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  "uri": "at://did:plc:pjww3lv3ogt2fvnavri27xgm/com.whtwnd.blog.entry/3kymsi4eo462b",
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    "title": "BRAT, Drake vs. Kendrick, Dadaism, and How Kamala Harris Might Be Learning From Them",
    "content": "What does it mean to be *brat*? And what could Drake have to do with Kamala Harris?\n\nThis summer has been the brattiest we've seen yet, thanks to Charli xcx's July release of BRAT. I think this album is the largest evidence we've seen to date that we are currently in an era of resurgence of Dadaism. \n\n### Dada\n\nDadaism, or just Dada, was an art movement in the 20th century that was centrally deviant and provocably avant-garde. Dada was an artistic reaction to the senseless slaughter of World War I and the absurdity that comes with capitalism with its own kind of absurdity. It frequently challenged power structures within the art world and questioned what qualified as art itself, which eventually associated the movement with the term \"anti-art\". A good example is the classic one: Marcel Duchamp's \"Fountain\", which is a simple porcelain urinal submitted as a \"sculpture\" to be staged at Grand Central Palace in New York City. The piece challenges the idea of whether art must be aesthetically pleasing, in a sense poetic, or even the product of much of your own labor to be considered art.\n\nThe current era of Dadaism started with the release of *\"WAP\"* by Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion in mid 2020. When *\"WAP\"* dropped it had people asking, \"Is this actually allowed?\", \"Is this really music, or just melodic erotica?\", and \"How soon can I see Megan Thee Stallion shake her ass on stage?\". The movement has snowballed through Miley Cyrus's *\"Flowers\"*, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Renee Rapp, Chappell Roan, and Kesha's new song *\"Joyride\"* to get to BRAT's release at the present time, and it doesn't show signs of stopping. \n\n### BRAT\n\nBRAT specifically is a good example of Dada for multiple reasons that have already been analyzed to death, but I'll just mention some here. BRAT's lyrics challenge the idea that the point of music is to embellish emotion instead of to express it. I think BRAT is a good example of art that doesn't need to put flowers and vines on itself to be attractive, and that's counter-cultural right now. *\"Everything is romantic\"* repeats \"Fall in love again and again\" 37 times in that song alone which in most situations would get annoying and useless, but Charli has done it in a way that feels like it's an important part of the art. Its album artwork isn't aesthetically appealing either with its bland font and single color background. It's the exact opposite of her previous albums' artworks, which all prominently showed Charli's body. But the reason it's brilliant is *because* it's challenging these norms of the current power structures in art.\n\nThe thing that BRAT does differently from the Dada movement in the 20th century is just how *cunty* (complimentary) it is. All of the artists I mentioned above, they're all women who are pushing the pop genre and party scene forward with the iconic looks and fierce energy of the drag/LGBTQ community. In short, they're serving cunt.\n\n### Drake\n\nDrake is an artist who to me represents an attempt to appeal to all audiences of the pop and hip hop genres simultaneously, while also not challenging any of the existing norms of the music industry. He makes music for the mythical median listener of hip hop that can't have their masculinity or status questioned but also needs a melodic hook thrown in so they can play his music around their white parents. Drake's prominence in the music industry has for years suppressed actually innovative artists simply with his presence and volume at the top of the charts, despite the fact that he had been falling off in quality bit by bit for the past few years.\n\nNot only has Drake's music suppressed women's voices, but he himself has had a chilling effect on people in the music and film industry. His past grooming behavior with Billie Eilish (17), Millie Bobby Brown (14), the girl on stage at his concert (17) , Bella Harris (16), Kylie Jenner (16), Hailey Baldwin (16), and still others is evidence enough that he himself is a predator, but according to a *lot* of (unconfirmed) stories, lots of people around Drake facilitated this behavior. I think many young girls in the music industry felt that they couldn't be themselves in their art because of people like Drake, and how pervasive people like him are in the industry. (For more details about that history, I suggest you start with [this article](https://screenshot-media.com/culture/toxic-masculinity/drake-predatory-behaviour/), and do your own research from there.)\n\nWhat I think makes Drake forgettable as an artist is his attempt to demand respect as a talented artist while never pushing the hip hop genre forward. Kendrick Lamar is an artist that has called Drake and others out for years for just that: not challenging the status quo, not pushing things forward. And a the beginning of this summer, Kendrick made it known that he had had enough.\n\n### Kendrick and The Power of Memes\n\nWhat Kendrick Lamar did earlier this summer changed everything. Kendrick used all of his power to create music and influence the masses with it to put what seems to be the nail in the coffin of the career of the most high-profile predator in the music industry, and sent a message to the rest. The album artwork for Not Like Us doesn't have just one pin, indicating one sex offender at Drake's residence, it has 13. Kendrick is calling out not just Drake but all of those in his circle, and I don't think Kendrick would limit his criticism to just Drake's team. This rap beef was partly about a personal hatred of Drake, but it was also about who Drake represents to music: the goofy ass pedo that doesn't push music forward. My music conspiracy theory for the day is that Kendrick killing Drake's career is what kicked off brat summer and got the public in the mood to party on his career's grave.\n\nThe *way* Kendrick took down Drake is even more important. Kendrick is best known for his pensive lyricism and story-telling, not pop hits and rap battles. To slay Drake though, Kendrick didn't lean on his bread and butter but *memed* his way to victory and stayed tapped into culture. Kendrick realizes that narrative is the only thing that matters to the masses. In *\"Not Like Us\"* Kendrick drops a line that I keep going back to: \"I'm what the culture feelin'\". *\"Not Like Us\"* was actually so brat because it was messy, fierce, and cared more about being the life of the party than beating Drake in the marketplace of ideas. Kendrick knew the power of pop was innovative music and engaging narratives, not the same thing we've been hearing on the radio for the past 10 years. \n\n### Kamala Harris\n\nAllow me to make an Olympic-style jump before explaining myself in just a second.\n\nThe Democratic Party has been incompetent for a long time. In many ways Joe Biden's physical state the past 6 months represents how the Democratic Party has themselves declined in the past 50 years. They slowly gag from the lack of air in their lungs and they lose course from the lack of wind in their sails. But if anything can put Democrats back in the driver's seat of our democracy, it's the support and energy of young (especially queer) people in this country.\n\nIn short, Kamala Harris needs to be what the culture is feelin'. And not only that, I argue that Kamala needs to do to Donald Trump the exact same thing that Kendrick did to Drake. Trump is similar to Drake in many ways; he gained popularity mostly by being given big breaks from powerful people like his father (Drake got his big breaks from Degrasi, Jas Prince, and Lil Wayne); he's a serial predator of young girls; his career seems to be floundering and he's doing everything he can to save it. \n\nKamala and her team have already been doing a good job by leaning into the BRAT and coconut tree memes, and I suspect it's because she has young people on her team that understand meme culture. But with the debates coming up, Kamala needs to not be afraid to put her foot on the gas. She needs to lean into the fierce and often feminine queer energy of the youth, into Dada and into meme/party culture, and in the process kill Donald Trump's career forever. \n\nLike one of our queens says, \"So what do we want?\" \"A Femininominon!\"",
    "createdAt": "2024-08-06T22:51:55.155Z",
    "visibility": "public"
  }
}