What is a better indicator of Tumblr’s future success: Getting bought for 1.1 Billion by Yahoo! or Miley Cyrus bringing twerking to America’s living rooms? I think this is at least up for debate. I suspect in towns across America parents are Gchatting their children as I write this, asking what “twerking” is and why Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter is doing it on the front page of cnn.com.
Over the past few years twerking has migrated from the depths of New Orleans bounce clubs to the internet/ tumblr-land where it has been re-appropriated by hypebeast b-boys and b-girls. It’s debut on MTV via Miley Cyrus means that twerking is now officially over.
The Miley backlash has poured from everywhere throughout the week, from memes and tweets to coverage on Good Morning America. The varying degrees of slut-shaming has hardly died down as we enter the weekend.
While the racially insensitive criticism is more than fair, I think it’s important to look past the “pushing the envelope” narrative that has come to redefine Miley in the past two or so months. When the original “Miley Twerking” video appeared on YouTube in April, the general consensus amongst people who knew what was going on was that Miley seems to be sort of cool. Dressed in a hooded onesie—this is about as unsexual a twerking video can be. Her point seemed to be that she was implementing herself into an internet trend. You can’t even really tell that it’s the pop princess under there until the very end, almost like it’s supposed to be a reveal. Miley wanted us to judge her twerking objectively, detached from her celebrity status.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSRKCAATEl4&w=560&h=315]
If you want to see white people twerk, Tumblr is generally going to be your place. When Miley showed up upside down in April, the people of Tumblr could embrace her as their own. Yeah, she’s a child-star born to a celebrity, but she’s twerking like a 17-year-old b-girl who is practicing for her first night out in a big city. It’s hard to know just what celebrities are like. While many seem devoid of interesting opinions or hobbies a normal person can relate to, some seem just like us. Zach Braff has made somewhat of a second career by simply being a redditor.
Miley twerking makes Miley Cyrus the human being a lot more interesting. Miley twerking means she is actively engaging with the internet the way we do. Picking up a New Orleans dance movement that she found on the internet is not that different than Kanye listening to Chicago drill music and incorporating it into his record. Or, for that part, any mainstream artist using an emerging trend or meme in niche culture and exploiting it in the mainstream arena.
So this leaves the question: What do we want of our child stars? Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez aren’t without their own personal controversies, yet they remain uninteresting people. They lack a certain edge. You can call Selena Gomez a lot of things, but you probably wouldn’t call her cool. She probably listens to Mumford and Sons in her free time. She has done nothing to suggest otherwise. Justin Bieber is about as mainstream as it gets. He has no interest in exploring new ideas until they are right in front of his face. That is to say, Justin Bieber is not taking an active role in engaging with parts of culture that aren’t already popular. Catch him court-side at Miami Heat games wearing a snapback hat.
So while Miley’s attention-grab is obviously over-the-top and beating a trend to death, you have to give it to her for doing something internet-relevant. While I’m sure a lot of people are going to have to embarrassingly explain what twerking is for the next few months, we should at least appreciate Miley’s attempt at doing something different.
Something interesting has happened with my music taste lately, and although I’m not quite sure how I got there, I have to say that I’m 100% down with it. Undoubtedly as a result of a series of Spotify radio rabbit holes, I’ve found myself on a new listening binge: female singers.
By this I don’t mean Adele; nothing against the woman (who admittedly has a beautiful voice), but I can’t stand to hear anymore about her failed relationship and subsequent rebirth. I’m talking more of alternative bands who have a woman as the lead vocalist — like Haim, Cults, and CHVRCHES, just to name a few.
Now, as an open-minded, 23-year-old male, I have to admit I’ve flirted briefly with thoughts of what this recent musical transformation means for my perceived machismo. [Disclaimer: I’m not entirely sure what machismo I appear to boast, if any, but I’ll be damned if I don’t love using that word in a sentence]. Is it questionable that my tastes are extremely heavy on vocals provided by the fairer gender right now? Or is it actually somehow “sexier” that I’m branching out? Why am I suddenly into female singers in the first place?
