Rodia Kalamaras '22
It's an understatement to say that Olivia Rodrigo among many other female musicians is quite a big deal. And honestly good for her and other artists like her, I’m glad there are more female musicians on the radio from Dua Lipa, to WILLOW, to Lizzo, they all worked hard and deserve their success. However while they should be applauded I really think they shouldnt be labeled, specifically with the term “punk” because honestly I don't think they are. Besides the obvious homages to punk and rock and roll sound that artists like Rodrigo and WILLOW employ, their origin stories are far from it. Punk as a whole was a respite from the over-bloated music industry in the 1970s,from the poverty found in America and England. It was a place where anyone could make music simply by knowing a few cords and willingness to be creative. The Ramones for example aren't in the hallmarks of punk because they were classically trained musicians displaying their high quality art to the world, it was because they were a bunch of poor guys in their 20s knowing next to nothing about “true music” and doing what they wanted. That’s what punk is, its rebellion from the constraints of normal society and no offense but Disney star Rodrigo is quite the opposite of that. Now of course these punk musicians were rocketed into stardom for their unique sound and overtime these musicians evolved, as generations of punk artists sonically experimented so too did the concept of punk. And that's where the term “pop-punk” comes in when punk artists take cues from modern pop through structures like verse-chorus-verse and a distinct effort placed on melody. That's where greats even today in punk music come from, bands like Green Day, Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, and a million others. But make no mistake, while their genre may be “pop-punk” , they are fundamentally punk first. Now side tangent here in researching for this article I found one by the fortyfive “00s Pop-Punk was a white monolith. The 20s will be better” and I found it rather insulting to the genre of punk as a whole. Punk may have many white people and fans but make no mistake in its roots, punk is for everyone, men, women, people of color, LGBT+ communities, the poor, every social outcast one can think of. The 2000s scene specifically was an ultimate convention of “punk” people. Take frontman for the American rock-band Fall Out Boy, what the media forgets (and honestly whitewashes) is the fact that he is a bi-racial man, he found comfort in the Chicago hardcore scene (hardcore a subgenre of punk), where he could express himself, his frustrations on race, politics, love, his struggles with bi-polar, everything. And when he recruited a band made up of an awkward drummer turned superstar vocalist Patrick Stump, a vegan straight-edge drummer Andy Hurley, and a Jewish former groupie turned outstanding lead-guitarist Joe Trohman they made Fall Out Boy. They might be famous now but they, like any other punk band, sweated it out in drab basements and scenes like the rest of them. They just like Green Day with their subversive themes of the mass hysteria of Americans during the Iraq war to even the leader singers’ bisexuality in the song “Coming Clean”. They just like all the other juggernauts of the era from hip-hop band Gym Class Heroes, to dance music band Cobra Starship. Because punk isn't a genre, it isn't a movement of a bunch of white guys and the occasional lady (side note- women have always been inherent to the punk scene just look up Debby Harry or Haley Williams), genres and scenes can and will be toxic but fundamentally punk is for everyone who wants to try. That's why I personally don't believe that Olivia Rodrigo, Willow and honestly I don't even want to say it Lil Huddy are punk, they may incorporate that sound and aesthetic they are the most corporatized musicians I can think of they of course may have had their struggles but they most certainly do not have punk roots, they have Disney, celebrity, and TikTok roots to be exact. So personally to mainstream reporters and media outlets please don't call these people punk, call them talented musicians like most deserve. And if you want to support punk artists I suggest you find them out yourself, discover them and watch them thrive from basement to stardom. Give your love to people who deserve it, give love to your fellow outcasts and watch them shine.
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