God this was bound to happen with how over-corporatized rap has become, This makes Milli-vanilli look like kindergarten stuff. Also these people are forgetting Gorillaz started out as a side project that Damon Albarn used to collab with other artists as it wouldn't fit with Blur's Brit-rock sensibilities you can't hard force a gimmick like this to be successful.
Bruh what lol . Rap for decades has been cookie cutter and highly processed. Once a generation you get a good artist, MAYBE, Who totally created something new this generation ?
Aye, Gorillaz is such a great band because it is just pure love for music by Damon that he wanted to do outside his more public image. He wanted to make different sounds but it wouldn't fit with his actual stuff so he made a virtual band to get more rap, funk, blues etc flavor in his music than just rock. And it worked. Why did it work? Because there was actual passion for different sounds in the band.
@@ci6516there are plently of artists that are putting out crazy new music, HI-C Digital, Axxturel/Luci4, Kaystrueno, Sephe, Lostrushi, RBC, DomD, Icytwat, hella artists bro
Honestly even if their music is good, I'm never gonna feel good about listening to corporate artists like this. Why are these companies trying so hard to take humanity out of music? Its like because VR and AI are gaining steam they think music needs to be run by robots and fake representations of people. Nobody actually wants that to happen.
it is definitely gonna happen though, sadly most people don't care to look that deeply into music and only listen to what is popular and sounds ok, idk if these guys are going to make it, but at one point the mainstream will be ran by the most soulless music sadly.
@@dariusandone3636 i mean most mainstream music written and performed by humans today is already mechanical and soulless, so I'll just treat them the same as I treat corporate pop music. It just feels extra icky, ya know
@@riverscuomo7140It’s your loss, actually. It’s shows you aren’t critical about the content you ingest, that’s not something to be proud of. You are their exact target audience - ignorant. Ignorant to the ramifications of letting something like this succeed, ignorant to the agendas behind companies such as these, and ignorant to the fact that you’ve become a mindless drone driven by uncritical consumption.
The term "industry plant" wasn't a thing when Captain Murphy came out. Also, that project and the artists associated with it were too "underground" even with the Adult Swim connection for there to be those kinds of accusations. At the time it was obvious that it was just somebody playing the MF DOOM game. There was curiosity as to who that person was, but nobody was screaming "industry plant."
@GivvyOfficial94 "Started getting thrown around the same year" and "was an entrenched saying in common use" are not the same thing homie. None of us was saying that shit about Captain Murphy.
@@elketerbentzadik look up when it originated pal, all it takes is a little research - sorry I stated thrown around as a loose term forgot about keyboard warriors like you..
Industry plant has been a common term since at least the 90s lmao. The reason why Murph wasn’t labeled a plant was because adult swim regularly featured artists that were underground or new to the scene so it wasn’t unusual for a then unknown artist to be featured especially since his music is fire and his aesthetic fit the channel. The other reason is that his marketing wasn’t as aggressive and isn’t on a huge label so he didn’t have random high profile features to try and bolster his popularity
Idk if this helps but I’ve seen Eric Jamal at ComplexCon 22’ leaving the SuperPlastic Stand where Vince staples was there doing a meet n greet and also selling his toy collab he had with superplastic aswell. I do think Eric Jamal is apart of Ghost Kids and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get a TeezoTouchDown feature next
Naw that’s nonsense. COUNTLESS artists are “creating their own universe” that’s what the MUSIC IS FOR. I’m not buying that, theres an entire world Billy Woods has managed to create through vivid lyricism, and it’s so much more distinct and interesting then this boring nothing concept of “oh we’re two animated animals trying to take over the world and be the best duo ever” that’s just so boring.
AMVs explode in popularity on social media. Take just about anybody who makes animated music videos. Jake Hill, Josh A, GhostMane, Gorillaz, Murphy (as mentioned earlier), rare Americans, lil darkie, the living tombstone (not talking about his video game music but that didn't hurt his bank account) if you animate original music videos, you WILL get views. Oh and also Matt Nye I guess, he's an obscure Florida rapper who has gotten much bigger since I first heard him. Hell, wouldn't even be the first digital artist industry plant.
