Adam Schleichkorn, better known by the moniker Mylo the Cat, has mastered the art of the mashup, but with a twist: he matches hip hop tracks to cartoon clips. Since he first went viral in the mid-2000s on YouTube, he’s been building a brand on doing just that, especially on Instagram, where he’s followed by more than 330,000 people eager to see Street Sharks characters spit Smif-n-Wessun lines. After years working to master his niche art, the Webby Award winner is branching out into more traditional animation and music video production. And today, he’s leveraging the reach of his platforms to livestream an indie artist showcase, in the hopes of bringing independent creators to a wider audience at a time when people stuck at home need entertainment more than ever.
Schleichkorn sat down with the Dot and Line’s Stephen Maher and Luis Erazo to discuss his long and winding road, his favorite cartoons and hip hop cuts, what’s next on the horizon, and more.
The Dot and Line: Let’s start with your history. Tell us how this whole thing started.
Adam Schleichkorn: I started posting videos on YouTube in 2006. I had a video go viral late that year, or early 2007. AT that time, no one knew what a viral video was. Nobody knew what YouTube was. It probably got a quarter of a million views, which isn’t even that much, if you think about it, but back then, it was just kind of crazy. It was on every national news channel and stuff. So yeah, that was kind of like the big start of me thinking, “holy shit, I think this YouTube, there’s something to it.”
This was in my first semester of graduate school for interactive multimedia, and it led me to do my thesis on the marketing potential of YouTube. I was accepted into the YouTube Partner Program. And during my thesis on the marketing potential, I threw in the hook: “hey, by the way, I’m collecting checks every month on this.” And people were blown away. They couldn’t wrap their heads around that. So that led me to my start.
For years, I just put out content after content after content, a lot of viral videos. I started with cats in 2008, one of which was Mylo. I filmed them for hours and created makeshift music videos with them singing. Then I would do a rapping dog with my phone installed and stuff like that around 2009. They would take, no joke, like a month to make. And a lot of time nothing would happen, so I would ask myself, “Why am I spending all this time on this shit?” I never really built a following, because I wasn’t posting consistently. And for some reason, like a lunatic, I just kept on making them, until finally they started breaking through. A year and a half ago, I decided to post on Instagram every day. I had about 2,500 followers at the time. Now I have 330,000.
What was the initial interest in cartoons? Where did hip hop come into the picture?
I’ve always been a hip hop fan. I would joke with my friends that I had all this hip hop knowledge and I wished there was something I could do with it. [laughs] It’s kinda come full circle. And in terms of cartoons, as a young kid, I was into Thundercats, He Man, G.I. Joe—those were my shows. And once The Simpsons came around? Man, that helped shape my whole comedic sensibility, you know?
What was your process then? And how has it changed today? How has the change of media and your personal interest in the process?
Well, I’ve learned how to do things more efficiently. It’s been years of trial and error. And I’m just figuring out a way to be better and faster, thinking ahead and planning better. You know, I would get a lot of positive comments when stuff would go viral. And then I would read the negative ones, and that does something to a creative. You start second guessing yourself. But on Instagram, I just found my audience. They really get it and appreciate it.
Going back to your hip hop knowledge, we’ve found ourselves learning more about hip hop through your page. Was education always an underlying goal of some sort?
To be perfectly honest, no, I never really think of education when it comes to this. Something just clicked and I realized a lot of people have the same taste as me, and appreciate what I’m curating. Even during the viral days, a lot of it was similar to what I’m doing now, but I was trying to catch the popularity wave. That never really worked out for me. I realized that I’ve got to stay true to myself. I kind of just want to pick the music I really like, and I think that comes across in the videos.
Do you feel pressure to have fresh content every week? Does that affect your content?
Not really. I typically post four new videos a week, not all of which are new. As I mentioned before, I also keep getting quicker, and my workflow keeps getting better. I plan everything ahead and execute in phases. So I’m not overwhelmed with the workload. Sometimes I feel pressure if, for instance, I have a couple in a row that don’t really hit as hard as the other ones. But then I gotta take a step back and stop worrying about the numbers so much.
You mentioned negative YouTube comments affecting your creative process. Is that kind of feedback still important to you, or do you just completely ignore the haters now?
I’m lucky enough to tell you that I receive almost no hater comments now. And that’s pretty amazing, because, you know, it’s the internet. [laughs] But that speaks to the audience that I somehow cultivated. It does bother me still, though, if I do see some sort of nonsense like that. But I always say: thrive off of the positivity. So when I upload something and within the first couple of minutes there are 30 positive comments, that type of stuff that just like keeps me motivated.
