There I Ruined It is a music project created by Dustin Ballard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the project, Ballard aims to ruin songs by making covers of them in styles very different to those of the originals. There I Ruined It distributes these covers via social media, such as TikTok, YouTube and Reddit. Since the project's beginning, Ballard has made covers of various artists, including Taylor Swift, Eminem, Radiohead and Metallica. Despite the project's goal of ruining songs, covers released by There I Ruined It have received mixed reception from the media and general public.

Background and history

There I Ruined It is a musical project "with the simple goal of ruining as many beloved songs as possible before it's banned from the Internet".[1] It was created by Dustin Ballard, a Texan musician, during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The first cover he created for the project was "Shallow – Polka Edition", which is a remix of "Shallow" from A Star is Born in polka style.[2] Most of the covers created for the project are genre-swapping remixes, although Ballard has also created song mashups.[3] Ballard operates various accounts on social media which he uses to upload creations for There I Ruined It.[4]

To create one of his covers, Ballard first uses MIDI-controlled VST instruments to make a cover of the song. He then dictates the song's lyrics to set down their rhythm, before recording vocals. To finish a cover, Ballard then edits the song's music video to better fit the genre of the cover.[2]

Ballard’s covers and mashups have received recognition from popular artists such as Snoop Dogg, Charlie Puth, Paul Reubens, Jack Black, Michael Bublé, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Scott Bradlee, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Questlove, and Ed Sheeran.

On 28 November 2023, Ballard announced via YouTube that all videos on the channel had been made private for 90 days due to receiving two copyright strikes from the Universal Music Group.[5]

Reception

Although the project's overall aim is to ruin songs, the covers released have had mixed reviews. Tim Marcin of Mashable called the covers "straight-up terrible reimaginings of good songs" and "hilariously bad".[6] However, Fraser Lewry of Metal Hammer commented that some covers are better than the original song, saying that "some have benefitted from There I Ruined It's fiendish musical butchery".[7]

Graeme Boone, who is professor of musicology at Ohio State University, has commented on the covers created by Ballard. Boone stated that Ballard's covers are successful due to playing on a vulnerable point in the human psyche. According to Boone, by targeting this vulnerability, the cover "can get inside you" in the same way as an earworm.[2]

Discography

See also

  • SiIvaGunner – A musical parody project based mostly around bait-and-switch YouTube videos claiming to be "high quality rips" of video game music

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pollock, Brooke (17 April 2023). "Artist Hellbent on 'Ruining' Popular Songs Accidentally Makes a Bop From Miley Cyrus Remix". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Myers, Quinn (5 August 2020). "The Twisted Mind Who Loves Ruining Your Favorite Songs Forever". MEL Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 Rizzo, Laurent (24 April 2023). "Découvrez les célèbres "HEY" des Beatles, Queen, Nirvana, Pink Floyd et d'autres rassemblés sur un même titre". RTBF (in French). Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  4. 1 2 Lloyd, Sophie (3 June 2022). "Mash-Up of Eminem and Super Mario Has Internet in Hysterics". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Ballard, Dustin (28 November 2023). My channel is on life support. There I Ruined It – via YouTube.
  6. ↑ Marcin, Tim (28 July 2020). "YouTube channel perfectly ruins perfectly good songs". Mashable. Archived from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  7. 1 2 Lewry, Fraser (17 March 2021). "This bluegrass version of System Of A Down's Chop Suey is both magnificent and very, very wrong". Metal Hammer. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  8. ↑ Shutler, Ali (5 November 2022). "Listen to a fan-created remix of Taylor Swift's 'Anti-Hero' featuring 'Super Mario'". NME. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  9. ↑ Lavin, Will (5 May 2021). "Here's Limp Bizkit's 'Break Stuff' reimagined as a Broadway musical". NME. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Young, Simon (8 November 2022). "Here's that Curb Your Enthusiasm and Metallica mash-up you didn't know you needed". Metal Hammer. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  11. ↑ Kemp, Sam (5 January 2022). "Radiohead hit 'Creep' has been transformed into a honky tonk song". Far Out. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  12. ↑ Modica, Ruby Lee Axel (24 May 2022). "This is What Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' Sounds Like When Mixed With the Super Mario Bros. Theme". Game Rant. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  13. ↑ DeVito, Lee (21 February 2023). "Somehow, this Eminem 'Mardis Gras' remix works". Metro Times. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
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