Qveen Herby / FKA Karmin

she actually rebranded last year but didn’t start getting as much attention until she wore more uh dramatic makeup. that probably says a lot about 2018

I'm fascinated by her. She seems to be making a career by starting out embarrassing and then fearlessly escalating the obnoxiousness. From YouTube novelty covers of hip-hop songs where the conceit is that a cutesy white woman raps fast all the way to borderline minstrelsy. I want to know how her mind works.

Also the comments sections on her videos are astroturfed, right? They just have to be.

This is normally the kind of thing social media picks up on in minutes to eviscerate for how problematic it is but she seems to have escaped that nearly completely. I guess the easy answer is that no one really gave a shit about Karmin in the first place, but I agree that there's something really suspicious about her legion of adoring fans. In a way, I feel like this is the death rattle of the hip hop boom of the mid to late 10s...it's been cluelessly co-opted by dorky musical theatre kids, and there's no going back.

shocking new development: oblivious white people

i mean “musical” covers of hip hop songs are as old as dynamite hack. she’s just worse

https://youtu.be/vQJwNETuUIM

*shriek*

hah i forgot about dynamite hack

can't bring myself to watch this yet

The worst part about watching videos like this (even once) is that YouTube immediately begins sticking them in yr “Up Next” feed.

People worry about an AI apocalypse, but Google can’t even understand that I’m watching videos “ironically.”

incorrect to characterize the popularity of trap/r&b in the late '10s as a "boom" in the traditional sense imo

strong argument to be made that the charts did not accurately reflect the true popularity of that music throughout 2008-2015 because radio willfully stonewalled black artists and distribution of the genres' most vital work occurred via channels that did not or could not report engagement in a way that soundscan could effectively measure

late '10s explosion in the popularity of this music dovetails precisely with the popularity of streaming services - as spotify's subscriber base increased so too did the chart performance of music that had previously suffered from a lack of mainstream radio support, to the point where radio was eventually forced to follow the leader

queen herby rebrand not a death knell but an acknowledgement of this music as the most vital and influential force in american pop music and of how difficult it is to imagine that changing anytime soon if you look at the numbers

existence of passionate fan base is perplexing but seems impossible to deny that post-rebrand queen herby music is objectively much better than pre-rebrand karmin music and that must just matter more to the target audience (presumably many of the same people who keep checking for new music from bhad bhabie, iggy azalea, and brooke candy) than previous generations' hoary old questions about authenticity

What I found suspicious was the comments sections on her videos all being virtually dissent-free lovefests. But I just looked at some Iggy Azalea and Bhad Bhabie YouTube comment sections and they were the same way, so maybe that's just how it is sometimes. Or maybe the conspiracy goes deeper than I thought...

i first heard of this rebrand when reading a widely-rt'd twitter thread sharing video clips of 'female rappers you should know about' or something. the tweet with her said something along the lines of "yeah it's the girl from karmin but i swear she deserves another look"

yeah i mean i came across it by accident months ago and laughed so hard i fell off the couch when i realized who it was

that's me though, i'm old

the fact that there does seem to be a fan base for this stuff is fascinating, though.

streaming playlists and radio formats seem pretty inhospitable to female vocalists in general right now but especially to female brands, artists still trying to do the 2008-2015 gaga/katy/kesha thing by releasing music that exalts artifice and is self-referential and reliant on a larger-than-life persona to make an impact

maybe there's a lane for herby/bhabie/iggy to succeed as niche projects catering directly to fans of trashy, culturally insensitive pop projects fronted by white women from that era who refuse to follow the mainstream and move on to listening to post malone and ed sherman

or maybe it's just a hangover, artists and an audience that are completely in denial about which way the wind is blowing that will all scatter like ashes on the breeze once they fully process the reality of how little money remains to be made from music like this

who knows

One of the youtube comments today on a "Teens React to..." video at FBE was "React to Qveen Herby!"

So I replied "Dumb blackface bullshit, how's that for a reaction?"

Angry response pending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeFE0Gl3ZrM

"I swipe my black card at/ the Balenciaga store"

sure. sure

I'm so relieved that isn't a video.