Somewhere in the transformative turned-21-and-traveled-abroad-for-a-semester year that was 2011, I started listening to a lot of the electro/pop/alt rock genre best defined in my eyes by groups like Starfucker (STRFKR) and Holy Ghost! In their sounds, I was drawn to the beats and synth added by keyboards and greater electronic influence than I’d really ever tampered with before. Plus, the enduring presence of musical talent was still strongly apparent—it wasn’t all bass and bullshit, so I rested easy after initially just dipping my toe into the water.
This progressive genre felt right to me in so many ways, and I actually still listen to Reptilians and the self-titled Holy Ghost! to this day.
It’s not too surprising, then, that in discovering groups like STRFKR and Holy Ghost! I eventually ran into the Phantograms and Class Actresses of the world. There’s a similar sound in these bands -– a healthy amount of pop influence and synth, but also strong instrumental talent and layering charging the band’s style.
Beyond all that, the female voices quickly clicked with me, adding a new perspective to the kind of music I was falling deeper into. Like never before, I started appreciating the unique and still real lyrics and emotion that their voices added to the respective bands’ sound — and vice versa.
Instead of identifying myself solely with the voice of a dude singing about life, death, love, the pursuit of a good time, and everything in between, I began getting a whole new plane of the same, yet different feel, running in parallel with everything I had previously limited myself to.
The Spotify algorithms that have led me to this point in my music tastes constitute an interesting beast, one that I’m fully embracing. And to be clear, it’s not like I’ve never listened to a female artist before. I’m not saying the aughts are the first time passionate, talented female singers have graced the stage. Far from it. I’m just finally getting a fuller picture of the sound and style of music I like, and it’s turning out to be more gender agnostic than I’m used to. I see that as a good thing.
This year I’ve enjoyed the hell out of live shows like YACHT and Yeah Yeah Yeahs that proved the trend I’ve been seeing in my own tastes is no fluke. It’s not the gender of the voice that defines music I like. It’s the talent, emotion and message behind it.
Originally published by Thought Catalog at www.thoughtcatalog.com
Everyone knows that YOLO (You Only Live Once) and most know that FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is real, or maybe just have FOMO on knowing what FOMO is. The point is that the internet has come together to establish that four letter acronyms are the best way to define emotions that aren’t listed in the dictionary, and it’s high time I made up my own. Thus, I give you FOPA: the Fear Of Posting Anything. Anything on social media at least, I don’t think many people are afraid of bulletin boards.
In this age of oversharing, of #instafood and #me, of “Like if you think I’m ugly, comment if you think I’m beautiful”, one wouldn’t be led to believe that anyone is suffering from FOPA. I’m here to tell you otherwise. The lack of FOPA awareness comes from one reason and one reason only: people are afraid to post about it. The reasons people experience FOPA, however, are more varied.
A common cause is the inability to re-achieve a previous like-count. A few months ago I posted a #tbt #throwbackthursday picture of 15-year-old-me with long locks of shining brown hair. The 42 likes shattered my previous records. From then on out, my posts of street art, friends hanging out and even a plant with a googly eye on it that looks like a bird weren’t up to muster. Why weren’t my scenic landscapes getting the same attention as my embarrassing teenage appearance? Maybe it was because they weren’t the same quality; maybe I had started posting too often. I didn’t know, and I was too scared to find out.
Another leading cause of FOPA most likely stems from the fear of appearing conceited. We’ve all jeered amongst peers about the embarrassing and self-serving Facebook statuses that float into our feeds. Oh you took a final and now you only have two more? Yeah be sure and post after each one because you couldn’t possibly have conveyed that info in a single status. You just made a baked potato with cheese and you’re proud of yourself? Better tell literally everyone you’ve ever met. The problem here is where to draw the line. Is my post about my new blog worth sharing or am I just as annoying as that “Totally maxed my bench reps at the gym today” guy?
