Antoine Dodson

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Antoine Dodson
Born Kevin Antoine Dodson
(1986-06-27) June 27, 1986
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality American
Occupation Singer, Songwriter and Actor
Known for "Bed Intruder Song"

Kevin Antoine Dodson (born June 27, 1986)[1] is an American Internet celebrity, singer, and actor. In 2010, while a resident of the Lincoln Park housing project in Huntsville, Alabama, he gave an interview on local television news prompted by the report of a house intrusion and attempted rape of his sister, Kelly Dodson. The interview became an Internet sensation and resulted in an Auto-Tuned song by The Gregory Brothers that has sold thousands of copies on iTunes and appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 list.[2]

Interview

"Well, obviously we have a rapist in Lincoln Park. He's climbin' in yo windows, he's snatchin' yo people up, tryin' to rape 'em. So y'all need to hide yo kids, hide yo wife, and hide yo husband cause they rapin' everybody out here." -Antoine Dodson

Dodson was interviewed on July 28, 2010, by Elizabeth Gentle, a reporter for NBC affiliate WAFF-48 News, after an intruder attempted to rape his sister in her second-story bedroom, in Huntsville's Lincoln Park housing projects.[3][4] Camera work for the interview was assisted by Jeremy Pledger.

The video of the interview caught attention because of the passionate and flamboyant style of his delivery, speaking directly to the camera, in which he directly addressed his neighborhood's residents as well as the attempted rapist, and his use of street vernacular.[3][5] The reactions were mixed. Some local viewers phoned the TV station to complain that interviews with people such as Dodson reflected poorly on the community,[3][5] whereupon the station defended broadcasting the interview by stating that censoring such people is "far worse." Jonathan Capehart, editorial page writer for The Washington Post, wrote that Dodson became an instant Internet sensation because "in this age of fake reality TV, he puts the real in reality,"[5] to which he later added that Dodson "is one of the strongest people we’ve seen in a while."[6]

"Bed Intruder Song" and rise to fame

A frame from the viral "Bed Intruder Song" music video, which sourced its footage from an interview NBC affiliate WAFF-48 News conducted with Antoine.
A man holds a sign at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear that contains an image of Dodson with the "Hide yo kids, hide yo wife" line from the viral video interview.

The video of Dodson's television interview went viral and then inspired several musical remixes, including a video by musical group The Gregory Brothers, known as the "Bed Intruder Song." The song was a huge success and eventually reached number 89 on Billboard's Hot 100 list.[2] The popularity of the song inspired many covers and remixes, including a punk rock version by a team formed by Hayley Williams of Paramore, Jordan Pundik of New Found Glory, and Ethan Luck of Relient K and musician Tony Lucca.[7]

Dodson was interviewed for the Today Show on NBC on August 26, 2010 about his newfound "Web superstardom." On the program, Dodson's YouTube video was called "one of the most watched online videos ever," with the hosts noting it had already been viewed more than 16 million times as of that date.[8] Dodson has done radio shows in Australia, has fans in London and is now widely recognized in his hometown of Huntsville.[9]

Dodson had launched a website in which he asks for donations to assist his family in moving "out of the hood."[10] The money, as well as money from sales of "Bed Intruder" on iTunes and merchandise such as T-shirts, will go to helping his family buy a new home and setting up a foundation for Type 1 Diabetes, a disease that has afflicted both his sister and his mother.[11] In August 2010, Dodson noted the irony of having "a hit on iTunes, but we're still in the projects";[12] one month later, Us Weekly reported that Dodson had made enough money from the song to move his family out of the projects to a better house.[13] In September 2010, the Gregory Brothers reported that they had sold more than 250,000 copies of The Bed Intruder Song on iTunes.[14]

In October 2010, Dodson gave a live performance of "Bed Intruder Song" with Michael Gregory of The Gregory Brothers at the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards.[15]

Excluding major label music videos, Dodson's song was the most viewed YouTube video of 2010.[16][17] It was chosen as the "Meme of the Year" in the 2010 Urlies – both as the People's Choice and the Editors' Choice – while the original video of Dodson's television interview was the "Video of the Year" – People's Choice.[18]

He was also featured in a segment on Lopez Tonight singing a "Chimney Intruder" song about Santa Claus,[19] and on Tosh.0 for a "Web Redemption."[20]

In Season 3 Episode 10 on The Cleveland Show a reference is made to Antoine Dodson in the form of Roberta, Cleveland's daughter. Roberta comes into the kitchen wearing Antoine's famous bandana and says "Rollo, you are so dumb, you are really dumb, for real". Also, in Season 3 Episode 18, Roberta states "Hide your kids, hide your wife didn't go to college" when listing famous people that didn't go to college.

In episode 2 of Jay Park TV, Korean-American singer Jay Park mimics Dodson while wearing a makeshift bandana.

Dodson will voice the titular character in Kinonomon pitched for Cartoon Network in 2014; as his first voice role, working with Rob Paulsen and other voice talents.

Dobson plays a cameo role in the Tyler Perry movie A Madea Christmas saying a part of his line from his television interview during an interview at the end of the movie.

Business ventures

Dodson has capitalized on the success of "Bed Intruder Song." His first venture was a line of t-shirts and merchandise featuring the original album art from the iTunes release sold through zazzle.com. After a licensing dispute between the artist, the photographer, and his manager, he launched a storefront through districtlines.com with an unrelated line of merchandise. Since then he has authorized the creation and sale of a "Bed Intruder Costume" for Halloween 2010[21] and endorsed a "Sex Offender Tracker" smartphone application for the iPhone and Android platforms.[22] In late December 2010, Dodson was featured in a commercial advertising the new Tosh.0 season.

