or will he continue to spread his musical prowess one YouTube video at a time? One thing’s for sure: Toddyrockstar’s taking over the world.
