[Disclaimer: You are probably not this piece's intended audience.]
[There are a few factors that culminated in my writing this: first, a desire to improve/expand on the thoughts expressed in my piece on The Fall Off. (as of publishing, now deleted) Second, repeatedly witnessing manifestations of the habits and trends expanded on here across the entirety of this site. This piece is a messy ramble, but I hope you manage to get something of value from it.
Nothing ever changes, does it?]
Of late, I've begun to subscribe to the mentality that whiteness does not necessarily correlate to skin color. Rather, it's an active choice one makes. A choice to bend the knee, to fall in line with the current neoliberal capitalist hellhole most of us live in. It is why I believe "white" to be both an insult and a valid point of artistic criticism. Not all pale-skinned people embrace whiteness, to be clear; many who aren't do.
"As long as you think that you are white, there is no hope for you." - James Baldwin
[I understand this is a viewpoint often associated with them, so to make it clear, I am not a member of the 5%ers, a group I hold deep respect for, yet are too spiritual for my tastes.]
This can be somewhat incongruous to how color is viewed in society at large, but I believe it is the best lens through which to view )a vein of internet-core hip-hop from white (or at least white-LARPing) artists and often entirely dictated by their chronically online white audiences (stans, really) who, to paraphrase @princelled, consistently belittle the art they claim to love while simultaneously holding it up as some untouchable zenith and harassing people who refuse to be cowed by their zealous idiocy (To be clear, I am not saying white culture vulturism is a new phenomenon).
[To make it clear, I am not saying that
All I am saying is that you need to be critical of the art you love.]
An incomplete list of artists I believe are part of this trend: (note the usage of "late-period" here) late-period 'Ye/Kendrick Lamar/Danny Brown, Quadeca, JID, and Jane Remover, but primarily JPEGMafia.
Since 2023, his artistry has amounted to shameless pandering to the aforementioned white audiences; the real hip-hop head posers who refuse to go any deeper into the underground than JPEG while using him as a springboard to gain internet points due to his perceived experimentalism. Why do you think he has the 16th highest-rated hip-hop album on AOTY?
[I repeat myself, but you are not a racist if you like JPEGMafia's music. I expect no one which this is addressed to to bother reading up to this point, but it's worth a shot.]
I'm aware of his growing contingent of detractors, but amongst his stans, I guarantee this album and its reception will be no different – expect a flood of largely the same idiots that gathered under Fall Off and Bully comment sections to harass people to repeat their antics under any slightly negative piece that challenges their worldview. They are shut off entirely from reason/logic; there may be hope for them, but I refuse to pursue the thought. I lack the superhuman patience required.
The title especially irks me: "Experimental Rap" – no artist with a good head on their shoulders or any ideas that haven't been regurgitated ad nauseam for years would take this seriously . It might take shape as a bitter mockery of these faux-experimental mainstream sellouts, (really, these people aren't far from MGK) as something genuinely novel/interesting/important to the state of hip-hop today. JPEGMafia, though? He'll play it straight.
It makes a lot of sense that he stans 'Ye.
We'll see if I was proven wrong when I get around to actually listening.
[unfinished]