itwillnevergoaway:

http://jokersintrousers.bandcamp.com/track/justin-bieber

“if they catch me, i’ll just cry for all the mean cops”

the most fascinating thing about this song is the manner in which it addresses the phenomenon of Justin Bieber’s celebrity with regards to the gender norms of the fan base that helped make Justin Bieber famous in the first place. Partly because of the tongue-in-cheek commentary on the ridiculousness of die-hard bieber fandom, but also because of the fact that a cisgendered female rapper (still something of a novelty in contemporary American music) decided to weigh in on the Mariah Yeater pregnancy scandal. Kitty Pryde uses her style of based-ish writing to exaggerate what (i imagine) she believes Yeater’s thought process to follow, which is something of a personification of the sentiments that most tweenaged Bieber fans hold.

But this isnt just a song capitalizing on the internet-ready joke of Bieber’s celebrity for the sake of bandcamp downloads or cheap laughs, this is a vehicle for Pryde to explore (and destroy) the way gender is presented in rap and hip-hop, as well as address the damaging effect that the music industry has on young girls perceptions of love and relationships.

Other Kitty Pryde songs emphasize her readiness to self-depricate (a favorite theme of mine in developing niches of alt-rap, as can be heard on “accordian” and “thanks kathryn obvious”), but this song does so in a way that is less expository and more poignant. By attaching the narrative of this song to the unfortunate and weird tale of Mariah Yeater’s fake pregnancy scheme, the listener must make connections between the dysfunctional nature of Yeater’s attempts at male attention (the target of these attempts being Justin Bieber by way of the media) and the dorky, but poignant, lyrics of the chorus. The words “Justin Bieber” are used to start subsequent lines, a style of rhyme that is reminiscent of based rap in that it uses the repetition of a single word or phrase to establish rythm, which frames the progression of the narrative. “Whether or not I hit it just depends on whether he decides to respond to my letters” takes the logic of the narrator from typical-girl-crush to more-than-a-little-delusional in a sultry sing-talk utterance that is typical of Pryde’s rap persona: simultaneously acknowledging the musician’s own gender identity as a cute young girl while touching on how convicted these fans can be about the future they imagine having with their idols. Unwittingly or otherwise, Kitty Pryde is presenting a statement about the nature of fandom that surrounds celebrity culture, especially when sexuality is being exploited.

1. strawberrymyeolchi likes this
2. iamgilgamesh reblogged this from kittydothedishes and added:

   I just wanted to point out that the reviewer made up a heaping pile of bullshit, and the artist says they meant what...

3. iamgilgamesh likes this
4. cxianet likes this
5. mariecalloway likes this
6. julygdiaz likes this
7. kittydothedishes reblogged this from itwillnevergoaway and added:

   mostly i was just talking about myself literally being obsessed with justin bieber but i mean this is cool too

8. itwillnevergoaway posted this