Ms. Ann Thrope

If you think you know me, no, you don’t. fuck off. 💗彩👼🏽 she/her

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

Dumocrat would go hard if it meant “Du Mo(do more) Crat” because that’s probably the most scathing commentary on the current state of the Democratic Party. But Mr. 3D Chess can barely even comprehend phonics so

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Trump on Truth Social: "Many people don’t know, or assume, that DUMB ends in 'b'"

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

comes around, girlcrush/hip hop is OVER. but YG is still pushing this ANCIENT genre on girls who are 15 and 16. The gag is, he has those same old as fuck producers still curating the sound, and that’s why everything has that YG formula.

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

I’ll explain as someone who has followed YG since about 2004, and knows the history of the company fairly well. YG has been pushing the hip hop concept for well over thirty years at this point. By 2008 it was already getting tired. So in 2009, he took all of his older artists

[ʀᴏꜱɪᴇ @werebabymonster]

Eu já entendi os interesses dos coreanos e o pq o Babymonster não está hitando por lá. 🧵

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

exception). It worked so well in fact that YG thought he could do one better and make the same group, but cute. Turns out that “attractive” members makes all the difference and BP blew up, despite the GP already growing tired of this now over saturated concept. By the time BM

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

I think this was the first game I ever bought myself. Also, one of my most overplayed OSTs of all time, even to this day. This was the soundtrack to eighth grade for me.

[ToonHive @ToonHive]

25 years ago today, ‘Sonic Adventure 2’ released.

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

Actually a very interesting read.

[TayZonday @TayZonday]

BIG PICTURE REASONS WHY "CHOCOLATE RAIN" WENT VIRAL:
• With no algorithms, the Internet was driven by novelty, not loyalty. Weirdness wins novelty.
• Myspace was #1 in social media. YouTube was unproven and Facebook had just opened up beyond colleges. YouTube needed a "model home" for what its cultural real estate meant.
• One person uploading a video that thousands of strangers parodied became YouTube's behavioral "model home." No other platform had that social dynamic.
• Soulja Boy, Chris Crocker, and other talented creators had viral YouTube videos that got widely parodied. "Chocolate Rain" became identified with a type of "shareholder safe" virality. YouTube's human editors promoted it on the front page.
• YouTube was an unproven business for both Google and creators. The idea of creators earning Internet money was not mainstream. I was added in round two of YouTube's experimental Partner Program. I believe round one had about thirty creators.
• Television remained the eight-hundred-pound media gorilla. Viacom's billion-dollar copyright lawsuit was an existential YouTube threat just as the first YouTube videos went viral. The fact that "Chocolate Rain" began on YouTube and transitioned to me being on CNN, Jimmy Kimmel, discussed by Carson Daly and dozens of other celebrities... came at a time when YouTube needed a Rosetta Stone. They needed to translate a massively subsidized, high-risk venture into understandable cultural value. "Chocolate Rain" became a stenographer of YouTube crossing over. I got parodied on South Park, Saturday Night Live, nominated for a People's Choice Award, sang with Boyz II Men on Tosh.0 etc.
HOW DID "CHOCOLATE RAIN" GO VIRAL?:
• "Chocolate Rain" was rushed to completion in April of 2007 since I had another song ("Love," made with Kooby) featured on YouTube's front page and wanted other new content. It sat at around 30,000 views until summer.
• "Chocolate Rain" got posted on Digg in July of 2007, an early Reddit-style social bookmark site. Someone saw it there and posted it on 4chan.
• 4chan worked to meme "Chocolate Rain," "Numa Numa," Rick Astley, and other things. In 2007, 4chan was dominantly "Howard Stern liberal." Being offensive, outrageous, and highly speech-tolerant used to be identified with leftist, avant-garde identity. My first inkling that "Chocolate Rain" was going viral was 4chan prank-calling Tom Green's self-produced show and the caller busting out singing "Chocolate Rain!"
MORE FACTORS IN "CHOCOLATE RAIN" GOING VIRAL:
• YouTube had no stereo sound in early 2007. I posted a free "Chocolate Rain" MP3 download, with a giant video banner announcing it, purely to circumvent this. I wanted my songs heard in stereo.
• "Chocolate Rain" begins with an instrumental and loops. This, combined with the MP3 download, made parodies easy. This was totally unplanned luck. It's like it was made to be parodied.
• I looked like Janet Jackson, moved like Mr. Bean, and sounded like Barry White. Not trying to mean-girl myself, just being blunt. I was a unique combination of attributes but also not self-aware. Social internet video of everyday life was a new experience. Like, "If that guy is singing 'Chocolate Rain,' what's MY neighbor doing?" Everyday life was transforming into a democratic video content frontier nobody had given much prior thought to.
• It's worth noting that 2007 was before mainstream mobile Internet video consumption. YouTube was overwhelmingly consumed on desktop computers and laptops. The later shift to engagement-optimized and loyalty-optimized social video was heavily influenced by phones.
PERSONAL FACTORS WHY "CHOCOLATE RAIN" WENT VIRAL:
• I built a bedsheet box in my living room to sing "Chocolate Rain" in because I'm agoraphobic. That's the opposite of claustrophobic. Boundaries supercharge me. It also turns out that lots of people have bedsheets to hang up.
• I moved stiffly and sang "Chocolate Rain" with elongated vowels because of dyspraxia, a neurological movement difficulty tied to me being autistic (first diagnosed at age sixteen).
• "Chocolate Rain" musically captured my tendency towards echolalia and echopraxia — repetition and reinvocation of speech and behavior. These are adaptations to being a partially verbal autistic who has to blend-in with speaking society. They also help in making catchy songs.

