Take two...
Y’all! I’m a day late but I’m humbled and thrilled to officially relaunch this brand as Uncultured to more accurately capture the essence of the low brow content we unpack here. I chose the previous name hours before I sent my first email and it really didn’t go through the proper consideration and vetting channels, which is a mistake I own up to as CEO of this company. I’m listening and I’m learning.
Rest assured, the relaunch has been focus grouped and a/b tested, and even has a legit logo from my childhood friend and New York Times illustrator Zoé, who elevated us from the depths of Canva jail.
If the #content you’ve read so far on this journey has given you even a modicum of amusement on your boring corporate Thursday mornings, please share with your gal pals, tinder dates, tolerable colleagues, hip parents, etc. They say your first 100 subscribers come from your friends and family, but I definitely don’t have that many friends.
Hope everyone cracks open a white claw at 11am today.
Xx,
E
Viral Bible
Internet wormholes, celeb deep dives, etc.
Remember when that abcdefu and your mom song dropped, and the backstory was that it went viral on TikTok after a commenter challenged the artist to write a song using letters of the alphabet? And then it was sleuthed out that the commenter wasn’t just some anonymous viewer, but a marketing manager at the singer’s label? So it was all a careful calculation to make the origins of the song feel personal and spontaneous and organic, when in reality it was anything but?
Earlier this week, Halsey took to TikTok to complain about how their label won’t let them release a song they’re excited about yet because it wants to “fake a viral TikTok moment” first. Halsey said they’ve sold 165M+ records during their career, implying they shouldn’t need over-the-top social media marketing to launch successful singles.
They posted a follow-up video from inside a meeting with a label exec, who’s offering Halsey tentative dates and promotional outlines while Halsey impatiently “mhms” him like a petulant teen being given the sex talk. I know there’s a storied history of unjust treatment of artists by their labels, but watching this in a vacuum without more context of the situation just made Halsey look sort of ungrateful. Woe is me — you have a powerful team backing your work that wants to do their jobs and make sure your music sells, so you can buy another Calabasas compound.
But regardless, the two videos boast a combined 13.5M views, plus a slew of press coverage. So as this plan all along? Did the record label willingly play the corporate bad guy to reinforce Halsey’s disruptive counterculture identity and hype up support for the new song?
Were we bamboozled once again!?
Villain Edit
Girlbosses, toxic cool girls, scammers.
Anna Delvey’s chaotic art show was this week, and from the press, it’s clear 80% of the journalists were pissed their bosses assigned them to cover, but the sceney wannabes of NYC had a blast, so good on them.
Here’s what we know:
The exhibit was hosted at the Public Hotel in NYC and titled Allegedly, which I think is a really cute name for a cute scammer.
The display mostly included sketches Anna drew in jail, surrounding the trial and the events before and after. They kind of look like something the popular girl who’s a little artsy doodles during math class, but it’s not like she’s trying to go to RISD, she’s going to Bama to tailgate and become a nurse.
A drag queen impersonator was present to hype up the crowd, and the sketches were carried around by models wearing black hoods, black sunglasses, and white gloves while Kanye’s “Flashing Lights” played.
The full collection is valued between $400-500K, but limited-edition prints are available online for about $250.
Anna FaceTimed in from prison to send her regards.
There was free wine, themed cocktails like “Anna on ICE,” but no food. This was a miss — I recently learned there’s a thing called prison chips, which are a tangy mixture salt, vinegar, and BBQ seasoning, and are packaged wholesale exclusively for prisons, with no similar chip on the market. People would’ve loved it!!
The Money Shot
If I don’t look at my Amex bill, it’s not real.
This week I bought. . .
The new Makeup By Mario Skin Perfector. This is a pressed powder, bronzer, and highlighter all in one, and you can mix them together to set the face with glowy bronzey goodness.
SKIMS neon bodysuit. This was part of the bi-annual sale so it’s legal.
The Anna Wintour biography, which is supposed to be the coldest portrayal yet.
Prekend Wrapped
What the fuck is a prekend?
Watching: Hacks S2 (HBO)
Reading: Aforementioned Anna Wintour book
Eating: The Trader Joes’ Peach Halves
