Justin Bieber recently professed his love for the California prog-rock/metal band Tool. However, the pop star is apparently not who the band's 55-year-old frontman Maynard James Keenan likes to imagine his music appeals to. His rock snobbery has lead to an surprising public beef between influencer-model Hailey Baldwin Bieber and the grizzled rocker.
Here's how it started: Last week, Bieber posted the lyrics to Tool's 2006 track "The Pot" on his Instagram story, a la a 2007 Facebook status. "Who are you to wave your finger?/ You must have been outta your head/ Eye hole deep in muddy waters/ You practically raised the dead," he wrote. As Stereogum points out, Biebs is a noted fan of Metallica and once used a repurposed a Marilyn Manson t-shirt for his own merch, so him being a fan of Tool isn't super out of left field.
Outlets began to pick up Biebs' post as a fun the-simulation-is-glitching news item. The music blog Consequence of Sound's tweet landed on Keenan's feed, to which the rocker responded with a one word: "#bummer."
Hailey Baldwin Bieber rushed to her husband's defense, accusing Keenan of bullying Bieber and correctly describing a 55-year-old man whining because someone he deems uncool likes his music as "childish." Keenan has not yet responded to Hailey's post.
The pop singer and his bruised ego will ultimately be fine (he's heard worse than "bummer" in his day). But an old-school rock artist dunking on Justin Bieber just feels a bit like low-hanging fruit in 2019, you know?
We're living in an era where The Chainsmokers name-check Beach House in their songs and Kendall Jenner posts about Boygenius on her Instagram. Generally, where the borders between low and high-brow, indie and mainstream that used to allow bands "pure audiences" are total mush. Let this be a cautionary tale for rock elders everywhere: corporate pop bros are probably out there listening and relating to your music!
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