Have you heard back from any of the artists? I read that Snoop Dogg reached out to you.
Yeah! It’s crazy—so many of my favorite artists follow me now, and when they pop up in the likes and comments, it’s overwhelming. I still can’t get over it. They’re all so supportive, I guess because I’m introducing their content to a whole new audience and resurrecting some of these old songs. And they know I’m doing it as a fan, that it’s coming from a place of love.
Are you still making these as a passion project?
Totally. I’m a video editor by day. But these videos helped me get some more freelance work in this kind of space, as opposed to the marketing world, which I have been stuck in my whole career. They were always just a way to stay creative. I’m always hunting through all these shows, trying to find clips. And I know I could make stuff even better than what I’m putting out right now. Plus, it’s giving me a lot of opportunities to direct and be a part of original animation. That’s really what I want to do. Things are really moving in the right direction now that I’m directing and conceptualizing originals. I know I can create some next level material, so that’s what gets me excited every day.
Tell us about that. Where is that going right now?
I’m partnered with Cartuna. They’ve been great in allowing me to stay true to my vision, and let me call the shots for some videos that were produced for some record labels, which I’m really, really happy with.
Like that Snoop Dogg track?
Yeah, that was the first one we did. That was super cool. They just took a chance on my ideas, and it’s already turned into other opportunities. We just released one with Young Nudy at RCA Records. It’s just amazing what we can do with a few talented animators and my vision.
There’s a whole subgenre of hip hop that engages with cartoons, including folks like Madlib, MF Doom, and Czarface. Have you engaged with artists who already incorporate animation as part of their repertoire?
Doom is kind of elusive. [laughs] I’ve done a bunch of Doom videos. I’ve never spoken with him, but I’m a huge fan. But for original animation, we need a budget. I’m hearing from some really talented indie artists, but it’s a pretty considerable budget, even for a short original animation of a certain quality. So I am trying to figure out ways to get some cheaper options out there, because I’ve essentially been an indie artist my whole career.
Do you see potential in artists that are already engaging with the medium?
Totally. I’m a big MadGibbs fan. Are you Bojack Horseman fans? There was that one episode where he was a zebra. It was a couple seasons ago, where they kind of just did like one of those things where every character was flipped in a way, and I thought it was perfect. I mashed up that episode with a MadGibbs track. It didn’t do well, compared to my others, and when it doesn’t do well, that’s when I start second guessing myself and think that maybe I didn’t do a good enough job. So I went back and watched it the other day and was like, “No, I’m standing behind this video. It’s a damn good video.” [laughs] People slept on that video. I’m gonna have to repost that eventually.
Now that you’re working with Cartuna, are you enjoying the transition from editing to storyboarding and being a director? Are you finding them similar, or did the editing really allow you to storyboard and direct in a more efficient way?
It’s just different, but you kind of hit the nail on the head: it’s more efficient when I do it on my own, just because I’m doing it right then and there. The toughest part about working with anyone is the waiting, which I am not really used to nowadays. I’m used to going, “OK, here’s the idea. And the world will see it tomorrow.” That said, I do enjoy directing and dictating what everything is gonna look like and just pass it off. It’s that next step I’d been waiting to make.
What does your process look like today?
It can be hard to tell. Sometimes I’m in the zone. I just know the characters, know the music, whatever. But other times it’s tough. It’s like, you’ve got these four great songs, but shit, what character goes with them? I’m listening to them over and over again, like, “oh my god, I can’t do anything.” Especially during this pandemic, right? I know people are saying it’s a great time to be creative and stuff like that. Fuck that. It’s so tough to be creative during this shit. Anxiety, and everything going on in the world today, are not conducive to being creative. But I’m finding moments in which I can sit down and work.
Often it takes just a few hours to produce each video, but some are different—some of the animations are so different that some of them take longer to cut, or I don’t feel like they have the right theme for the song, and I gotta go and find other material. It’s tough to give a timeline. Especially during this pandemic, because now there’s nothing but time—like, who even cares how long they take, you know?
Do you have tracks or cartoons that you’re sitting on?
Yeah, oh my god. I think I have, like, 100 songs on my list right now. It’s just like, again, damn it, I can’t find the right character for this. And there have been times where I use a combination that’s good but not great. And the audience never gets fooled by that, you know. And I don’t want to put out stuff like that either.
Apparently Doom just sits around with old school movies and cartoons on in the background, and when he hears a certain verse, or a certain quote that he digs, he’ll write the reference down in a notebook, so he has notebooks full of stuff. Do you do anything like that with cartoons? How do you source your material?
