Editor’s note: Last month, one of our music writers was assigned duty to attend and review the Rebecca Black concert. Fortunately, he went above and beyond with his research, but in the process, he opened up the editorial rabbit hole that is Ark Music Factory. As a result, I have requested that this become a recurring column and, so far, I don’t see an end in sight. Enjoy.
Unfortunately, we don’t have much say in the matter, since this video does exist and we live in the world where it does.
Perhaps, I should elaborate.
For those who don’t know, Alison Gold is another victim (cough artist) under the wing of one Patrice Wilson (aka Nigerian Usher Lookalike) of the mysterious Ark Music Company (also known as Ark Music Factory). You’re probably more familiar with Mr. Wilson’s more famous victim, the insurmountable Rebecca Black and her world-changing single, "Friday." Miss Black is not alone! Patrice—who you may recognize from his inspired rap on the "Friday" single—has several children that he produces bizarre, glossy music videos for. For the low, low price of four-thousand dollars, you too could have your little princess in her very own music video.
However, Miss Black didn’t come out of a vacuum. A quick YouTube search of Ark Music Company will reveal a bevy of alarmingly young girls singing about a wide variety of subjects. Alison Gold’s first contribution to this disturbing collection is entitled "Chinese Food," which I briefly described in last month’s article as A True Rebecca Black Fan. If you haven’t watched it yet, please do so, to prepare for "Shush Up."
I won’t recap the whole "Chinese Food" video (or touch on the wildly inappropriate cultural appropriation), but the first line of the song is where you notice something is amiss. "After balling, I go clubbing." The sun’s out! What college basement party was this 11-year-old girl just at??? Where are her parents?! The dilemma is quickly solved, with Americanized Chinese Food and a grown man in a panda costume. Still, do 11-year-old girls really go clubbing these days?
"Shush Up" is Miss Gold’s third single. Her second, "ABCDEFG," is very forgettable. Besides getting into a strange person’s van because a sign told her to do so, it is fairly benign. "Shush Up," however, begins with Alison stealing, getting manhandled by the police, thrown in jail and eventually killed via electric chair—and, that’s just the beginning. The majority of the video involves her dressed up in skimpy gold—ahhh, I see what they did there—outfits, dancing provocatively. She is 12.
Now, a vast majority of the population actually agree that this video is a bad idea. It seemed the Nigerian Usher also seriously regretted the production, as the video was taken down from Ark’s YouTube channel within a few days of it being put up. Either Patrice finally watched the finished product and said, "Oh shit, this is basically child porn," before he came to his senses and took it down. Or, everyone who saw the video said, "Dude, this is basically child porn" to Patrice, at which point he reluctantly took it down. Neither scenario is great.
Rebecca Black was critically panned—unfairly, I might add—and Miss Black herself was torn to shreds for the song’s lyrical simplicity or, as I like to call it, GENIUS. Way to go, America, for mocking a child. Why has no shade been thrown on Patrice? Even comments on the surviving video links to Miss Gold’s "Shush Up" are littered with angry moms and armchair social justice warriors—essentially slut-shaming a child. What about the parents? What about Nigerian Usher?! Why are the feds not busting this guys door down as we speak???
Obviously, besides "Friday," Ark has had very little impact on the music community and only die-hard fans such as myself are even aware of any of the other 4,000 or so songs that the company produced. Nobody takes it seriously and that’s why Patrice Wilson isn’t getting as much attention as R. Kelly or Drake. But, in this #MeToo era, I thought we were supposed to be taking everyone down. Is no one at least lifting an eyebrow at Patrice Wilson (aka The Grown Man In A Panda Costume That Attends A Sleepover With A Bunch Of 11-Year Olds)???
You see, Alison Gold isn’t doing anything wrong—she’s going through a hormone storm like any other teenager, and I guarantee you she is excited to dress up like a poor man’s Yolandi Visser, to twerk in front of cameras. She should not be shamed for being a horny teenager, who just wants to be seen as attractive. This is not a child being forced to "be a good girl" for a bunch of creeps in a basement in a Bret Easton Ellis novel. This is a girl finally living her dream of being an over-sexualized pop star. If you’re uncomfortable with this video, you could go the way of blaming her parents. Miss Gold’s Parental Units are either really rich and absent or are trying to get ahead of the Britney Spears / Miley Cyrus game, age-wise.
However, it is Patrice Wilson who is the real bad guy. Because, as the gatekeeper to the public, he could protect lusty pre-teens and greedy parents from embarrassing themselves. Instead, he has created an empire that more than likely profits off registered sex offenders in mom’s basements across America. And, yet, he is only doing what the rest of music industry is doing with young attractive women—he’s just scaling the age back a few years.