The Superplastic animation art style gave it away to me, not surprising for a company like that to try to profit off of hip-hop. they're basically trying to make hypebeast Funko pops into a mainstream thing now I guess
Designer toys and figures have been around FAR longer than funko pops my guy 😂 Superplastic is bad at it though because they mass produce their designs they put everything on Hella sales thus killing their resale market and don't care about the customers and they genuinely don't care because the people behind Superplastic were already worth millions before forming the Superplastic brand
@@Its-Me-Guysyou got some examples of designer toys? I’m genuinely curious, because now that you mention it that’s probably what a ship in a bottle was
@@charpool169The thing is, you can find out Metalocalypse is a show pretty easy but even if it wasn't, being inspired by Gorillaz wouldn't make them a rip off. They'd be going for a different aesthetic, genre, etc etc. I saw the thumbnail and thought Ghost kidz were Gorillaz characters. They seem like a straight rip off.
@@murddeath your basically just adding to my point not making an argument against it, those obvious differences between dethklok and gorillaz still not saving them from getting the comparison just means these guys with a more similar style in appearance and music have basically no chance of escaping it. ✌
@EyesDontCry yeah but following each other on your main accounts where anyone can view that? thats really the only lead he got that told matt it was those two and it worked
the absolute irony. gorillaz was initially made to criticise the music industry, its a parody on artificial bands. i doubt ghost kidz understood that though and just wanted to rip the aesthetic.
I mean yeah sure you can say they were a parody or ironic but the fact of the matter is they DID become an “artificial band” that’s really mainstream right now so even though you may think it started as an ironic take on the industry - they’re now not too far from bands like this lol. It doesn’t change much. They are that and they became the very thing you say they’re making a statement about. It’s like people who say they’re joking after they say something that they actually really meant but when it’s not well-received by others they jus cop out to the “oh I was just joking” lol. You’re not safe from the label and reality of the situation just because you’re like “oh I’m self aware about it”
@@BostonStew i didn't want to take away from my original point so i didn't include it, but yeah i've felt that way after humanz came out. i absolutely loath the artistic death of modern gorillaz. i've wanted to write a video essay on specifically this for some time actually, I just haven't gotten to it yet.
@@doofs yeah I mean here’s my thing. I feel like people (for good reason) get really caught and hung up on the whole “industry plant” thing because obviously the over commercialization of the music industry and art as a whole is bad. But at the same time - the term “industry plant” is overused and being an industry plant isn’t necessarily a bad thing because there’s man talented people who just get discovered by a big label and they kind of throw them in the mix with over-promotion and the audiences see that and get annoyed before they even give them a try. However, there’s also a ton of just sad shameless attempts of industry plants that are exploitative to real art and real talented artists. With the Gorillaz, I think yeah we’re definitely right about how they started out and the idea they had in there head for the band idea and how it’s changed over the years but I still enjoy their music. It’s hard to drag on the idea you initially had for the band for like over 12+ years at this point. At some point, you have to ask yourself am I really expanding this long musical career as just an “ironic take on the industry” haha because no one wants to be considered a joke. It’s the evolution of art through the artists. Like I said though, I do still enjoy their new music and I did like Humanz even though I get why people are too keen on it because it does have a whole different feel & vibe to it like the approach of the band changed. It’s hard to make it as successful as they are and also retain your core audience without them saying you changed. But I’d def watch/listen to your video essay on it if you did.
i love that Superplastic's whole schtick is making "fake" or "synthetic" celebrities, and they immediately made the most corporate, forced hip hop artists ever without recognizing the irony.
@@blumpkinglindeidk if I'd call it irony, but the virtual band aren't real celebrities because they're not real people, they're also not real celebrities because they are a corporate plant
Wouldn’t that mean they succeeded though? Props to them for making a brand out of being soulless, and honestly they are so obvious about it I have trouble believing they are unaware of their image, maybe they planned people dunking on them to give the project exposure.
I mean to be fair, the Gorillaz route was the next step considering the whole premise of Gorillaz is the same thing lmfao. People forget that the whole idea was supposed to be a parody of MTV culture. The characters were always supposed to be caricatures of this.
The differences between them and the Gorillaz are how much more home-grown the Gorillaz are. 1. Damon was always transparent about being the man behind the scenes. Because he hid very little, it didn’t feel like he was deliberately putting in mystery to intrigue, it just felt like he liked this concept and wanted to see what he could do with it. 2. With their first album and most of their second album, they didn’t have very deep lore. Yeah Noodle and Russell had a few things that always could’ve been expanded on, but other than that, they were mostly just a fictional band in a fictional world, not crazy zombie killers or whatever. They only started to expand on it after they got naturally big and let their world shine.