[َ @piedparks]

HAPPY JUNETEENTH TO ALL MY NIGGAS

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

Chi Cafe in Chinatown back in the day used to hiiiiiiiiit. Not so sure about now.

[Kodak🔜AC @KodakCoyote]

Chicago has a lot of things but what it definitely doesn’t have is late night/very early morning dining

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

Twelve years without my mom here sounds so fuckin FAKE

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

They REALLY are starting to fully antagonize black folks into some mess now.

[cait @digicait]

It’s crazy bc twitter search used to be so inhumanly perfect and completely functional until one day they decided to brick it beyond repair because they were bored

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

I like Ahy a lot also and I hate that yall bullied her into toning her dancing down. An idol with a natural groove is SO RARE and yall killed it before she could really get in tune with her body. I still think she could be the breakout star of the group, if she keeps working.

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

I’m a hag so please don’t argue with me in the comments

I like these girls a lot. All very beautiful and talented, and I see YG is trying a little harder than he has in the past. But YG always half-asses a concept and gives up halfway through. The monster concept could have gone

[🐈‍⬛️ @404fairie]

what’s your unpopular opinion on baemon?

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

Of the current roster, Chiquita is the all rounder imo. She’s got pipes, height, looks, and is an okay dancer. She reminds me so much of a young Minzy, but hopefully they handle her career better. Protect her at all cost.

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

I managed to improve the input lag, but it’s still bad enough that my rhythm is all off. 😭 Maybe I need a new HDMI?

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

I saw they added Gitarooman to the PS Store so guess what I’m doing tonight?!

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

AW SHIT

[Wario64 @Wario64]

Gitaroo Man Soundtrack now on streaming:

Spotify https://t.co/MU7uW0NHBH
Apple Music https://t.co/bbbl7uV0iU
YouTube Music https://t.co/NPQdZBCDgc
Amazon Music https://t.co/1ERsidXrE3

[Ms. Ann Thrope @shidoniii]

Uhhhhh

[Pop Base @PopBase]

The GRAMMYs are introducing their first Asian category at next year’s ceremony.

Best Asian Pop Music Performance will recognise K-Pop, J-Pop, C-Pop recordings that feature meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.