Trending This Week on YouTube: 40 Slaps, 2,000 Songs & Clickhole

June 27, 2014

This week on the Spotlight channel, we laughed with Dave Chappelle, cried at nature’s most horrific creatures, and swooned for the hottest YouTubers alive.

Here’s what else had us glued to our seats (figuratively speaking ... YT Trends HQ is strictly standing desk-only):



Uptomyknees - “The Slap”

If you thought it was a little late for another "First Kiss" parody ... you were dangerously wrong. It’s been almost four months since a video of 20 strangers kissing went viral and inspired over 6K imitators (measured by number of videos with “First Kiss” in the title), but Uptomyknees's twist on the concept was a big hit this week. "The Slap" features 40 strangers slapping each other (one of which, in a satisfying twist, is former child star Haley Joel Osment). It's a little perverse and pretty compelling and racked up 4 million views this week, proving that memes never really die. Lusty for more “First Kiss” parodies? We rounded up the best ones in this Spotlight playlist.



Jonathan Mann - 2000 songs in 2000 days

Big ups to Jonathan Mann–the minstrel who’s been writing a song (and uploading a video about it) every day since January 1, 2009–for hitting 2,000 on Monday. That's a lot of tunes. His latest video is a tribute to his first 1,999 songs, a recording of his 2,000th, and a mini-manifesto on what it means to be creative. Phew. If the Steve Jobs cameo doesn't tug even the tiniest of heartstrings, then we don't know what to do with you. Rock on, Mann.



ClickHole - This Stick Of Butter Is Left Out At Room Temperature; You Won't Believe What Happens Next

Our faces have been stuck in a loose, mirthful expression since The Onion launched Clickhole, a viral content parody site, which brings us headlines like “10 Hilarious Chairs That Think They’re People” and “7 Classic 90s Toys That Weren't Fun Anymore After 9/11." So we were excited to see they started uploading to their YouTube channel this week. They scored their first hit with an inspired three-hour long time-elapse of a stick of butter that you literally have to see to believe.



FKA twigs - “Two Weeks”

In the lead-up to releasing her debut album in August, breathy up-and-coming R&B singer FKA twigs débuted a single and video on Tuesday with "Two Weeks." The mesmerizing piece was directed by Nabil Elderkin, the mastermind behind Kanye’s “Mercy,” Frank Ocean's "Pyramids," and this month's showstopping World Cup spot for Beats by Dre. The Egyptian goddess motif recalls Katy Perry with a dash of Daenerys Stormborn, but "Dark Horse" this ain't–twigs lords over a crew of tiny, lithe (dare we say twig-like?) dancers and, at one point, coolly shoots water into their mouths from the tip of her finger. Is there anything more luxe than that? Here's one to watch.

--Claire Stapleton

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