Maybe this last bit of FOPA causation is one I made up myself, but I personally fear being misinterpreted. I thought my most recent Instagram was cool and artsy. I took a picture of my feet and legs from my stomach. I liked the picture because there’s a lovely progression of blur down my jeans to my slightly fashionable suede high tops. Thinking myself ironic, I hashtagged #selfie and called it a day. After an initial like or two from those exploring the hashtag, I received an array of comments inquiring as to why I was posting a #crotchshot. Try to be an artist, come off as a dick pic guy: FOPA.
I’m not saying that I never post anything, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t suffer from FOPA. Tagged pictures of me on Facebook are not available on my profile, I haven’t updated my status since they added the emotions feature – Feeling Proud :), and I’ve only just hesitantly re-entered the Twitter arena. Is my content good enough? Will people hate me for talking about my life? Probably, but isn’t that the point?
Over the last two years I’ve developed quite a relationship with Drake’s 2011 sophomore album, Take Care. At its best, Take Care is a thoughtful, inward-looking account of fame and youthful indulgence. At its worst, its the prototype for the next decade of Hip-Hop, combining classic R&B tropes, with radio-ready singles.
Drake would have been okay without Take Care. While 2010’s Thanks Me Later falls short musically, the actor-turned-rapper rose to A-list prominence through a series of well connected verses and a close association to veteran, Lil’ Wayne and fellow A-list newcomer, Nicki Minaj.
Take Care will probably be remembered as the “sad club music” album. Its casual shift in tone from vulnerability to bombastic excess and back is revealing. Listening to the album from beginning to end, you can really start to understand Drake as Aubrey, and Aubrey as Drake.
Take Care could have easily been an album about the perils of success or going to crazy parties with models. But by making it about both, Drake invites us to learn with him. He’s not without flaws. There’s an argument to be made that Take Care is a purposely half-hearted attempt to hide those flaws. Ultimately, people are way more interesting when they have something to hide, and Drake provides context to massive fame and wealth. The club is way more fun when you’re escaping something else.
This isn’t the only way to read Drake, however. In fact, this may not even be the way Drake reads Drake. He does a lot of cringe-worthy things for someone so obsessed with appearance. His aesthetic hodge-podge could be read as an attempt at mass marketing or it could be the result of someone who isn’t exactly sure how he wants to be portrayed. The same guy who wrote “Marvin’s Room,” ghost-rides a white Bentley dressed in all white as snow flutters down upon him in a music video in 2013. These sorts of things make it tough to defend Drake as a maker of art that is good instead of a maker of anthems that are played in between Pitbull songs. For every thoughtful, crafty decision, he also makes a lot of ridiculous 2nd-hand embarrassment-inducing career choices.
Whether he meant to or not, his two sides—the purposeful, smart Drake and the over-compensating-rapper Drake—have successfully made him into the biggest, and most dynamic artist on the planet. The rapper’s struggle to define his own style and position in the hip-hop canon has actually worked to his advantage, and instead of pigeon-holing himself into one category, Drake has picked up fans from all corners of the hip-hop landscape. But again, this is, in a way sort of accidental. He’s still the number-one punching bag in the rap game, and as a result, has beefed up the bombastic, self-loving lyrics leading up to his forthcoming album, Nothing Was the Same.
Practically every song Drake has released in 2013 has been a radio-ready hit. As ridiculous as the premise to “Started from the Bottom” may seem, it’s a phenomenal song. Leading up to the September release date, Drake has adopted an “us vs. them” attitude, which is only partially ridiculous. Here we have the most popular artist in mainstream pop culture rallying behind the idea of having no new friends, as if, people are actually seriously trying to mess with him. Being the softest rapper in the game probably sucks a lot worse when you’re not winning Grammys and selling out arenas. He is somehow having his victory lap with a chip on his shoulder.
