Trumps Mugshot
We waited in anticipation for this for weeks. Hours passed closer and closer and still no mug shot. Thursday marched on in agony. We finally got it and it’s… fine. It’s fine. I think if it were better we would know. The emotion would be different. I don’t think anyone knows what they wanted it to look like but somehow what we were given did not match up to expectations. We all want Trump to be as funny when he’s down, as when he’s up, so we can feel good about laughing. Unfortunately egomaniacs are only fun on the upswing. This week we’ve been reviewing the great mugshots past and they all have the same thing in common. A mugshot’s only good if the person in it has some kind of mischievous grin or other indicator that this will not keep them down. Those celebrating Trump’s mugshot are just happy that it happened, and not really interested in the composition of the photo itself. It was just a mugshot. If it were a great mugshot, he’d be winking or staring down the camera a la Lindsey Lohan. He’s no Giuliani, the true Sad Clown of the Trump administration.
20 Songs
I know we’re all tired of quote tweet prompts but this one has an obstacle of effort we must hurdle in order to participate. This effort makes the meme better. One must consider their own take thoughtfully. Things in general are better when there is a level of thought as a barrier to entry. It’s nice to read someones list of and know that it comes with the utmost sincerity. The level of effort nearly eliminates the need for irony. Nearly. We still need some irony. I’ve seen a few that are jokes, which are necessary for us all to survive past this. Too much sincerity is bad for twitter.
I enjoy the feeling of reading someone's list and finding our commonalities. Songs I also put on my list, artists we share but differ on favorite songs. Songs I completely missed but also love. New songs, artists, genres to discover. It’s a beautiful moment on Twitter right now.
That being said, there is also a delicious feeling waiting in the back of our minds. Everyone reading lists is waiting for a bad one. We are looking for connection but also looking for a chance to poke fun. We’re reaching a point where everyone is participating and we’re starting to see some people who don’t know anything about the world or about music post theirs. It’s so amazing to find one with a stinker on it, especially on an otherwise good list. There’s no audience for pointing and laughing right now, just a silent moment of pleasure as you get to feel better than someone for having bad taste. Perhaps a text to the group chat to let everyone know that a person you all dislike has given you something else to talk about. Next week we will have gone too far and begun actively dunking on 16 year olds for only listening to Hyper-pop but for now, our moments of ego driven pleasure are private and all the more special.
TikTok
You Cleared The Whole Roster
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I kind of surprised it took us this long for someone to dig up Nicki Minaj’s star turn in The Other Woman (2014) where she talks about clearing the whole roster. Those are two of our favorite things to talk about! We love Nicki Minaj and the idea of having a roster of men to choose from. I find every iteration of this sound so fun and charming. Mostly because it seems to be newly assigned college roommates doing it together. I love the dispatches from the first days of college that flood the For You page every year. To those that don’t know, it looks like a fun time. To those that know, you take solace in knowing these TikToks are born from a place of deep anxiety. The first week of college was for many, the worst week of their life. Everything is unknown, you have no friends, you don’t know where to go or what to do. You are paralyzed by fear and the endless options suddenly provided to you. There are so many expectations you have to live up to and it feels like if you don’t live up to them before classes start you might as well throw in the towel. Those who have made friends are forcing these friendships to work by any means necessary. They are baring their souls in the hopes that if they do it now, they won’t have to do it again and again and again, in the coming six weeks (they will, everybody does). It is exciting to watch this play out digitally with a clip from Nicki Minaj’s brief acting career.
AI Song Covers
I’ve definitely talked about these before but I think we need to check in with where we’re at. There are several websites that create cover versions of popular songs using different voices. It’s fun and cute and probably inherently evil. The market is quickly becoming saturated, and the joke is the same every time. This creates an environment for the truly incredible to rise to the top. I’ve seen Plankton, I’ve seen Mr. Krabs, I’ve seen Taylor Swift cover the Weekend. I can sort the good from the bad and there is no shock factor anymore. This allows us to sort the truly good and transcendent use of the form from the uninspired attempts at shock. In time we will all know the difference between All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Cartman’s Version) and King Julian’s Take Me Church.
For someone that's impossibly fussy with any kind of playlist, this 20 song meme has been both a joy and angsty. I keep waiting for one that's made to be pointed and laughed at, but so far they've all been pretty...good?