I just go through the cartoon in the editing program quickly, but I do have specifics that I’m looking for. Everything is based on the song, so I always have a plan in my head before I even start looking. I always look for movement, too, because if the characters are too static, it doesn’t look right—but if you hit ‘em with a quick head turn or quick hand movement, it just adds to it.
You primarily use Western cartoons. And are you thinking of incorporating anime or cartoons from elsewhere?
Absolutely. I get messages about that all the time. I’m absolutely down for it, I’m just not really familiar with it. So that’s my biggest hurdle there. You know, I’m sure I could go through an episode of something and cut it up and make something cool, but part of what makes the stuff on my page so good is that I am so familiar with these cartoons that I’m doing little subtle things that only the fans of the cartoon would notice, to give it a little punch. For example, there are a lot of little Simpsons references in there that are for Simpsons fans only, you know?
Do you have a favorite video of all time? Your one cut or your top five cuts?
Oh, man, it’s so tough. I don’t know. [laughs] I like the LL Cool J “Doin’ It” with Homer and Marge Simpson. Mark Morrison as Johnny Bravo. Warren G and Nate Dogg as Bert and Ernie in “Regulate.” One of my friends, when he first saw that video, said to me, “You had a plan for that and you fucking executed it.” (laughs) So that’s definitely up there, and the Kendrick Lamar / Rick and Morty “Drank.” That one got me the Webby and work from Adult Swim, which is amazing.
What do we have to look forward to?
Hopefully my first full length the original is coming out soon, an official music video for an established artist. We’ll see. This pandemic is shifting everything around. So I’m not celebrating until we get a firm deal. But there should be a whole bunch of new, shorter originals coming out in the coming month.
I’m also hosting an indie artist showcase live. Everyone’s doing these Instagram live things, and I was thinking, “Oh, what should I do? Maybe I just film my screen with a bunch of my old videos.” And then I was like, “Nah, you know what? So many indie artists send me their stuff. Let’s give them the platform.” I cut together an hour worth of all the submissions. I had to figure out a way to prop my phone in a way that I could film the screen, and the video had to be a weird dimension so my phone could catch it. But I got more than 75 submissions and at least one hour, probably two hours worth of material. I’ve been looking forward to it. It should be a cool kind of thing for these indie artists to get in front of a large audience.
For my own work, to be honest with you, my biggest hurdle is that I’m not a good fine artist. I can’t draw to save my life. If you said sit down and storyboard in a basic kind of way, I can’t do it. But these ideas have always been in my head. And I’m finally figuring out ways to articulate them. I finally understand that I can write a whole scene out in detail and the animator is gonna know exactly what I’m talking about. And that’s been huge for me.
Which means that, for the newer work you do, you storyboard and you have a team of specialists that do the animating, which speeds up the creative process. But that means you’ve got to let go of the part you can’t do.
Which I’m fine with. I’ve been looking for people to team up with my whole career. But you have to prove yourself. Delegation sometimes is great. I’m a perfectionist, and I want to be as much a part of it as possible. But as long as I do have a say in the final product, I’m totally for it. And look, these guys are professionals, and they do incredible work. So when they send it back to me on the first cut, and I give them my notes, I’m not ripping these things to shreds. They’re great.
Most of the music you have on your videos is older hip hop, especially from the ‘90s. Are you steering away from more recent artists?
It’s not intentional. New music just doesn’t hit me the same way. I still firmly believe—and it’s probably because I’m getting old—but I do believe the music from that era is better. But if a new song comes out that I like—I used a new Czarface track recently, and one from Run the Jewels—they’re technically new, but they don’t feel new to me. Anything good that’s new, I’m all for it. The new Gang Starr album is good. A lot of older guys are putting out good stuff. To me, that’s new music. And the “new music” you hear on the radio, it’s just not the same to me. The second someone uses that autotune twang, and I’ve been saying this for years, it just ruins it for me. When people send me submissions, if the artist is someone actually rapping without autotune on their voice, I’m like “Oh, this is good.” [laughs]
What’s nice about older artists releasing stuff is that they don’t have anything to prove anymore. It’s just like, we’re going on here to show the youngsters what real hip hop is all about.
Yeah, and it’s not a money grab. They’re really making these albums because they’re artists, and that’s what artists do. I’ve got so much more respect for them than for the ones who just kind of fade away forever, who are like, “I had my run.” If you’re really an artist, regardless of what your audience looks like, aren’t you gonna want to keep creating?
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