In 2011, Rebecca Black took the internet by storm with her song “Friday”. This song is credited with the birth of a new music genre called “cringe pop”. “Cringe pop” is identified as music that is “so bad that you cannot stop watching it”. In recent years, Dhinchak Pooja, Taher Shah, Vennu Mallesh, Bhim Niroula, and Jacintha Morris’s music has been classified under this genre. Though widely shared, their videos have come under some criticism for their poor quality and the artists have been ridiculed. Some people have even gone to the extent of giving death threats to artists.
Cringe pop challenges our exclusionary obsession with “quality”
The lyrics of Vennu Mallesh’s song ‘It’s My Life’ are:
It’s my life, whatever I wanna do
It’s my life, wherever I wanna go
It’s my life, whom I wanna love, oooh
It’s my life, whatever I wanna talk
It’s my life, wherever I wanna walk
On the other hand, lyrics of Bon Jovi’s very celebrated song of the same title are:
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I’m alive
It’s my life
Expressing similar sentiments of freedom and self-determination, what separates these songs is a polished articulation, singing, and an aesthetic video. Algorithms of social media and access to smartphones have allowed many people- who otherwise would not have been able to do so- to create and upload videos that have been widely shared.
As Monika Hirmer says, cringe pop “threatens the current position of privilege in society” by destabilizing the monopoly over cultural capital that a few people traditionally possess.
By negatively judging and sneering at the quality of this work, we are saying that only those who have the privilege of articulate expression and creating aesthetically pleasing videos should be allowed to express themselves in the public domain.
There is an urgent need to change the lens with which we look at these songs. Referring to ‘quality’ as a negative term that excludes people, Thomas Hirschhorn calls for a need to pay attention to whether a work of art has energy instead of quality, arguing that the former is more a positive term. ‘Energy’, in this context, stands for ‘movement, for dynamic, for invention, for activity, for the activity of thinking’. It is thus, a more inclusive way of looking at art. Through this lens, both Vennu Mallesh and Bon Jovi’s songs can be understood to have energy, even though one may lack the quality of the other
Cringe pop is an opportunity for improving self-esteem and acceptance
We are constantly being pressured to be the best- to get into top colleges, top companies, survive in big cities, get promotions, chase awards, and recognition for our ability and talent. These markers have become our definition of achievement and success on which our worth and self- esteem are overly dependent. Cringe pop is an invitation to redefine these meanings.
The way in which we receive a cringe pop video sends a message of either mockery or respect to ourselves and the people we are discussing it with.
By ridiculing cringe pop singers for widely sharing their ‘bad quality’ content, we are reinforcing the idea that a person will be respected only when they produce ‘good quality’ work and when they are the best at what they do. There is also hypocrisy in this mockery. On one hand, we laugh at these artists, and on the other, many of us who have the opportunity to be on stage experience crippling performance anxiety because we fear the same fate. When we do not judge or make fun of the person for the lack of energy or quality in their work, and instead appreciate their zeal and sentiments, we send across a message of unconditional respect and acceptance. Constructive criticism is healthier than ridicule. However, it is also essential to re-evaluate the criteria of this criticism and create safe spaces where people can express themselves.
Thus, Cringe Pop is an opportunity to evaluate several aspects of society contributing to marginalization and rising mental health problems.
References:
Hirmer, M. (2018). Taking Cringe Pop Seriously. Economic and Political Weekly, 62-63.
Hirschhorn, T. (2018). Critical Workshop “Energy: Yes! Quality: No!”. Kochi, India: Kochi- Muziris Biennale.
By Suvrita, a Mumbai-based Mental Health Professional who holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology with Specialization in Clinical Psychology
from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai