Every time I think that I’ve seen the most outrageous, unbelievable headline, 2020 is like, “oh, so you thought??” and slaps me with another one. This weekend’s story was “professional troll and internet prankster Elijah Daniel tells the world to stan BTS and stream Stay Gold on the BBC.” And that wasn’t even the weirdest sh-t that went down this weekend.

You might ask, “who is Elijah Daniel?” You might also ask, “what did 90% of those words mean?” We’ll get there. But first, let’s address question one: for those unfamiliar, Elijah is a self-proclaimed ‘professional troll’, who is also a rapper, vlogger, and comedian. He initially rose to fame because of his outlandish pranks, starting with his petition to the White House to make the national anthem “Party in the USA”.

From there, he wrote and published an erotic novel about Trump,threw a glitter dildo at him during a rally(which placed him on the no-fly list), tried to get Piers Morgan kicked off ofGood Morning Britain,became the mayor of Hell, Michigan where heoutlawed heterosexuality for a day, and started his own successful music career as rapper Lil Phag.

以利亚是热门话题,在星期天的早上。像羊毛y mentionedin today’s open, on Saturday, Trump hosted his first campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Originally scheduled for Juneteenth in a city that was home to one of the worst incidences of racial violence in America, it was eventually pushed to the following day. Oh, also we’re in the middle of a pandemic.

What I’m fascinated by is the fact that through their collective power, this story has become a talking point in US politics and on major networks.AOC tweeted about it, and Trump’s campaign had to respond, rebutting claims that these actions were the reason for the lower attendance.

Elijah even talked about it during an interview on the BBC!

The BBC has a certain air and tone that’s associated with it. It’s a historic institution with a very specific image and brand, and one that definitely doesn’t involve interviewing an internet personality about fans of Korean pop. I’m just waiting for the Queen to say “sksksksk anyway stan Jungkook” tomorrow. (And she’d be right!)

To see probably one of the stuffiest newsrooms report on this is important. It’s not because K-pop needs any legitimization from the West. K-pop groups have already proven their ability to wield social media and command a large following. They are consistently at the top of the charts, and they have millions of ride-or-die fans who can literally sway key events in the election campaign. Really, everyone else needs to catch up and recognize that K-pop is a cultural force to be reckoned with, whether they like it or not. The BBC is a good place to start. So, in the words of Elijah Daniel, stan BTS and stream “Stay Gold”. Which, by the way, is currently trending in the top spot worldwide on Twitter at the time of this post.