@@lumethecrow that wasn't until later on when they started doing the lore shit and all of it started to feel disingenuous lmfao. I love TNN and I love Ace but I still wish Gorillaz still had that slice of life feel of following problematic celebrities who were self aware that they're cartoons in a crazy world as opposed to WE NEED TO GO ON BIG ADVENTURES BECAUSE OUR LOW ATTENTION SPAN FABASE CRAVES KEY JANGLING AND CRAVES IT NOW. I'm a cynical fan but I mean, it all spiraled into Cracker Island so how could I not be lmfao. Song Machine was solid, though, once they just let the MVs be separate bits and stopped trying to weave the plot together halfway through lol.
I think even more so, Gorillaz, as much as that feels less and less true over time imo, has at least STARTED as a passion project. It wasn't something they thought of as a get rich quick scheme. They did it for the love of it. I think my favourite thing is the fact that they literally did this whole entire thing because they were zooted out of their minds watching MTV and just had the thought "...yeah. We can do that, but with cartoons." It all started from a goof and they just went with it. The first album has so much love to it and you can just hear it. Jamie's art was so phenomenal and unique, and yet you can see the influence that went into it. It was all around a pretty solid project made by two roommates who were just essentially dicking around and seeing where it takes them. Fun fact: Gorillaz was supposed to be anonymous. Damon was embarrassed by the whole cartoon thing, since he's been a frontman all his life he's used to being center stage and clearly didn't like sharing the spotlight with his cartoon lmfao. They were ratted out pretty early on; which I'm sort of glad of. Damon has a very distinct voice so even with the vocal modulation and the way he'd try to change his voice, it's kind of obvious to tell it's him.
@@2doot exactlyyyy. I love gorillaz SO MUCH (like, top 0.005% listener in 2023 and own a physical copy of Rise of the Ogre love gorillaz lmao) and I couldn't really stomach Cracker Island- both the music and the weird, super-clean 3-D models and the hyper realistic drawings- but I can still feel the original spirit of Gorillaz in it. Especially with the lore, even if it was odd lmao. This is just so corporate and icky. Not a single ounce of love and care put into it. Not even like, satire.
@@SeasoningTheObeseThis is such an unbelievably stupid way of saying they're being used. They're literally artists still. You can't pretend they're not to make a point
Gorillaz were made by a musician and a cartoonist collaborating, creating some beloved art with soul and love. Ghost Kidz were made by a team of suits. The world building of Gorillaz grew as Gorillaz grew, Ghost Kidz is trying to mimick all of that lore and character as soon as they are created. They will be forgotten. They will be forgotten immediately, and anything they are remembered as is a bootleg of what they desperately tried to recreate. Gorillaz grew because it captivated audiences, it made people interested in the characters and their backgrounds. It was just a passion project that ended up getting greenlit and found itself in the opportunity to become something great. The suits behind Ghost Kidz just assume that people will grow attached in the same way they did to Gorillaz. bleh.
The most beautiful thing about hip hop has always been the fact that anyone can do it. People who participate in this art form are encouraged to be their authentic selves. You can make some weird, experimental hip hop where you talk about comic books and aliens and you'll find an audience. The worst thing about hip hop is starting to be the fact that anyone can do it. There are no real standards for entry. A record label can make an AI rapper, put money behind it and force it into the industry and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Nah, there was a time when not just anybody could do Hip Hop. You had to have skill at one point. It took more than just being yourself in order to be respected. The fact that standards in Hip Hop have gone to the gutter these days, then yeah, anyone can pretty much do it.
@@apexone5502I’m sorry but this is such a dumbass comment dude. I hate seeing shit like this and people like you. You think lil Wayne came out the womb with a hot 16 and ad libs ready for the studio? No you bozo. You start off bad, and get better. Like every avenue of life. Don’t ever say somebody can’t do something, just cuz your ass never had the heart to do it
@@domhayad it literally is true. I grew up on rappers who talked about comic books and superheroes and shit. MF DOOM was the biggest example of a nerd rapper. There were rappers whose whole gimmick was that they pretended to be aliens. You lil mfs started listening to hip hop yesterday and think y'all know everything about it lol shut up
@@apexone5502 obviously you needed skill. That's not what I was talking about. I was talking about the fact that if you're really into geology and never committed any crime in your life, people are gonna respect you more if you rap about collecting rocks instead of selling them But even then, you didn't even really need skill like that. You're romanticizing the past. Eazy-E wasn't really that great of a rapper. No one in the 2 Live Crew were really all that talented but they were pioneers, not only in hip hop, but American music in general, to the point where they changed laws. A man who called himself the Freaky Chinese who said "won't your daddy be disgusted when he sees your pussy busted, won't your mama be so mad if she knew I got that ass" is part of the reason music comes with a Parental Advisory warning label on it.
