"So baby, pull me closer/In the back seat of your Rover..."
Unless you live under a rock, you know that that's the chorus to the popular "song of the summer" called "Closer". It's from a band called The Chainsmokers and features alt-rock queen Halsey. When I first heard the song, I was totally underwhelmed. But, after giving it a few more listens, it's a song that I've really come to enjoy. It's super catchy, has a melody that is able to be whistled, some good harmonies, and overall, not too bad a song. But, reading up on The Chainsmokers, I've come to discovered while their song is quite excellent, their personas in the media blow big time.
In the September 24th issue of Billboard magazine, a story about them was the cover. "Interesting", I thought. So, I decided to read that article about them. I openly laughed out loud, and that was twofold. One, I was awkwardly laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of some of the things they said and two, I laughed cause I was uncomfortable. They [The Chainsmokers] first talked about how they "rage every night" and how "it's always work hard, play hard". Alright. First off, raging every night has GOT to be bad for your liver. Did no one tell you this on your road to almost instant super-stardom? Also, you need your liver. Don't be stupid. They then went on to say that they'd "never get kicked out of a club. We're way too good at drinking". What kind of example are you setting? I mean this in all seriousness. I get that having a good time is necessary. But, you're also in the limelight and have myriads of followers. Promoting this kind of lifestyle that we (now) somehow fetishize, this James Dean "die young" crap is dangerous. Knock it off. Don't subscribe to the Kardashian view of the world.
Reading more into this super repugnant interview, the group talks about their new stardom and some of their inspirations and all that. I skimmed that part of the interview, but the part where they mentioned how they were "girl crazy" truly made my skin crawl. Now, I'm not saying we're perfect, as humans. We say a lot of stupid stuff when we're around certain people (myself included). One of the band members said that "even before success, p*%#y was number one". I threw up in my mouth. "Why am I trying to make all this money? I wanted to hook up with hotter girls. I had to date a model". NO. NO. NO. We, as a society, are putting oversexed fratboy types on a pedestal?! Who thought that was okay? Did you learn nothing from Trump and Billy Bush, boys? Women are not Kleenex; you can't use them and then throw them away when you're done. Society nowadays has this narrative that if we [some, not all] men treat women like they're sex objects, somehow we become cooler or more socially desirable.
Chainsmokers, the change starts with you. Promote being good people and good artists, not being giant douche waffles. Having the combined sizes of your "special friends" as the bio for your webpage does nothing but make you look awful. Music has such a healing effect on people. Even some of the worst made songs in history mean the world to someone. Don't let your silly persona and your insatiable need for "celebrity" shadow the impact your music could possibly have. So, Chainsmokers, cut back on the, metaphorical, pack of celebrity cigarettes you're smoking. Maybe going from four packs a day to one could drastically change you.
