Justin Timberlake’s album, 20/20 Experience, was a critical success and return to form for one of pop music’s premier entertainers. JT’s album did well with critics, long-time fans, teenage girls, twenty-something women, older women, really older women and Elliot, who hates everything. But there was one group of people who loved the album and surprised everyone else, and that was the hipsters.
Now, the hipsters are a rambunctious bunch. Take some ’60s punk, add in some ’80s irony, multiply by 2000s boredom and subtract all the cool parts to get your average hipster. At this point I should tell you all I’m probably a hipster. No, I don’t have a tattoo arm-sleeve or work at a coffee shop because those are gross stereotypes, and I’ll have none of that (just kidding). But my propensity of knowing what’s new and interesting in music can be viewed negatively by the public.
Really? Trying to know what’s new in music is bad? Says who? Well, let’s go to the website that best represents the popular crowd in new media: BuzzFeed. (I know, I know, I’m making fun of BuzzFeed for the second time in the same month; I promise I will stop once I see an article that doesn’t use a sleepy cat GIF.)
One BuzzFeed commenter posted, “This is the problem that happens when those of hipster mentality have to put a stupid fucking label on everything. It’s music. Like her or don’t, those are your choices,” on an article about whether Lorde is an alternative artist. Wow, thanks “Top Commenter Ray.” I’m sure that title is on your resume with three stars around it.
Excuse me, Ray, but it’s not just music, it’s a way of life. And we need labels—how else can I describe John Wizards to you unless I say it’s a South-African semi-electronic, traditionalist Afrikaans band? Ray, you and your hateful views on hipsters are keeping many of us in hiding. We’re like Punxsutawney Phil for the 364 days of the year that no one cares about the awful city he’s from (I’m just assuming it’s awful because it’s in Pennsylvania). Your bigoted views of the twisted minds of hipsters are ruining America, and I can prove it (maybe, probably not, you should probably stop reading right now, this is the apex).
My simple case for hipsters: Hipsters improve popular music. My more complicated case: With the increased segmentation of musical genres, hipsters do their part by uncovering what, below the spectrum music, is worthy of increased listenership, thus bringing talent to the forefront of mainstream America (holy fuck why can’t I write like that for any of my English papers).
Let’s bring this back to Justin Timberlake. People were surprised the hipster community (with its spirit animals, Pitchfork and Vibe) enjoyed and gave such high remarks to a mainstream pop album. But the thing about hipsters is they mostly don’t care who the artist is, where they’re from or who listens to them as long as it’s good. Within hipsterdom, talent rules, and that search for talent benefits the uninformed.
Here’s a scenario: You’re a 14-year-old girl so you still listen to commercial radio (in-between the time you spend tweeting at Justin Beiber and watching documentaries about pop stars in 3-D), and after the third hour of listening to KISS FM, you get a little bored from hearing the same Rihanna song about getting STDs or some shit for the fourth time. You’re still too young to understand payola scale and how major labels (illegally) pay radio stations to play their songs over and over again. But alas, KISS decides to play a plucky unsigned rapper with an infectious song and a killer music video and you see the light again. Do you know who brought this wingless angel to the suits making decisions? Hipsters, that’s who. And white people that don’t actually like hip-hop, but that’s for another day.
Do you feel the same victimization of hipsters as Michael? Email him to complain, bro, at mvoloshin@wisc.edu.