What's funny is Superplastic makes Gorillaz collectible figures. They already had the license for the group they are knocking off. The fact that the two animation styles are direct copies of Gorillaz is brazen "copy my homework but change it to look different." It's like bootleg palette-swapped Gorillaz, but make it as unaware of what Gorillaz is supposed to be as possible.
@@illfordthe general idea is that record labels are pushing for the most generic sound to appeal to as many people as possible which can often lead to the music sounding dull and repetitive
I almost think it’d be better if they dropped the characters and just had a real rap duo like Kids See Ghosts. Anyone just realize how similar the name is? They really ripped that off too?
Interesting theory with comparing these guys to Captain Murphy. I definitely could see it being a similar situation. Side note, we need another Captain Murphy album, Duality is a fucking masterpiece. That visual album was insane idek if it exists online anore
Not gonna lie when you said the company behind them sells NFTs that cut off any chance of me listening to anything that ever comes from anyone "supported" by them lmao, im still gonna keep watching tho of course Also after hearing that it's a group of anonymous rappers I have very high suspicions that this is all some NFT scam lol but after finishing the video I wonder if theyre just some tiktok artists who got picked up and don't even know about the NFTs super awesome in depth video man! loved this one
@@edgytypebeat781 yea lots of artists did that had shocked me tbh but I feel like at this point you've gotta be scamming to even think NFTs are a good idea to make money lol
@@TchSktch9 times out of 10 whenever a genuinely cool and interesting project starts marketing NFTs, people fall off and abandon ship incredibly fast. People will still be talking about them, but only about the NFTs and nothing else. Everything else they do is overshadowed.
That is so clearly someone who works there bro 😂 “that was amazing and I’m so glad we got to watch that live” and “but if Vince fucks with it you KNOW that shit is going to be bussin” 💀
in absolute fairness. they chose two very talented artists that aren’t extremely popular but have a decent following. and made them a duo. industry plant or not (as yes this is clearly an industry plant) it may work. most big artists are signed to huge labels that help them jumpstart into much bigger careers, this isn’t the first time this has happened and i bet it may have happened to your favorite artist. this is just a different way of doing it. but clearly a group of artists and producers, including a company saw enough vision in this duo try and make it work. i do hope the best for the actual rappers themselves, and i hope they have creative control instead of the company. if the company holds creative control they will go nowhere. the fact they are coming into the scene and immediately saying they want to be the best rap duo raises red flags to me, as that is quite bold and egotistical to be saying with only 2 songs, no one’s ever heard of you, and your a clear industry plant. but if they make actually good music that jumpstarts these two into much bigger careers (as they deserve it they are very talented), then i hope the best for the duo. but i don’t see “best rap duo ever” as of right now. but my mind could change.
Nah it's just a stupid way to launch a band. I'm not listening to music for corporate shills. People work hard to gain following. I'm not supporting a plant where they didn't have to earn shit. These guys are just using connections to try to speed run a following they haven't earned
Do they not understand a few months of slow build, a small hit then a better video……would trick most. But they need to blitzkrieg it out of nowhere. Everyone hates a fake….and everyone hates a fake made with Huge money backing. Ghostkidz sounds like a advertisement group of “what the kidz like….they like ``z instead of S”
I think its also something to note that the art style is WILDLY similar to rhat of Super Plastic's mascot Guggimon- which, ironically, is the company that has been making Gorillaz' figurines around the Song Machine era. Considering they're clearly trying to emulate Gorillaz, it doesn't really strike me as a coincidence. Also funny because Vince also had worked with Gorillaz lol. Edit: OH MY FUCKING GOD IT I S SUPERPLASTIC LMFAO THE BETRAYAL Edit again: 10:05 is literally just the Stylo MV
We live in the least authentic era in music history. I'm so, so tired of it. By the way nice research, you just reminded me to unfollow all of these shill instagram accounts that keep promoting.
nice vid , the idea of who ghost kidz are was lingering over my head since their buzz around rolling loud. you never fail to knowledge me on this shit W mattyballz 🙏
such a shame that such neat character designs are being wasted... I got the Guggimon skin in Fortnite back in the day because I thought he was neat, now I kinda regret the decision.
