For many of us, the stigma of Spotify Wrapped comes not from our choices, but from how much time we spend listening to artists. “I wasn’t embarrassed to be a Charli XCX stan when I checked out my Spotify Wrapped yesterday, but it did shock me to find out how many Charli XCX stans I am,” says contributing editor Liam Hess. “Not only is Charli my Artist of the Year, but I apparently spent over 2, minutes listening to her and Google Converter told me it was all day and my life Of course, that makes me a big gay cliché, but who cares? The “7 years,” “official,” and “keep repeating” yelled in my bedroom (usually in, well, on and on) is my catharsis from this hellish year. That’s Charli’s joy, baby!”
For some, perusing Spotify Wrapped is a family affairs. “Holy shit, I’m sorry, but Machine Gun Kelly is all over my Spotify,” admitted Tyler Antrim, head of global network and US deputy editor. “I want to blame my 8 year old son and my 10 year old daughter – they both love MGK – but the fact is that I, their Gen X dad, am impeccable Indie Rock Taste, introduce them to Mainstream Sellout‘s “Maybe” and tell them it’s just the way to enjoy real pop punk or emo, or hardcore , take your pick. Except, uh, ‘Maybe’ was a hit, so I put it in the car playlist along with ‘Title Track’ and ‘Forget Me Too’, it’s MGK duet with Halsey, it’s lights out , spinning constantly, kids singing every (unfortunately age-inappropriate) lyric. That was my year of parenthood — explaining lines about Percocet, f-bomb chorus, agreeing that Halsey is too sexy. Best of the year The best dad is right here.”
Another staff dad, senior features editor Corey Seymour, shared Antrim’s woes: “Being Parent of two young kids, looking at my package and seeing that my Spotify has largely been forced to play the grade school version of 10 Gecs over and over is a thing of the past (enough Saying “It’s Corn” is sugar for “Watermelon” 10 and below). Still, I’m not ready to see Why Mona’s “Wannabe – Sped Up Version” is my play count 5th most songs 100 (of course the rest of the top 5 are all Olivia Rodrigo). Questions abound: I How did the 2-year-old daughter find a random cover of the Spice Girls’ iconic debut single (TikTok)? Why does she need to speed up, a pull chipmunk? Should I care now like ” If you want to be my lover, you have to be with my friends” lyrics that I didn’t even care about before? What does that get me, other than stupid, unbelievable pop Know what my daughter wants, what does she really want? What does it say to me, and I… don’t hate it? Thanks, Esme.”
