Todrick x 4

Along the same lines of my last post, I’m gonna be sending you to YouTube yet again. Have you heard of Todrick Hall? Hopefully you have. If not, you’re about to be enlightened.

Todrick was probably in his prime a few years ago, when he auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol, but he’s remained consistent and done nothing but grow since then. I’m not sure why I stopped seeing any of his covers up on Facebook for a while, but I’ve remained a subscriber to his YouTube channel religiously, and I nearly scream whenever he pops up in my ‘Recent Upload’s tab. Thank God it’s a ‘nearly’ otherwise those around me in the silent study area at the moment would definitely not have appreciated me shrieking when I noticed his new cover. Before I even begin, please watch this:

 

Now I may not have given Todrick the due credit he deserved in that last paragraph. You probably have heard one of his covers. It would be the 4 cover of Taylor Swift, which I’m pretty sure Taylor herself loved and shared. It too, was pretty great, though out of all the videos, this one is definitely my favourite. More notable is the fact that Hall also starred in Kinky Boots and performed on Broadway. I do also know that he made a few appearances as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, which I really only know about due to my friends. And the memes.

But yes. Todrick Hall. No one can say the guy doesn’t have an incredible voice after watching that. Did you hear it? Like, did you hear it? He has an incredible crispness to his voice, and while I’m sure there is some editing involved to clean up the overall sound, you can’t deny how sharp and hard-hitting Todrick’s voice is. And the harmonies??? Like, come on. He creates harmonies that I couldn’t even think of, it’s like he’s creating notes that aren’t even there. It’s incredible.

Now his first video with this type of format was phenomenal. It was insane. And it was Beyonce. Talk about jumping into the deep end. To even bother covering Beyonce in general is pretty brave. Covering all of Beyonce, mashing them up together and then singing all the parts by yourself? It’s insane. And it’s magical.

 

 

Like, how? Imagine the brainstorm, practice, filming, recording, mixing and editing that goes into one cover. Then multiply it by four! Then add in choreography!! It’s insane, and he makes it look so easy, all the while hitting notes as effortlessly as Bey. I have to admit, my favourite part is at 0:39. A moment.

After the release of the 4 Beyonce video, it was as if Todrick was churning out more and more of these fantastic videos. The next one he did was a video I particularly enjoyed, The Evolution of Disney. Which again, he nailed.

 

 

He uploaded this on YouTube two months later. Two months. I still can’t wrap my head around how hard this guy worked and how hard he is still working. I’m pretty sure he has his own show on MTV, though I’m not positive if it’s still on air. But there was definitely a show. A well deserved TV special. But anyway, he included He’s A Tramp from from Lady and The Tramp. For so long that was my favourite movie ever, and when he dances with that red boa singing like the little pup in the kennel I feel nostalgic as heck.

Then, three months later, amidst selling his tickets for a national tour, he released what would be one of his most famous videos ever, the Taylor Swift medley.

 

 

You definitely hear how amazing he works with harmonies in this one. As well as the harmonies, the backing track that he creates. It’s marvellous and not overtly obvious of the intended original song. And how quickly he dips in and out of songs? It’s amazing how subtly he manages to pick and choose mere sentences to mix with others. And then he released one that’s another favourite of mine, a Rihanna medley.

 

 

The whole build up to Rude Boy. The mashing of Disturbia, Pour It Up and What’s My Name. Did you hear it? Did you see it? It’s at 0:54. Please click.

I could post a couple more of my favourite videos, but I’m already having concerns on whether this post with come up properly content wise so I’ll leave it at that.

Please have a watch, and look at some more of his stuff (especially his Ariana Grande version), here’s the link to his YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1VYb0EKcZuy9rG3q0VR57Q

There is so much work put into these four minute videos, it’s insane to try and fathom the genius that is Todrick Hall.

Oh well, you can try.

xx

p.f