There’s no other way to say it: YouTube star Todrick Hall is an absolute legend. He has pushed the boundaries of music and dance in unimaginable ways to create unforgettable videos and achieve YouTube stardom.
Here are four things that aspiring YouTube musicians can learn from Todrick Hall.
1. Start a flash mob.
Let’s face it- everyone has wanted to be in a flash mob at some point. Just as a refresher, a flash mob is when a group of people suddenly do a performance in public and surprise the passersby. This bucket-list item is so exciting because so many people can get involved (and want to get involved!). A flash mob is also an incredible promotional tool because many people who might not normally be in your audience will be there (since they didn’t know it was going to happen!).
Todrick Hall has created several flash mobs, complete with dazzling choreography and costumes/props. People will always remember these incredible surprises, and aspiring YouTube performers should create their own flash mobs to gain rapid popularity. Here’s a video of one of Todrick’s flash mobs, which takes place in a Target and is set to Beyonce’s “End of Time!”
2. Write and publicly perform jingles for restaurants/cafes.
Another thing that sets Todrick apart from many other YouTube musicians is his spontaneous restaurant/café jingles.
For example, when Todrick went a Starbucks in 2011, he told the barista that he was going to sing her his order and challenged her to remember everything he wanted. He then sang her his order with the help of some members of the group Pentatonix, and the barista remembered the order perfectly!
This video is fantastic for so many reasons. First, this video not only features a creative and fun song, but it presents an interactive challenge that intrigues the viewers. It is also great for publicity since the song was in a public coffeehouse and grabbed the attention of everyone there. Finally, it’s relatable to anyone who enjoys a cup of Starbucks coffee, and it could have led to a sponsorship from Starbucks! Aspiring YouTube stars can gain a great deal from making a video like this.
3. Create tribute medley videos.
Todrick Hall is also well-known for his mind-blowing medley videos. Todrick will choose an artist and create a medley of all or almost all of the artist’s songs!
YouTubers love these videos because they love hearing so many of their favorite songs in one video. When Todrick includes so many songs, there’s bound to be at least one song that appeals to every viewer. Aspiring YouTube stars should create videos like these because they are incredibly creative and cohesive, and they can even attract the attention of the artists themselves! For example, Beyonce has personally responded to some of Todrick’s videos.
Here is Todrick’s Beyonce medley, called “4 Beyonce” (featuring EVERY song that Beyonce had released at that point!). The number four here is incredibly important here too, because the videos features four Todricks, only took four separate takes, and is exactly four minutes long! (As you can tell, Todrick is a big fan of Beyonce.)
4. Create thematic music videos.
Finally, Todrick Hall can teach aspiring YouTube stars to create thematic music videos and visual albums to gain popularity. One of Todrick’s newest videos is called “Straight Outta Oz,” and it’s a striking visual album that features just about everything!
“Straight Outta Oz” is essentially a video musical about Todrick’s life and struggles growing up, and it set to a “Wizard of Oz” theme. This video includes stunning visuals, original songs and dance numbers of all genres, personal stories, relatable themes, and celebrity guest appearances, all of which are very helpful to gaining popularity on YouTube.
This video is almost an hour long, but it is worth every minute. Feel free to skim this video if you don’t have time for the whole thing!
Truth be told, it may be difficult to get on Todrick’s level, but he is absolutely an inspiration for aspiring YouTube stars and he can inspire so many great ideas. Of course, his videos are very large-scale, so don’t worry if you want to start smaller!
Just use his videos for inspiration: and if you create flash mobs, make medley tribute videos, perform public restaurant jingles, and create music videos, you will be on your way to stardom!
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David Yaghutiel is a Bay Area native who enjoys traveling, theatre, playing the ukulele, and learning as much about the world as he possibly can. He also occasionally daylights as a senior at UCLA.
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