What are emo kids listening to these days?

Let’s rewind back 10 years. It’s 2008, clusters of teens are dressed in black from head to toe, long and side-swept fringes covering at least one eye. Band tees, sad auras, and loneliness; earbuds in. My Chemical Romance was still a thing. Now that the image is there, remember how it felt to be in that dark place, or at least try to imagine it. Many of us know about the infamous shrieks of so-called “screamo” and the peak of pitch-perfect pop-punk bands. You were probably into one or the other, maybe even both. Now, back to 2018. These teens have slowly evolved, adapting and merging into pop culture, the majority of them are now labeled as “hipsters” and are part of the indie scene. They listen to lo-fi, folk-like bands such as Neutral Milk Hotel and Iron & Wine, and maybe even some Post Malone. I don’t know where I’m going with this but I’m trying to somehow connect this to the rise of Hobo Johnson. He may be a new artist, but his songs have hit a core in sad, angsty teens across the country. His style can be categorized as alternative hip-hop and spoken word with rap influence. In these recent months, his music has been connecting hip-hop lovers and “emo kids” alike. He’s got the flow of rap, the raw energy of spoken word, and lyrical poetry you can almost sing, but you probably cry and scream it out loud instead. For most of his audience, his music reaches the sad, awkward teen in us; he makes us remember what it feels like to be so disgustingly helpless.

What brought him this newfound fame was this live performance of “Peach Scone” floating around Facebook with hundreds and thousands of shares. Many of the comments on this video either praise his work or completely despise it for the same reason of it sounding so “whiny” and “creepy.” To me and lots of other fans, the “whining” and “creepiness” is the essence of his music. It’s the vulnerability we all feel but are afraid to express. Here, he reveals his insecurities without hesitation, the simplicity of alternating notes in intervals of major thirds artfully matching the atmosphere of the song. Despite it not sounding so much like rap, it still has a rhythm you can follow making you nod your head along whenever the beat drops and the chorus comes up.

One of his songs I adore is “Crève Cœur,” which is French for “heartbreak.” I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this performed live without ever listening to it beforehand. To be honest, all I knew was “Peach Scone” and that was enough for me to me buy a ticket and watch him open for another band I really love, The Front Bottoms, all the way out in Rhode Island. This has more of a rap style with a more consistent rhythm and beat. I was never really into rap or hip-hop but somehow Hobo Johnson has made me appreciate the genre even more. His vocal style has elements of spoken word and rap that pairs really well with the emotionality and rawness of his work. The changes in his intonation and energy put into these lyrics make it a lot more interesting to listen to than other rappers who (in my opinion) sound a bit monotonous. One thing that used to bother me about this song was the unevenness in beat distribution in terms of the low and high notes in the piano part. The syncopation would make me feel uneasy but it all ties together somehow (even though it’s probably unintended). Listening to Hobo Johnson made me realize how important lyrics are. I used to listen to music only for the sound of it, but now I actually pay more attention to the words and connect to it a lot more.