With a generation that was raised on the internet currently coming of age, the terms "millennial" and "net aesthetics" are often lobbed as pejorative descriptions of contemporary artists. Usually pointing out "cringey" content, it is hard to stay current in a digital culture that already uses "2018" as an adjective to date pop culture (i.e. "Ariana Grande getting a Spirited Away tattoo is the most 2018 thing to happen yet"). Tommy Genesis, luckily, is fluent in the internet.
The video for her latest track "100 Bad" is visually of the moment while avoiding hackneyed pitfalls that easily could move it into the realm of pastiche. The Canadian artist lies in a pile of puppies, a sea of pink tampons, and rubs money on her crotch while deadpan, rapping "100 bad bitches in the city/All the girls, they are so pretty/100 bad bitches in the city/All the girls, they are so pretty/Why do you want me, are you Annie?"
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Genesis manages to pull off these memetic scenes by referencing pre-existing tropes and cleverly subverting them. "For the chorus it was either puppies or girls, the tampon scene is sort of my DIY take on Kelis laying in candy, the cash scene is a direct reference to Tracey Emin's "I want it all," Genesis explains. "The outro is a champagne ejaculation and it's supposed to make you uncomfortable. It's a commentary on the male gaze." Genesis' "100 Bad" video is a triumph of millennial vernacular, updating institutional vocabulary in a way that is both smart and entertaining.
Watch the full video for "100 Bad" below:
Photo via Instagram