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The Art of Beating the Internet
The internet is one of the most powerful forces in the 21st century. It can end careers, breed celebrities and gives us a great place to roast anyone and anything we please. However, very few people can say they ever beat the internet but there are a few exceptions. These people either beat or harnessed the power of the internet, forever engraving their names into the history books of the internet.
Tom Brady may be the most prolific example of someone who has beat the internet. Super Bowl 51 was a head to head between New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons, everyone was too excited for one of the most exciting sporting spectacles of the year. Two great teams face to face in the battle for first place of the National Football League. This excitement fell hard when the score was 28-3 in the third quarter for the Falcons. It was evident that the Patriots just could not seem to get their game together which is quite unusual for them. This is when the notorious picture of a defeated-looking Brady, sitting head down with legs stretched out on the field, started to make its circulation on the internet.
Needless to say, sport analyzers and meme pages alike had a field day with the picture. No one could believe the blowout they were all watching. Completely un-Patriot like. Suddenly as if Brady heard all that was being said about him, he got back in the saddle and did what he does best: win. He marched the Patriots back to a 34-28 win in overtime, the biggest comeback ever in Super Bowl history. This win not only helped him in the GOAT argument but pegs him as one of the best internet warriors of all time.
The second example, Lil Pump. This Soundcloud rapper may as well be the face of the website. His quick rise to stardom has been based around the manipulation of the internet to his advantage. His song Gucci Gang was everywhere. You have to wonder as to how this 17 year old kid got a platinum plaque with a song that said the title of the track 53 times within 2 minutes. The only reasonable answer: the internet.
Kids grasped onto this little, lean sipping sensation quickly and are still riding his wave. The seemingly not-so-talented rapper cannot make anything less than a hit these days. He recently signed an 8 million dollar deal with Warner Bros. off of songs that are repetitive, redundant and well, catchy. This quick rise to fame marks Lil Pump as one of the best personalities to ever use the internet to their advantage.
Lastly, underground Florida rapper Soldier Kidd. This guy is another person who beat the internet however on a darker note. After the tragic shooting death of XXXTentacion a lot of fingers pointed at Soldier Kidd to be the perpetrator. There was photo evidence of him and fellow rapper Soldier Jojo posing with a red mask that one of XXX's killers allegedly wore during the attack. Jojo is also pictured with the red mask and "XXX" written in another Instagram post prior to the date of the attack. Finally a video of take out food from a restaurant close to the death site of XXX which featured a handgun made it onto the Instagram story of Soldier Kidd on the day of the crime.
This is undeniably fishy. Soldier Kidd was quick to take to Instagram live and claim his innocence. "I was at my house all day, popping Xanax and sh*t like that," Kidd said. People were still very suspicious nonetheless. It was not until after the actual perpetrators of the crime were identified and arrested did his name clear the public's suspect lists. The fame he gained form his short time in the limelight of social media made it easy for his name to get around and his music sales to spike. He now has just under half a million Instagram followers and a semi-successful musical career which is considerable jump from suspected murderer not even a year ago.
These three examples are all very different from each other. However, these are some of the few who have ever beaten the internet whether you like it or not. There are many ways to do it, all as unconventional as the last. The internet is a force that you can ride the wave of, get life from, and sometimes get crushed by— kind of like water. It takes a real hero, or villain, to harness its ability and prove it all wrong.
Boston Globe | Super Bowl LII Patriots vs. Eagles
Heavy | Did Soldier Kidd Tweet That He Killed XXXTentacion? No.
YouTube | Lil Pump | Gucci Gang
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