Young Metal Fans: Who’s the Pop Star You Hate?

When I was a young metalhead, I fucking hated Britney Spears. I thought she was cultural toxic waste. Nevermind that I oggled that Rolling Stone with her on the cover like crazy, or that I covered “Oops, I Did It Again” with my nu-metal band at summer camp, or that I actually found “Toxic” to have some interesting atmospheres and dynamics — she was, in my mind, this hollow idol of the polished dickheads who yelled homophobic slurs at me and my friends in the halls of school. She represented the radio stations that wouldn’t play our music, the award shows that wouldn’t honor our culture, and the entire world that saw us as ugly or lesser. I couldn’t hate her more.

Now that I’m an adult — and now that Britney is an adult, and has opened up about her experiences — I’ve realized that my hatred was poorly aimed and sort of silly. The more Britney’s revealed her personal life, the more it seems like she dealt with the same thing as most metal fans, from horrible family dynamics to awful relationships to mental health battles. I’m sort of surprised I didn’t notice this before — hell, the chorus of her big breakthrough hit literally begins, My loneliness is killing me. That’s some Slipknot-ass shit right there.

So where’d all my hatred come from? Well, I was young. And Britney was a product of the pop star system, the mainstream, the world at large, all of which constantly told me that I was a gross little creep who should shape up, wear Abercrombie, and use a peach-scented facial scrub. So while that wasn’t her fault, I can understand why Rhombus At 15 was contemptuous of the people who seemed to support that system.

As for pop stars today, well, honestly, I don’t really understand them on that level. They’re just celebrities, whose music I either haven’t heard, or don’t give a shit about, or like in a sort of kitsch way. More importantly, though, I’m old as fuck, closing in on 40 and content to just get through life as happy and comfortable as possible.

I probably wouldn’t know as much about metal as I do if it wasn’t my job — I love a lot of new bands, and will always champion new music, but in my private time, I just listen to a lot of fuckin’ Rob Zombie.

So, to our younger readers (if we have any), you tell us: who are the pop stars you fucking despise? Who, to you, represents the daylit world that doesn’t give a fuck about you? Is it Cardi B? Is it Morgan Wallen? Is it Billie Eilish? Is it BTS? I’ve never heard a BTS song in my life, honestly.

Or is the whole hating-pop-stars thing no longer relevant? Are we past that as a culture? Is that outdated thinking?

Let us know in the comments. No wrong answers — we’re literally just trying to figure this out.