Look as if Antoine Dodson’s fame isn’t dying just yet, after a song that uses excerpts from his now infamous interview with a local Huntsville, Al news station has been transformed into a Billboard Top 100 song.
According to published reports, the “Bed Intruder Song”, composed by a quartet of musicians living in Brooklyn known as the Gregory Brothers, has registered at number 39 on the Billboard charts after selling more than 91,000 copies on iTunes.
“It’s not easy to get on that chart.” Director of charts at Billboard, Silvio Pietroluongo said in an in interview with the New York Times. “There are plenty of decent radio songs that don’t reach the sales chart.”
Although many may discredit the song as being a true success; many in the industry point to the shift in how music is shared and discovered stating that many more people are now listening to and finding new music on YouTube.
“The bar is getting lower for creative artists to break into the mainstream,” Russ Crupnick, an analyst at NPD said. “In a sense, it’s not surprising that this viral pop music is succeeding as a pop-culture phenomenon.”
With the increased popularity of the song has come harsh criticism, the Gregory Brothers’ choice of subject matter has provoked a range of responses, with some critics asking whether they were perpetuating stereotypes or making light of a serious crime.
But the Gregory Brothers insist that Dodson’s passion and energy after the attack inspired the catchy song.
“The song is memorable and compelling for the same reasons a conventional song is,” Evan Gregory told the New York Times. “He’s conveying emotion and a strong personality, and that’s what we latch onto in a pop performance.”
If you think Antoine let an opportunity slip by without gaining credit, think again; the song is credited to “Antoine Dodson & the Gregory Brothers,” and the group is splitting the profits from the song with him.
Check out the “Bed Intruder” music video below.
SOURCE: hiphopwired.com
