Todrick Hall is a Youtuber who is well known for his incredibly large scale, theatrical video productions. With a talent for song writing, singing, acting, and choreography, Todrick has gathered a following of supporters who help to produce some of the most startlingly professional independent music videos out there.
Todrick’s acclaim landed him his own show on MTV where he demonstrated the process that goes into producing his videos. Unfortunately Todrick’s show was pulled from the station after one season and the performer began to lose faith in himself. The Youtuber would not let this defeat him though. Proving MTV made a huge mistake, Todrick returned to his roots and clapped back at MTV with an hour long visual album chronicling his life and experiences with show business.
You can watch the video here.
In the description for his video Todrick writes,
“This past year has been very rough for me. I lost my MTV show, struggled with the relationship with my mother, dealing with racism and homophobia in the industry and self-image was such a struggle. I put my all into auditioning for NBC's "The Wiz" and got so close to landing the role of the Scarecrow, but didn't get it. I want to thank my family, friends and fans for helping me out of this dark place and encouraging me to turn my struggle into art. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has always held a special place in my heart, and I have never been more proud of anything I've created. Thank you all for standing by me on this crazy yellow brick road we call life.”
Todrick’s videos are usually comical in nature, and most are revisions of popular songs with his own lyrics. They often pull inspiration from Disney, celebrities, and other pop culture references. "Straight Outta Oz" is no different in that it uses The Wizard of Oz as a subject matter, however it is unique to Todrick by using his own concept, song writing, and more serious, self-reflective themes.
The album is an allegorical journey using Dorothy’s adventure through Oz as a reflection of Todrick’s experience with leaving home, traveling through the ups and downs of fame and show business, and his ultimate realization of what is truly important to him.
The video as a whole is clever, unique, endlessly creative, and professional. Todrick Hall is an independent artist, but the quality of his work can still compete in the big leagues. Todrick has worked with the best of them, including creating choreography for Queen B herself. His own work is on par with his idols and deserves equal praise.
A cast of talented guest stars adds another level of professionalism to the album. These include Pentatonix, Amber Riley, Nicole Scherzinger, Perez Hilton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Jordin Sparks to name a few. Todrick’s own performance skills stand out against these acclaimed stars.
The music explores modern day social issues and uses his experiences to give visual representation of these problems. Todrick points out injustice in the world today. Some of the themes he talks about are bias in the music industry, the abuse of new talent, the absurdity of media’s portrayal of black people, religious discrimination, racial divide, homophobia, gun violence, and political injustice.
The world Todrick has created in "Straight Outta Oz" is the world as it should be. Todrick’s world is one where all people exist side by side. Every race, religion, sexuality, and gender exist harmoniously. His music and visual creation is a testament to Todrick’s character, and a showcase for what diversity truly stands for.
As he states of himself in the video, Todrick is still very green. In the scheme of things he is very new to the game. He has room for progress, but it is only up from here. As an independent artist he lacks the back-up funding of a record label, though he has proven at this point that he doesn’t need it to create great art. "Straight Outta Oz" is a visual and musical masterpiece, and Todrick’s most important piece of work to date.
"Straight Outta Oz" is available to purchase on iTunes, and Todrick is currently on tour with a live version of the show.