It’s not so much as an image problem, because calling it a “problem” would mean it isn’t working. Whatever it is, one thing we do know is that it is working, in a sense that his popularity has soared. Drake is by all accounts trying to be a rapper. Is he trying too hard? Probably. Is it working? Definitely.
As an audience, we don’t really need Aubrey Drake Graham to be hood. That’s not what we click play for. It’s obviously not my call to decide how the man should portray himself, however its very difficult not to get the sense that this is a man juggling a few different images. That’s probably what makes him compelling, whether or not he knows that.
Accounting for inflation, Fiverr.com is a living representation of this video of a man explaining the value of a purchase. On the site, you contract people on the internet to do a variety of things for increments of five dollars. Whether you’re looking for a custom ukulele ringtone, some girl to hold a piece of paper with your logo on it while jumping in the air or just want a nine-year-old to catch and release a fish in your honor, you can get it done on Fiverr.
I’ve made two purchases on the site so far and loved both. My first was a set of sumo wrestler “podlings” from CelticMoonX. A former delivery room nurse, CelticMoonX started using Fiverr after a car accident rendered her unable to work. For less than the price of what one stuffed animal would cost me, I got three hand made, custom designed representations of the logo of my company. She even made tiny little glasses for them to wear. I almost felt bad paying only 5 dollars each for the podlings, especially considering CelticMoonX was so much nicer than most of the strangers you interact with on the internet.
However, Fiverr goes far beyond simple transactions and actually represents a much larger concept of today’s internet culture. Many new businesses and products exist to connect people with a specific need to someone with the resources to fulfill it. Airbnb connects people who need a place to stay to people with extra rooms, Lyft brings people with cars to people who need rides and Sugardaddy connects… “Sugardaddies” and “Sugarbabes”. Fiverr encapsulates this new service-exchange phenomena in its purest form.
I made my second Fiverr purchase from CoachSami, who was offering a 15 minute life coaching session. I was sold from the second I saw her video in which an off-screen voice instructs her to start her pitch over again despite the camera having been rolling for 8 seconds already. Since she wasn’t technically capable enough to edit out the first 6 seconds of a video, I was sure she’d be interesting to talk to if not a great life coach. You could hire a care home health and safety service to provide expert guidance and support in maintaining a safe environment for residents and staff. Then again, opting for quality training ensures that team leaders are fully equipped to manage workplace risks. This course provides practical knowledge and a structured approach, enabling managers to handle day-to-day safety challenges with confidence.
I missed the initial time we had set to chat via Google Hangout (an AM for PM kind of thing that only happens when you set a meeting for 8), but Sami graciously rescheduled. She opened the conversation by asking me what I was having trouble with, and I told her that I was having some anxiety issues and felt a lack of creative stimulation. “Well what do you want to do about it?” she asked. “Aren’t you supposed to tell me?” I replied. This is when I understood the value of the conversation I had sacrificed a footlong Italian BMT for.
When I reached out to Sami initially I thought I’d have an awkward experience on Skype to recite to my friends and blog about. I mean sure, I’m 23 and not entirely on top of the whole finding my path to fulfillment thing, but I’m not undergoing that quarter-life crisis I keep hearing about either. Sami had some helpful advice about self-talking and decision-making, but the real value of our conversation was that it helped me realize that whatever I was going to get done, I would have to do myself. At the very least, a 40-something year old woman living in a small town outside St. Louis wasn’t going to do it for me.
I’d like to say the two stories in this piece collided and I’ll be using my new found internal motivation to apply myself in one of these new service-provider to consumer networks. Unfortunately my Purple 1998 Honda Odyssey isn’t new enough to meet Lyft’s standards and I lack the hustle to “eat watermelon fruit and find your message” (seriously, watch the video in this link) on Fiverr. The moral of the story is that the solutions to all of life’s problems are just five bucks and a few clicks away on the internet.
