In Defense of PinkPantheress Musical Morals

Words by Matthew Spence:

Welcome back to a brand episode of Cheaters. Wait, dammit! Teleprompter dude, you had one job. Anyways, a brand new episode of “Musicians Troll Talent,” the show where musicians can dig deeper in the dusty crates to showcase their hidden talents of pissing off the music masses with flare. You’re in for a star-studded night. Later on, we’ll see Jack Antonoff… well exists. After that, Ye West will have the audience sign an RSVP to be next up for who he pisses off because Lord knows he’s making his rounds with every demographic. But no need to break out the crossword puzzle to kill time; right now, we have an A-Lister taking the stage. Locket picture-worthy musical speed-runner, an avenger of Gen-Z pop music, PinkPantheress. Who seems to have done some Pokemon training in her spare time off tour, cause she’s been sticker-bombing the timeline with headlines like it’s a skate shop door.

We were doing good for a while. A round of applause for PinkPantheress and ourselves. All good things must come to an end, like how a brand new charger turns into a struggle that you eventually have to start angling for it to work.

With a 3-Peat

In May of 2024, during an ABC interview, she said she expressed how she personally feels songs shouldn’t be more than 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

2. In July of 2024, during a KidsTakeOver interview, she explained how she doesn’t listen to albums.

3. For the cherry on top, in the same month of July 2024, in an interview with Complex, she expressed her disapproval of the label of “TikTok Music”.

“I think over time I’ve tried to distance my music specifically from the idea of it being “TikTok” music. People who classify my music as “TikTok music,” I sit there and ask myself, “What even is TikTok music?” Because in my opinion, this is not just the song you found on the app, but in their heads, they’re using it as a degrading term to degrade the song into something less than what it is.”

3 Opinions + 1 Artists = A shit ton of criticisms. That might not be accurate on the decimal, but, you can round up if you want. The comments may help with the math.

Now, the audience getting riled up (with pitchforks and torches) isn’t wrong to raise an eyebrow like the Rock. An artist explaining how they don’t have an interest in albums—that’s like hearing Charlie Kaufman (or insert your favorite film writer/director) say he only likes to watch clips of movies. No song should be more than 2:30? We can’t risk our attention span getting. …………….. uhhh… what’s this article about again?………………………………………………………….Oh yeah! What’s TikTok Music? Some would say, “Uhh…your music, yo!” However, as an unofficial lawyer with a victory rate of 12%, I shall come to her defense.

For starters, it’s her opinion, as she made it concrete on that fact. Secondly, it’s not like these opinions are out of the navy blue; in fact, it pretty much clothes her artistry. Her songs are fairly short, usually. It’s not like her projects are some cohesive concept album like The Whos’ “Tommy” or Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. It’s just that it’s laid out on the table; we get a better understanding of how she’s making music and the way she consumes: short, sweet, pick your faves, and enjoy. Doesn’t make her any less of a talented artist.

However, behind the brown eyes is probably instant regret after these interviews.

These test results conclude that PinkPantheress is just the embodiment of Gen-Z consumption. Of course, the concern is valid, as the “Death of the Album” and “Protect the Album” have been a discourse for a few months to a couple of years now.

The Anti-Playlist Movement.

LP vs Top 40 Streaming

Of course, it’s a rational fear that feels like more of a reality in certain circles. Especially since we all have succumbed to the convenience of playlists and just picking out our favorite songs from the project. However, as Gen-Z pushes forward and new artists emerge, PinkPantheress only represents a small portion of artists who may have the antithesis of music morals. Chill, relax; we’re still coddled by numerous album-based artists. While people are castigating Pantheress like she’s trying to bring in communism, let’s not forget that WILLOW dropped arguably the best album of 2024 with “empathogen.”. Billie Eilish, Clairo, Charli XCX, and Tierra Whack are among the class of artists who still care about the album and expanded musicality [and every artist I’ve interviewed :)]. Sure, some of these artists aren’t Gen-Z, but you get the idea. No matter the genre, across the landscape of music.

Even the amount of likes on the top comments implies that plenty of people still care about the art form to its essence. So, no need to panic; here’s an inhaler.

……………… Are you calm? Cool.

And she did clarify her comments on listening to albums, saying

All that to say; there is no right or wrong way to consume or make music. It’s people trying to say there is that stops people from enjoying + creating art in whichever form they want. Who cares if i listen to albums in full lol. It’s music, it’s meant to be unique to everyone.”

Well, after a 3-Peat, it rang up two ideas for me: people don’t read past the headline as some people were taking her out of context and removing certain details. The other being, people’s love of music can cause them to border being passionate or being an asshole. Where do you fall? Where do I fall?

No matter what, it’s just the usual musical discourse.