The World Reacts to Thru You

kutiman music

Thru You is everywhere. A million views in less than a week.

Some backstory on Kutiman: he grew up in a small village in northern Israel with no record stores. Moved to Tel Aviv at 19, met DJ Sabbo, and discovered funk for the first time:

Fela Kuti, Parliament, The Meters, King Crimson and, of course, James Brown changed my world... If I hadn't heard these amazing artists, I think my music would simply be boring.

Wired got him on the phone:

I didn't expect it to blow up like this, even in my wildest dreams. I live in a small city in a small neighborhood in a small house in a small country. I didn't expect it to get this big this fast.

And on the process:

I downloaded a clip from a drummer, who I now realize is Bernard Purdie, who's sessioned on all kinds of records. All it needed was some bass and guitar; I loved the idea that I was playing along with him and he didn't even know it. But once I decided to download another clip and play over it, I thought, 'Why not get another video to play over it?' Since then, I haven't really slept or eaten. I lost track of night and day. I'd just pass out and wake up on the computer. I was fascinated by the idea. It was so magical.

Lawrence Lessig, who literally wrote the book on remix culture:

Watch this, and you'll understand everything and more than what I try to explain in my book.
...
If you come to the Net armed with the idea that the old system of copyright is going to work just fine here, this more than anything is going to get you to recognize: you need some new ideas.

The takes:

  • Sasha Frere-Jones at The New Yorker on the "heavy sifting" required to find clips that fit together.
  • The Guardian called it "audiovisual mastery" and "next-level genius."
  • Roi Carthy at TechCrunch: "Kutiman killed the video star".
  • Ryan Tate at Gawker: "Best mashup artist yet".
  • Peter Kafka at AllThingsD: "Who needs Big Music on YouTube? The best video of 2009 is homegrown".
  • JoCo called it the best thing he'd heard but "completely impossible to sell because of all the possible copyright claims".
  • NPR asked how long it took:

    About two months but with no food and no sunlight.

  • Stan Schroeder at Mashable on how this represents the "YouTube generation" of music.
  • Podcasting News on the untapped potential of the YouTube community.
  • Dan Sinker at The Huffington Post asks the question I keep thinking about: where is our orchestra? What happens when this becomes normal? What can journalism learn from it?
  • Merlin Mann at 43 Folders:

    So amazing, so illegal. What are we going to do with you, future?
    ...
    This is what your new Elvis looks like, gang.

  • Israeli coverage: Ynet (Hebrew).

My take: Kutiman: Thru-You(Tube)

And of course, Researching ThruYOU, for downloads and more information about the project.