The examples and perspective in this article may not include all significant viewpoints .(July 2011) |
"President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)" | |
---|---|
Single by Iman Crosson | |
Released | May 4, 2011 |
Genre | Spoken word and hip hop |
Length | 3:22 |
Songwriter(s) | Iman Crosson |
Producer(s) | Iman Crosson |
Music video | |
"President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)" on YouTube |
"President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)" is Iman Crosson's spoof video posted to the YouTube video sharing website, including a spoof of U.S. President Barack Obama's May 1, 2011 speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden. The video is the basis of the rap music single "Momentous Day".
The video was produced by actor-impressionist and dancer Iman Crosson and posted on YouTube three days after Obama's speech. Crosson's video includes a spoken explanatory introduction followed by a spoof of Obama's speech. The spoof includes comedic dancing, and presents the speech in a rap music form, sometimes covering topics from Obama's speech with references to contemporary memes.
Popular and critical reaction focused on the video's humor and on Crosson's impersonation. Several commentators observed that the video effectively captured the national mood in the wake of bin Laden's death. [1] [2]
Three days after Barack Obama's May 1, 2011 speech from the East Room of the White House announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, [3] actor, impressionist, dancer and Internet personality Iman Crosson posted a YouTube video titled "President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)" [4] that parodied Obama's speech.
In the video, the East Room spoof followed a spoken-word introduction by Crosson, impersonating Barack Obama sitting at a desk, [5] explaining that the rest of the video was an "alternative speech" that had not been chosen for broadcast, replaced by the "traditional speech" that Obama in fact delivered. [6] In character with the spoof, TVGuide.com quipped, "originally, this diss track was supposed to be the nail in Osama's coffin". [7] CBS News's Bailey Johnson echoed that Crosson's version was "an earlier draft of the speech — a draft very different from the one that aired." [1]
The spoof was delivered in rap and included comedic dancing in a backdrop resembling the East Room, with The Huffington Post saying the video was "works in almost every meme from the last month". [8] The video not only included topics relating to bin Laden's killing, but referenced Internet culture, [5] including contemporary memes such as Charlie Sheen's "Duh, Winning", Rebecca Black, Antoine Dodson, ENJ vs. Niks, [9] as well as snuggies, Donald Trump, and Google Earth. [6] [10] The single "Momentous Day" [11] is derived from the rap portion of the video.
One commentator described the video as what Obama's speech—"in all likelihood the most pimp moment of his first two-and-a-half years in the White House"—"would have looked and sounded like had the man gone swag with it," characterizing Crosson's performance as a "rhymed flow over a booming, Lex Luger-esque beat." [9] New York magazine's Amanda Dobbins referred humorously to Crosson's dancing of the Dougie as a "bonus: the official Obama Family Dance." [12] The Post-Standard affiliate Syracuse.com's Geoff Herbert described "the witty parody rap" as "a fierce rap with lots of swag." [6]
Crosson ended his speech with "Oh that'll be two terms please, thank you", [9] referring to Obama's possible 2012 re-election in view of his increased popularity following the success of the bin Laden mission. [13]
Bailey Johnson of CBS News contrasted Crosson's rap and dancing performance with Obama's "model of confidence, restraint, and calm authority", further stating that Crosson's version of the speech "seems to perfectly capture the national mood". [1] San Francisco Chronicle contributor Zennie Abraham quoted Johnson and added that the video "exactly expresses what you and I both know Barack wanted to say after the Navy Seal Team 6 got to their objective". [14] Al Jazeera 's "Listening Post" remarked that Crosson's satirical interpretation "cuts through the usual diplomatic platitudes and delivers – what seems to be – a more honest and rhythmically tuned account of what happened." [15] CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing Editor David Hawkings remarked that the video "skewered the president's 'no drama' affect and at the same time captured the mood of the country in the days after the Abbottabad raid." [2]
The media soon responded to the video as "a viral hit". [8]
