''Thug Notes'' is an American educational web series that summarizes and analyzes various literary works in a comedic manner. ''Thug Notes'' first aired on June 3, 2013, on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, with the pilot episode centered on ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal '' The Russian Messenger'' in twelve monthly installments during 1866.

''. The host of the series is Sparky Sweets,

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, portrayed by actor and comedian Greg Edwards. In 2015, a book of essays based on episodes from the series entitled ''Thug Notes: A Street-Smart Guide to Classic Literature'' was published by

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

Style

The series is presented by Greg Edwards in character as Sparky Sweets, Ph.D; the character hosts the series in an " original gangster" style. The following is an example of Sweets' style from his analysis of ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', one of his most popular: "Only a jive-ass fool would bother capping a mockingbird, 'cause all them bitches do is just drop next-level beats for your enjoyment. So what my girl Harper trying to say is ratting on Boo Radley wouldn't do no good. It would only rid the hood of one more true-blue player." Explaining the usage of

African-American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban communities, by most working- and middle-class African Americans and some Black Canadians. Having its own unique grammatical, voc ...

within the series, Edwards stated, "but the truth is, the gift of literature is universal in meaning and should be made accessible to everyone on every plane. So, ''Thug Notes'' is my way of trivializing academia's attempt at making literature exclusionary by showing that even high-brow academic concepts can be communicated in a clear and open fashion." The style used by Edwards' character was a result of "frustration with the world of academia".

Episodes

Reception

''Thug Notes'' has been met with a cumulative view total of over 160 million (as of June 2017) and critical acclaim. ''Thug Notess virality has been documented by mainstream news publications such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''. The ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...

'' has noted that the series can be used as an educational tool. In 2014, Wisecrack/Thug Notes was listed on ''

NewMediaRockstars ''NewMediaRockstars'' ''(NMR)'' was an American online magazine which was launched in December 2011 and primarily covered YouTube performers, entrepreneurs, and artists with videos and interviews. In 2013, ''NewMediaRockstars'' closed due to lack ...

'' Top 100 Channels, ranked at #94.

References

{{reflist, 2 2013 web series debuts 2017 web series endings African-American English American non-fiction web series Criticism of academia Online edutainment Reading and literacy television series YouTube original programming