Love this investigative video. It was interesting going down this musical rabbit hole to find the potential identities of these two. I do gotta admit that they don't sound bad for industry plants, and their entrance was pretty dope. But I wouldn't be listening to them anytime soon, Gorillaz will always be THE virtual band in my book.
I’ve been in the music industry , I’ve talked to many big edm producers through my younger years when I use to produce and remix ect, music is hard asf , you do not just pop up out of nowhere you need a following then a deal or a hit song , then you become something , this shit is a obvious industry plant
They look like Fortnite characters. And i guess they are designed by people who have made fortnite skins. Weird they'd collab with Vince, who has at least a few songs where he talks about assaulting women.
It’s the first live experiment for what they plan the future to be like. The artists are digitally created/controlled by the companies and all they have to pay for is dancers on the stage and flashy setups. Imagine being a kid watching the backyardigans vibing out. That’s what you are in that moment vibing out to cartoon characters. From being a viewer on your device to a viewer in person.
The same thing has been happening in the film industry... Production companies are trying to offer actors a single day's pay to make 3d scans of their bodies, which they are then allowed to use in perpetuity. Basically buying the rights to use a person's image without actually having to pay them. Disturbing stuff
I've been following superplastic for a few years now. First out of curiosity. There's money behind them and they have their hands in a lot of different industry avenues. I first noticed them on Facebook and they definitely have some connections. But as you said, not nearly as many comments or likes per post etc as youd expect for their figures. Regardless, it's interesting, and I enjoy seeing wuere they're going with it.
I like the idea of rappers having a whole universe and lore behind the group you see it pretty often in the metal world and too me its always a cool idea if done right. What I hope is happening here is Superplastic only deals with the lore building side and let the musicians be musicians but who knows
fr!! i'm an aspiring rapper and i've designed a fuckton of alter egos with their own backstories and even whole concept albums dedicated to them. i wanna see more rappers embrace making up stories, not in the studio gangster kinda way but by creating deliberate works of fiction, like deltron 3030
@@bobmuzaik yeah the only real example I can think of off the top of my head is the Insane Clown Posse which isn’t great music but I can respect the amount of effort and thought behind storytelling behind the group even if once again it isn’t the greatest.
@@yoshi5I4 the main persona is a masked antihero that embodies contrast and duality. he's a fusion of 2 polar opposite beings in a yin-yang sorta way, and sometimes they separate and rap their own shit other personas i made include a spaceship captain, a mafia kingpin, and a personified virus living in a 2000's flip phone... they all have their own signature flows, sound design, and even costumes if i can find someone to make em lol
1.4 million followers and headlining Rolling Loud before you've released 2 songs is the very hallmark of being an industry plant. Supposedly being cosigned by rap legends without any evidence to support this claim is totally bullsh*t. Like, I can claim that I'm co-signed by some of the greatest legends of rap. What reason would you have to believe me?
do you think ODD FUTURE were industry plants? Tyler's 2nd album had so much push and they were on Jimmy Fallon so quickly; dropped the mask gimmick almost immediately after. 🤷♂️
Oh hey, mainstream concerts being ass. What a surprise. Seriously, concerts and radio became obsolete by 2010. We are in a music revolution where any niche can be filled, leaving "pop" genres to rot. Who cares about Taylor Swift and her latest cookie cutter song, when some random trap remix of Guts' theme has more emotion than the past five years of her entire career? Or, how about bands like Sabaton that make songs about legendary men and moments of war? Meanwhile Metallica is too busy DMCA-ing themselves to come up with new music. Here's a Nostalgia trip for ya! Snail's House! Just that one music video of the weird kid with the snail shell on her back making a business lady's life fun gets more views in a week than entire radio stations will in a month. BAD APPLE IS SUCH A PHENOMENON THAT PEOPLE WILL RECREATE THE VIDEO WITH PEELED APPLES! Pop, Rap, and Hip-Hop are remnants of a bygone era, and I pity anyone that clings to the modern bastardization of these genres.