The video was viewed at least 233,837 times in its first 24 hours, [17] and reached its millionth view about 50 hours after being posted. [18] and its two millionth view about 92 hours after being posted. [19] YouTube reported Crosson's video as the platform's fifth-most viewed video, across all categories, during the first 48 hours after its upload. [20] Crosson's "Alphacat" YouTube channel received over 20,000 new subscribers in the first six days after the video's release. [21]
Within 72 hours, YouTube reported Crosson's video as being the Comedy category's #1 most "Popular Around the Web," which YouTube defines as "Videos with the most views when embedded on other websites". [22] In one such embed, the video was shown on the front page of the comedy website Funny or Die. [23]
Within nine days, the video received three million views, over 20,000 comments, and a "Like/Dislike" ratio of 51. [24]
In August 2011, Matt Wilstein of The Huffington Post named it among the top five Obama impressions. [25]
The video received substantial media attention within days, with the video's views-per-day actually increasing over the course of its first three days. [26]
Media attention included features from such news outlets and political commentators as CBS News's Bailey Johnson, [1] The Huffington Post writers including Matt Wilstein, [8] [25] Al Jazeera 's "Listening Post," [15] MSNBC's "The Last Word" staff, [27] Sean Hannity, [28] New York magazine's Amanda Dobbins, [12] The San Francisco Chronicle 's Zennie Abraham, [14] and The Atlantic 's Chris Good, [29] as well as recognition from comedy video websites such as Funny or Die, [23] and mentions in pop culture and celebrity websites such as TV Guide . [7]
Within a day of the video's posting on YouTube, Excite (Italy) reported that L'imitatore numero uno del Presidente degli Stati Uniti (the number one impersonator of the President of the United States) had turned Obama's speech into a rap. [30] The same day, Obama's "comedic doppelganger" was said to have "spit hot fire": "with one of his best Obama impressions to date, ... his lyrics [being] pretty tight, especially coupled with his on-point presidential delivery and hitting his Dougie." [31] CBS News's Bailey Johnson concluded that Crosson was "one of the best presidential impersonators working today." [1] Calling Crosson "master of the interweb airwaves," Infotainment News remarked of the video, "yeah, it's a meme, and the interweb will be full of them soon enough, but this is done with good clean humor." [32] NonAmos.com remarked that "It's difficult to strike a perfect balance between political satire and complete poor taste. But ... actor and impressionist Iman Crosson gets it right." [33] "Alphacat is a legitimate genius for making this video spoof... Alphacat's touch up on the speech is much more than a comedic approach, it's a mass collection of all 2011 memes, from Rebecca Black's Friday, Charlie Sheen's winning, to Dougies' Dougie, it's an endless troupe of hilarity. [10]
On the second day after the video's posting on YouTube, The Huffington Post said that the video was "fast becoming a viral hit", and that Crosson "doesn't stop at getting the look and sound of the president down, he has created an impression that is almost a parallel worlds version of the man; one who raps or sings his way through every major event while maintaining his signature calm collectedness." [8] MSNBC's "The Last Word" linked to the video, remarking that "comedian Iman Crosson does a pretty spot-on impression of our Commander-in-Chief. He's also not half bad at writing political rhymes." [27] TheRoot called it a "hilarious video" from "the man best known for his Obama impersonations during the 2008 elections." [34] [35] Fanpage Italia called it "one of the most anticipated and successful parodies by... one of the most popular political Internet Webstars." [36] Crosson's impression of Obama was called "spot-on ... absolutely nailing the hand gestures and uh, vocal, uh, tics of our nation's 44th president." [9]
On the third day, New York magazine's Amanda Dobbins called Crosson "he of the spot-on YouTube Obama impersonations", saying "he really goes in" during the video [12] Il Quotidiano Italiano wrote that Crosson was "punctual as always" in his production of the video so quickly after the news event it was spoofing. "Alphacat, one of the most popular political Internet Webstars... has not missed an opportunity to mount a parody ad hoc for this historic event." [5] The Moderate Voice expressed that "there have been some great spoofs of Obama in the past and this impersonator, Alphacat has been responsible for a good chunk of them. This new video has to be one of his best yet." [38]
