On June 23, 2016, an underrated pop singer by the name of Todrick Hall released his first visual album by the name of "Straight Outta Oz." When Straight Outta Oz came out, it was right around the time I first discovered and binged Todrick's YouTube. I had seen the promo for the album around two weeks before it came out, and I thought it was going to be a modernized version of "The Wizard of Oz" with Todrick as Dorothy. I was so excited for it. I love when classics get modernized, like "Alice in Wonderland" or "Hamilton."
When it came out, I was in the middle of watching "Royal Crush." After watching around one hour of the video, I was in love. I re-watched it again, and again, and again, each time noticing something different that I loved. "Straight Outta Oz" follows a young Todrick in his hometown and on his journey to LA. Through his journey, Todrick has to overcome much adversity, being a gay, black man. Instead of showing us a regular biopic of his life, however, he decided to merge fantasy with real life by casting himself as Dorothy.
The story goes that he, just like Dorothy, doesn't feel at home in his hometown. Todrick doesn't feel at home because being gay wasn't as common in Texas back then. Homophobic slurs and bullying push Todrick to eventually leave his hometown behind and go to the "land of dreams," LA.
The story continues through the seduction of one of his superiors for a job to an Orlando shooting. One of the highlights of his visual album for me is definitely the correlation between Oz and Todrick's life. For example, in the song "Papi," Nicole Scherzinger plays the corrupted official who tells Todrick if he sleeps with her, he will become famous. Why the song is so magnificent is because, one, Nicole's voice is otherworldly (it just proves that Nicole isn't human with vocals like that), and second, it proves that Todrick is one of the most creative people of our time.
In the "Wizard of Oz," Dorothy and her companions come across a group of flower people known as Poppies. The Poppies lure the gang into their field and put them under a spell to make them think if they sleep forever, they will have all the luxuries in life. In "Straight Outta Oz," Nicole is trying to convince Todrick that if he sleeps with her, he will become famous, so to seduce him she continuously calls Todrick... (are you ready) ... PAPI! With Todrick's hilarious comedy, catchy songs and amazing writing, I think it is a shame that it's been almost two years since the initial release and the video only has 1.6 million views.
This album personally means a lot to me. It reminds me of a time in my life when I was in a physical place where I wasn't happy. But because of the friends I had at the time, they made me enjoy every day of my life. And personally, I find Todrick to be my role model. I don't see many famous people out there who I feel I really relate to. It just shows me that even when I am sad, I can be happy and successful. What stands to me the most, though, is that Todrick tackled very serious, important topics in his album, from homophobia to gun control, and that makes me appreciative of the awareness raised.
