Influencer Infamy

Influencer culture is easy to mock from the outside. The performative apologies, the manufactured drama, the carefully curated authenticity. We've all watched these patterns play out, rolled our eyes at yet another Billboard Tears moment, felt that particular exhaustion when someone monetizes their vulnerability for the tenth time this month.

But this album isn't about mockery. It's about observation—examining a system I participate in, insecurities I feel, dynamics we all recognize. When I write "you're not ugly, you're just poor" in Filter Bubble, I'm tallying my own spending on botox, eyelashes, makeup. When I explore Subscription Love and Validated, I'm trying to understand both sides of an economic relationship that traps everyone involved.

These songs aren't typical topics. Who else is writing about the specific exhaustion of performative apology videos? The economic calculus of OnlyFans creators? The male loneliness crisis driving parasocial relationships? The toxic symbiosis of Rage Bait creators and Hate Follow audiences who can't look away?

Influencer Infamy examines how attention economies shape modern identity at the emotional micro-level. Not macro dystopia, but intimate human experiences—how we perform for validation, get trapped in toxic cycles, and sometimes recognize the patterns we can't quite escape.

Dark electronic pop felt inevitable for this album. The manic energy of social media culture—constantly refreshing, constantly performing, constantly seeking validation—required production that mirrors that exhausting pace. Tempos range from 95 BPM trap influences to 140 BPM aggressive beats, matching the emotional whiplash of online life.

But the real signature: integrating actual tech sounds as musical elements. Social media notification pings become rhythmic elements. Camera shutters punctuate verses. Donation alerts create hooks. The sounds of digital performance become the music itself—not as decoration, but as essential instruments revealing how completely technology shapes our emotional landscape.

Some tracks lean bubblegum pop with ironic undertones (Validated, Billboard Tears). Others embrace trap-influenced commentary (Hustle Bro, Subscription Love). The variety mirrors influencer culture itself—constantly shifting aesthetics, chasing trends, performing different versions of authenticity depending on what the algorithm rewards this week.