Ten days after the video was posted, Al Jazeera English's "Listening Post" named Crosson's video "Internet Video of the Week," remarking "we found a clip of a talented Obama impersonator putting all his acting, singing and dancing skills to work." [15]
More than a month after the video was posted, The San Francisco Chronicle contributor Zennie Abraham commented on the spoof video and its related behind-the-scenes video, calling the spoof video "a work of genius." [14]
Video views were possible through various other websites that had shorter commentaries, but embedded Crosson's video: The Atlantic's Chris Good ("President Obama's leading rap impersonator supplies an alternate we-killed-bin-laden announcement"), [29] WJVL Radio (Wisconsin; "Funny Friday" video for May 6, 2011), [39] the facebook page of Ashton Kutcher ("lol"), [40] New England Sports Network's DirtyWaterTV ("...clever nuances. Very funny."), [41] Power 98.3 FM website ("HILARIOUS... too funny"), [42] Glow Radio (FusionRadio.ca; "He goes in!"), [43] BookerRising.com ("this version of his speech would've been much better LOL"), [44] The Hollywood Grind ("totally believable"), [45] Jack & Jill Politics ("The Hip Hop/Pimp Walk musical version that black people secretly wish had happened...(SPOOF)"), [46] Electronic Urban Report's "ThisNthat" (Iman Crosson delivers Obama's "real victory speech"), [47] political commentator Sean Hannity (linked under "Faves"), [28] rapper Funkmaster Flex ("BY FAR the most officially funny skit I've seen on the topic"), [48] Radio 104.7 KISS FM ("Iman Crosson... does a pretty spot-on Obama"), [49] and Mario Armstrong (interview; "incredible spoof"). [50]
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian-born Islamist dissident and militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, he participated in the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union and supported the activities of the Bosnian mujahideen during the Yugoslav Wars. Bin Laden is most widely known as the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks in the United States.
There were many video and audio recordings released by Osama bin Laden between 2000 and his death in 2011.
Osama bin Laden, the founder and former leader of al-Qaeda, went into hiding following the start of the War in Afghanistan in order to avoid capture by the United States and/or its allies for his role in the September 11 attacks, and having been on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 1999. After evading capture at the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, his whereabouts became unclear, and various rumours about his health, continued role in al-Qaeda, and location were circulated. Bin Laden also released several video and audio recordings during this time.
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot and killed at his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad by United States Navy SEALs of SEAL Team Six. The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was carried out in a CIA-led mission, with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) coordinating the Special Mission Units involved in the raid. In addition to SEAL Team Six, participating units under JSOC included the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), also known as the "Night Stalkers", and the CIA's Special Activities Division, which heavily recruits from former JSOC Special Mission Units. The success of the operation ended a nearly decade-long manhunt for bin Laden, who was accused of masterminding the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Amber Lee Ettinger is an American actress, Internet celebrity, model, and singer.
Hamza bin Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, better known as Hamza bin Laden, was a Saudi Arabian-born member of al-Qaeda. He is a son of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and, following his father's death in 2011, he was described as an emerging leader of the al-Qaeda organization.
There have been several videos released showing Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
"Yes We Can" is a song produced by The Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, released as promotional single on February 2, 2008.
Barack Obama, who served as the 44th President of the United States, has elicited a number of public perceptions regarding his personality and background. As the first African-American President of the United States, his race and culture played a prominent role, both positively and negatively.
Iman Crosson, better known by his stage name Alphacat, is an American actor, impressionist, and YouTube personality known for his impersonations of former U.S. President Barack Obama and his starring role in independent film Along the Roadside.
On May 2, 2011, United States President Barack Obama confirmed that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed in his compound in Abbottabad, northeastern Pakistan. Bin Laden's death was welcomed by many as a positive and significant turning point in the fight against al-Qaeda and related groups. Those who welcomed it included the United Nations, European Union, NATO, and some nations in Asia, Africa, Oceania, South America, and the Middle East, including Yemen, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, India, Israel, Indonesia, Somalia, the Philippines, Turkey, Iraq, Australia, Argentina, and the rebel Libyan Republic.
"Funnybot" is the second episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 211th episode of the series overall. "Funnybot" premiered in the United States on Comedy Central on May 4, 2011, the first time a South Park episode has premiered in May since season 10's "Tsst" in 2006. "Funnybot" was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker and was rated TV-MA in the United States.
The death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, gave rise to various conspiracy theories, hoaxes and rumors. These include the ideas that he had died earlier, or that he lived beyond the reported date. Doubts about Bin Laden's death were fueled by the U.S. military's supposed disposal of his body at sea, the decision to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of Bin Laden's death to the public, the contradicting accounts of the incident, and the 25-minute blackout during the raid on Bin Laden's compound during which a live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the U.S. special forces was cut off.
Pakistan was alleged to have provided support for Osama bin Laden. These claims have been made both before and after Osama was found living in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan and was killed by a team of United States Navy SEALs on 2 May 2011. The compound itself was located just half a mile from Pakistan's premier military training academy Kakul Military Academy (PMA) in Abbottabad. In the aftermath of bin Laden's death, American president Barack Obama asked Pakistan to investigate the network that sustained bin Laden. "We think that there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan", Obama said in a 60 Minutes interview with CBS News. He also added that the United States was not sure "who or what that support network was." In addition to this, in an interview with Time magazine, CIA Director Leon Panetta stated that US-officials did not alert Pakistani counterparts to the raid because they feared the terrorist leader would be warned. However, the documents recovered from bin Laden's compound 'contained nothing to support the idea that bin Laden was protected or supported by the Pakistani officials'. Instead, the documents contained criticism of Pakistani military and future plans for attack against the Pakistani military installations.
The code name Geronimo controversy came about after media reports that the U.S. operation to kill Osama bin Laden used the code name "Geronimo" to refer to either the overall operation, to fugitive bin Laden himself or to the act of killing or capturing bin Laden.
Situation Room is a photograph taken by Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer, at 4:05 p.m. on May 1, 2011. The photograph shows U.S. president Barack Obama and his national security team in the White House Situation Room receiving live updates from Operation Neptune Spear, which led to the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, Inc. (OPSEC) is a 501(c)(4) organization formed in the United States in 2012 to conduct a media campaign critical of President Obama by accusing his administration of disclosing sensitive information about the killing of Osama bin Laden and taking too much credit for the operation. In response, the Obama Campaign compared the organization's efforts to the "Swift Boat" attacks against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004.
Baracksdubs is a popular YouTube channel and series that uses Barack Obama speeches to create cover songs, generally of popular songs. The channel was created by Fadi Saleh as a then-freshman student of the University of Tennessee. The channel was a Maker Studios partner from 2012 to 2015, when Saleh formed his own company, Spare Time Entertainment.
"Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney" is a song and music video, performed by Iman "Alphacat" Crosson, Peter "Nice Peter" Shukoff, and Lloyd "EpicLLOYD" Ahlquist. It is the 8th episode of the 2nd season of the YouTube video series Epic Rap Battles of History. The video was released on October 15, 2012 on the show's YouTube channel in anticipation of the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive is a 2016 Indian satire comedy film written and directed by Abhishek Sharma. A sequel to the 2010 film Tere Bin Laden, it narrates the story of an aspiring filmmaker who bumps into an Osama bin Laden look alike, and also samples materials from the prequel. The film stars Manish Paul, Pradhuman Singh Mall, and Piyush Mishra, and was released worldwide on 26 February 2016.