On August 16th, actor and comedian Aziz Ansari (he also appears in the video for the first single from Watch the Throne, “Otis”) uploaded the first of four comics inspired by lyrics from the Jay-Z and Kanye West collaboration, Watch the Throne. The comics are created by pairing some of the over-the-top lyrics on the album with related, and sometimes ridiculous, images.
The resultant comedy, the ease in which others can create their own comics and the overwhelming popularity of this album make these comics (tagged with #watchthethronecomics on Twitter) a definite trend. Since August 16th, Aziz has earned a number of retweets and inspired a Tumblr page where fans are encouraged to submit their own Watch the Throne comics.
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Over-the-top Lyrics Comics
- Creating comics that pair exaggerated lyrics with ridiculous images is a disruptive innovation opportunity.
- User-generated Comics
- Encouraging fans to create their own Watch the Throne comics taps into the trend of user-generated content and offers a disruptive innovation opportunity.
- Hashtag-driven Trend
- Harnessing the power of hashtags like #watchthethronecomics on Twitter can create a viral trend and present a disruptive innovation opportunity.
Sectors Adopting This
- Comedy
- The popularity of hilarious hip hop memes presents a disruptive innovation opportunity for the comedy industry.
- Music
- Creating comics inspired by popular music albums like Watch the Throne can provide a disruptive innovation opportunity in the music industry.
- Social Media
- The trend of tagging and sharing comics on social media platforms like Twitter and Tumblr offers a disruptive innovation opportunity for the social media industry.
