The Wildcat Events Board hosted a virtual Q&A with Canadian internet personality Cody Ko Wednesday, April 21. He gave advice for college students, recalled how he met his girlfriend and talked about his latest venture into music.
Ko became popular in the mid-2010s as an internet comedian on the now defunct social media app Vine. He now collaborates with Noel Miller, his friend who is also a former Viner, on internet commentary videos and a podcast called “Tiny Meat Gang.” The two also formed a music duo of the same name, which signed with Arista records in October 2019.
The Q&A was moderated by Katherine Cabrera, director of arts, culture and entertainment for WEB and senior majoring in communications. She took questions submitted from among the 300 University of Arizona students viewing the Zoom webinar.
RELATED: University Status Update: Team discusses falling vaccine demand, new antibody testing initiative
One of the first things Cabrera asked was if Ko had any advice for college students.
“I mean, I think just try to meet as many people as you can, try to get involved with as much as you can,” Ko said. “I was on the swim team — I mean the diving team, same thing — I was in the [computer science] department and I was in a frat. Each of those had its own certain social circle and I’m still best friends with a lot of people from every single community that I was involved in. I think that, again, it made me more well-rounded and it also just opened more doors for me after school.”
This is not the first celebrity WEB has hosted for UA students. In spite of the physical restrictions COVID-19 has placed on campus life, Cabrera mentioned that WEB has managed to bring in everyone from TikTok stars to Billboard Hot 100 artists to entertain the student community.
“Earlier in the year, we hosted TikTok star Devin Caherly for a Zoom Q&A,” Cabrera said. “The concerts committee also put on an amazing virtual concert with 3OH!3 on Twitch. Other virtual programming events we have hosted this year have included a hypnotist show, painting classes and yoga classes.”
Later in the event, Ko was joined by his girlfriend, Kelsey Kreppel, and their dog Chili. One student asked how the couple met.
“My friend was dating her friend and he was like, ‘Yo, her roommates are really cut. You should come over for a pregame,’ and I was like — I had my blonde hair, I was douching it up, I was in single mode — and I was like, ‘alright, fine. I’ll come through,'” Ko said. “I came through with a case of beer. I was all ‘cool-guy’ and then me and her hit it off right away. We just talked to each other the whole night. Then at some point, she was like, ‘do you want to do the cinnamon challenge?’ and I was like, ‘sure, I’ve never done that before,’ so then we did the cinnamon challenge. And that’s when I knew, she’s the one, you know.”
In response to a question about his favorite accomplishments, Ko said that putting out music was one he was proud of.
“I think like, honestly, music is like one of the coolest things that I’ve been able to do,” Ko said. “I was never, like, musically inclined. I played drums growing up, and I was a DJ in college.”
“Oh, that’s cool!” Cabrera remarked. “Did you have a DJ name?”
“Yeah, but I can’t tell you what it is,” Ko replied. “That is classified, completely classified. I didn’t make it up and it’s entirely embarrassing. So, I cannot say what it is. But yeah … the fact that I can sit here and say, like, ‘Yo, I have a new song coming out next week,’ which, by the way, might or might not be true — you know? The fact that I can say that is a blessing, honestly, because music is the coolest thing you can do. It really is the coolest thing to be like a rapper or a rock star. It’s like the best place you can possibly be on earth. The fact that I can even have a piece of that … that’s a really cool thing for me, and I feel great about that because it was never meant for that to happen for me, but it did.”
Cabrera told the Daily Wildcat that this will not be the last WEB event of this kind. In addition to virtual opportunities, WEB hopes to reintroduce some in-person events next school year.
“Hopefully, next year WEB will be able to host more in-person events,” Cabrera said. “However, the virtual sphere has expanded opportunities for programming and events in a unique way. The best way to follow WEB and see what we are up to next is to follow us on social media! The team is looking forward to more awesome events in the future!”
Follow Kristijan Barnjak on Twitter