On January 21, 2011, MSN announced that Dodson was filming a pilot episode for a reality show, featuring Dodson and his family as they move from Huntsville to Los Angeles, California.[23]

Personal life

Dodson grew up in Chicago, and moved to Huntsville in 2004,[24] where he attended Virginia College, working on an associate degree in business administration.[24] He also worked as a hairstylist.[3]

Antoine Dodson is the oldest of six children.[3] In an online Q&A video with fans, he answered questions regarding his sexuality: "Am I bisexual? No. Gay? Yes."[6] In an interview with CBS, Dodson told Shira Lazar that he had been a rape victim in the past.[11]

On Saturday, April 23, 2011, Dodson was arrested for marijuana possession after he was pulled over for allegedly speeding. He was also arrested on five other misdemeanor charges but was released later that day.[25][26][27]

On Sunday, September 25, 2011, Dodson was again arrested in Huntsville, Alabama, at 6:20 p.m. for violating the city's noise ordinance. The police were going to issue him a warning until they checked his name in the computer system and discovered he had an outstanding warrant for not reporting to court for the marijuana violation. Dodson was arrested on the spot but later released on a $516 bond.[28]

In May 2013, Dodson announced through Facebook that he has become a Hebrew Israelite, is "no longer into homosexuality" and that he wants "a wife and family".[29]

Discography

Singles

References

  1. ↑ "Antoine Dodson Info". Facebook. Retrieved September 15, 2010. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Philip Kennicott (August 29, 2010). "Auto-Tune turns the operatic ideal into a shoddy joke". The Washington Post. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Paul Gallagher (August 15, 2010). "Antoine Dodson: from local news item to internet sensation". The Guardian (London). 
  4. ↑ NPR Staff (August 23, 2010). "Antoine Dodson: Riding YouTube Out of the 'Hood'". NPR. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jonathan Capehart (August 3, 2010). "Antoine Dodson is for real, y'all". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jonathan Capehart (August 19, 2010). "The smarts and strength of Antoine Dodson". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 25, 2010. 
  7. ↑ Montgomery, James. "Paramore singer collaborates with New Found Glory and Relient K members for 'punk rock cover' of the YouTube hit.". MTV. Archived from the original on August 28, 2010. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 
  8. ↑ The Today Show. August 26, 2010. NBC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EPHOKm6qbk
  9. ↑ "'Bed Intruder' songster turning fame into a future." ERRIN HAINES. Associated Press. August 31, 2010. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ggQtXM4sns8W9tTgXM0vNgOQ14MwD9HUD3580
  10. ↑ Antoine Dodson: Antoine's World Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Shira Lazar (August 19, 2010). "'Bed Intruder' YouTube Star Antoine Dodson Exclusive: I Was Rape Victim". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. "I just want to be the voice of people who are going through similar situations that have gotten their case swept under the rug... Most of my fans are victims of rape and molestation and they reach out to me anyway so I just talk to them and comfort them. I try to tell them the ways that I dealt with it because I'm a rape victim myself." 
  12. ↑ "'Bed Intruder' songster turning fame into a future." ERRIN HAINES. Associated Press. August 31, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Bed Intruder" Singer Moves Family Into New Home Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Meet The Team Behind The Meme". barry.com.au. September 17, 2010. Archived from the original on September 21, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2010. 
  15. ↑ "Hip-Hop Awards 2010 Official Site: Hip Hop Awards '10 Performances!". Black Entertainment Television. BET.com. October 13, 2010. Archived from the original on October 16, 2010. Retrieved October 16, 2010. 
  16. ↑ Double rainbows, annoying oranges and bed intruders: the year on YouTube December 12, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  17. ↑ Liz Kelly. Celebritology Giftology Day 3: Meme-y Christmas from Antoine Dodson The Washington Post. December 13, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  18. ↑ "2010 Urlies Winners – Best of the Web in 2010". Urlesque. December 8, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
  19. ↑ http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bbae0ca75c/antoine-dodsons-chimney-intruder
  20. ↑ Pomranz, Mike (January 12, 2011). "Web Redemption: Antoine Dodson". Comedy Central. Retrieved January 17, 2011. 
  21. ↑ Castina (October 17, 2010). "Antoine Dodson "Bed Intruder" Halloween Costume!". PopCrunch.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2010. 
  22. ↑ Newman, Jared (October 25, 2010). "Viral Vid Celeb Antoine Dodson Peddles 'Sex Offender Tracker' App". PC World. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2010. 
  23. ↑ Molloy, Tim (January 21, 2011). "'Bed Intruder' Antoine shooting reality show pilot". MSN TV. Retrieved January 21, 2011. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Mark McCarter (August 15, 2010). "Antoine Dodson's on a roll – run and tell that!". The Huntsville Times. Archived from the original on August 18, 2010. Retrieved August 25, 2010. 
  25. ↑ Internet star Antoine Dodson arrested Saturday – WMC-TV (released April 23, 2011)
  26. ↑ "Viral video star Antoine "hide your wife" Dodson arrested". Reuters. April 24, 2011. 
  27. ↑ – News at TMZ
  28. ↑ – WAFF 48 News
  29. ↑ Gawker.com
  30. ↑ http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/gucci-bag-feat-antoine-dodson/id424686315
  31. ↑ http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lovesick-lullaby-feat.-brent/id499961082

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