Who is Antoine Dodson? Well, a few weeks ago he was just a young man from some run-down projects in the Lincoln Park area of Alabama, who lived with his parents, siblings, nieces and nephews.
Now, he has managed to move his entire clan out of the projects and in to a pretty cush life, after striking gold with an online video that went viral.
Dodson's overnight fame-to-fortune story began when his sister Kelly was attacked while sleeping with her young daughter by a would-be rapist. The attacker had apparently climbed on to the ledge outside Dodson's sister's window, gained entry in to her bedroom and groped the young woman while she was asleep. Luckily, Dodson overheard the commotion and screams coming from his sister's room and jumped to her rescue. The two men scuffled and the assailant escaped. The child was unharmed.
The attack made the news and a local camera crew arranged to interview Dodson about the incident. The 24-year-old gave the media a straight-no-chaser interview, complete with wrath for the attacker. In short, the interview was an attention-grabber, with Dodson's in-your-face, flamboyant words:
"Wee-ell, obviously we have a rapist in Lincoln Park. He's climbing in your windows, he's snatching your people up, trying to rape them; so y'all need to hide yo kids, hide yo wife and hide yo husband, because they're raping err'body out here."
The intruder also left his T-shirt behind, and Dodson added the following warning to his angry diatribe:
"We got yo T-shirt, you left fingerprints and all, you are so dumb. You are really dumb, for real. You don't have to come and confess that you did it, we looking for you. We gon find you, I'm letting you know that. So you can run and tell that. Homeboy."
Dodson's interview was caught by The Gregory Brothers, a New York band who run a popular YouTube channel, AutoTune the News. They were so captivated by Dodson's almost lyrical angry outburst that they decided to transform the interview into a song and title it "Bed Intruder."
The video went viral on YouTube overnight, with more than 30-million viewers watching the clip, propelling it to the No. 1 spot.
Since then, The Gregory Brothers agreed to split their profits 50/50 with Dodson, who hired an attorney to help navigate his overnight success, and Dodson set up a Facebook page and an Antoine Dodson official website, asking people to "help the Dodson family" and donate via PayPal.
There are merchandising deals brewing to coin Dodson's catchphrases, like "Hide yo kids" and "We gon' find you." Ringtones are also in the works.
While the attacker who started this whole thing is still on the loose, Dodson had a few choice words for him:
"Pretty much, I'ma beat his a** and then I'ma call the police while I'm beating his a** because I want him to feel what he made my sister feel when he came in to her room."
Indeed, in the meantime, Dodson and his family are enjoying his turn of luck. I bet he never would have imagined that so much positivity could come out of something so violent. Here's to you, Dodson!
Watch Dodson's interview-turned-song here: