Mean Girl Moment 11/11

The Same Thing Everyone Else Is Talking About

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As I’m sure you’ve all realized by now, I didn’t release a meme report last week. Normally that would mean a double issue this week. There's not going to be a meme report for last week because of… you know. The moments passed. Everything that happened last week is a moot point. That's the old world—the Biden Era. The Nu Trump era began on Tuesday, and everything from that recently ended world is not worth commenting on. It’s time to think about what’s ahead.

I’m less interested in writing platitudes about how to behave going forward (that’s what Instagram is for) and more interested in taking a temperature and maybe making some predictions. What does the future hold? After Biden was elected, there was an article about the upcoming vibe shift. My biggest qualm with that article was that despite noting previous vibe shifts in 2009 and 2016, it did not connect the dots of those years coinciding with presidential elections and inaugurations. The vibe shift is now.

The Biden era is over. Culturally, it felt like a too-long nap. We probably needed it, but we’re worse off for having taken it. It had work stoppages, repetitions, and rereleases, and everyone tried their best not to talk about politics. We didn’t miss anything, but we also didn’t create anything worth talking about.

We return to the Trump era knowingly. That’s why no one had an election party this time around. Trump 2.0 has an uneasy familiarity. I haven’t found a good metaphor for what this feels like, probably because there isn’t one. We tried metaphors last time and none of them stuck. That’s the only thing anyone is saying consistently, we’re not doing what we did last time

My temperature on the Internet and America in general is that we’re feeling the obvious despair, but mostly confusion about our feelings. I’ve yet to encounter anything that gets at what everyone is feeling and what we should do. I’ve seen a lot of infographics that remind me of 2016. The despair I’m feeling is not only because of the Trump presidency but because nothing that happened last time seemed to work. Trump being President again is proof that it didn’t work.

There’s also a feeling of uneasiness, which is fine. We’re waiting for the dust to settle so we can move forward. Someone is going to write something good to make sense of this all. Until then we’re twiddling our thumbs waiting for culture to change along with everything else. The holding pattern of the past 4 years is almost over. Something will come. It always does.

The most promising thing in culture right now is pop music. Music is changing and it sounds different than it has. All of the pop girlies as they’ve come to be known are new. Chappell and Sabrina are nearing the end of their superstar summers to work on their sophomore albums, now that they’re culturally relevant. Two artists are clawing for the spotlight and hoping to make 2025 their year. I see in them a great potential and whoever we choose will mark what kind of culture we have in the upcoming vibe shift. Two relatively new pop girls who could hit their height of stardom in the next four years. Seedlings planted to grow into the new culture. There are two paths before us: Addison Rae or Gracie Abrams.

The Addison Rae route is my preferred vision. Addison Rae is a reformed trump supporter and TikTok star. She has a Louisiana flare that isn’t as simple as your classic suburban southern belle. She initially tried to capitalize on her TikTok fame by befriending Kourtney Kardashian and acting in Netflix originals. This failed miserably and she began her downswing. Clawing for relevancy, she released a single designed for more TikTok success and people hated it. Some saw potential. She disappeared for a little while. Now she had something to prove. We had seen this arc before with every Youtuber who tried to make a name for themselves off the internet. They never seemed to understand that the general public didn’t want them. Addison Rae was going to be just another teenage girl who gained internet fame and couldn’t do anything with it.

Until the leak. When her music was leaked after the disastrous first single, there was a sudden change in the narrative. Perhaps this was… good? Maybe there was hope for Miss Rae after all. Thus begins the upward trajectory. Addison has alt-girl pop potential and every choice she has made up to this point only elevates her further. Each single is better than the last and her sound is more developed. Her sound is more developed. Pop for pop’s sake rather than extending one’s 15 minutes of fame. There’s something here.

I want Addison Rae to be the defining artist of the new era. Our narratives need twists. I want everyone to come back from their breaks dedicated to their artistry. Somewhere in the course of Addison’s career, someone said cut the crap. Stop smiling and dancing and get serious. Sure it’s all an act, but it’s the best act we’ve seen come out of TikTok in a long time. Trailer Trash turned Nouveaux riche turned alt-party girl. Brittney goes post-modern. It’s all there and the music isn’t half bad either. Aquamarine, her most recent single, is the most refreshing pop song I’ve heard in a while. It’s dark and moody without being too revealing. It is not an attempt at one single emotion or type of girl but it evokes emotion. She’s not trying to sell us sad or sexy or a story. For Two minutes and 30 seconds, it’s Addison Rae’s world and we’re just living in it.

Gracie Abrams is our other option. The problem is not only that she’s a nepo baby, it’s that she doesn’t seem to be doing anything with it. She’s got all the nepo strikes against her. I’d forgive the same industry as her successful parent, I’d forgive her if she were exciting or weird, and I’d forgive her if it were any other kind of pairing but Nerd Prince Director Father/Boring Pop Star Daughter is the worst combination we have so far. All the other nepo kids are at least bringing something to the table. With Gracie, I think Nepo first and Singer second, which is never a good sign.

Now that we’ve addressed the Nepo part we can discuss her music. Gracie Abrams is the most corporate pop star we’ve had in a while. She does not have a personality, a character, or an angle. She’s not willing to have a gimmick of any kind but in a way that signals she is boring rather than authentic. Her album cover is a picture of her face, a picture that is neither flattering nor unflattering. Just Gracie. That’s all we get. The music isn’t much better. Corporate confessional. An attempt at being “open and honest” and sounding like nothing. After 4 years they figured out how to make Phoebe Bridgers upbeat enough to sell skincare to teenagers. Her music lacks the silliness that makes good pop music good and the depth that makes her contemporaries interesting. It sounds like nothing. It makes me feel nothing.

And yet… people like her. More and more people like her. I even find myself listening to the new song That’s So True. Her catalog is full of songs with interchangeable titles made up of phrases that we’ve all heard before. That’s So True moves at a steady pace and is somewhat enjoyable. It’s not half bad. It reminds me of things I like better. I enjoy it the way I enjoy a potato chip that tastes like my favorite food. It’s in the same general idea as something I usually like but it’s by no means good in the same way. But It’s working on me. I’m buying in. Or at least, I’m not abstaining anymore.

There’s a version of culture Gracie represents. Inoffensive and boring but good enough. In order to avoid something difficult or saying something real, it says something kind of real. We can fill in the blanks with our own lives. It is technically proficient but uncomplicated. I worry the future will sound clean and uncomplicated for reasons like comfort and familiarity. Most importantly I worry we’re going to become complacent so as not to be embarrassed. It’s fine to make Netflix movies with B-tier Kardashians as long you find your way eventually. It makes the story better in the long run. I’m all the more invested in your success now.