Artemas and the misogyny-baiting epidemic in Pop Music
On the chopping block today: Yustyna by Artemas
He wears baggy jeans and a silver chain around his neck. He smokes watermelon flavored Elf bars and hangs out in damp, sweaty club basements on weekends. His toxic allure precedes him, and his brooding expression is unwavering as he unabashedly approaches other people’s girlfriends.
His consciously crafted nonchalance masks his desire for attention, and he is emotionally manipulative as he talks down on women whom he’s romantically interested in through patronizing riddles laced with irony.
This is Artemas.
Artemas has been on my radar for a while, ever since his contagious hit “I like the way you kiss me” popped up on my Spotify Hyperpop playlist a while ago, concurrently with his rise to fame on TikTok. Although I’ve been skeptical of any artist that has enjoyed their 5 minutes in the spotlight after going viral on TikTok, I find following who ends up having some semblance of longevity in the industry to be exciting (i.e., Doja Cat’s humble beginnings as a cow famously) albeit sometimes frustrating (looking at you Ice Spice…) So here goes.
Artemas’ latest mixtape, Yustyna, presents a compelling case study in the interplay between catchy beats, controversial themes, and a toxic persona that somehow manages to both captivate and repel.
Musically, Yustyna can be described as a collection of tracks that, while undeniably catchy, are intertwined with cold, detached, and misogynistic lyrics. The record lacks a distinct personal style, and is rather a patchwork of the signature sounds of his influences. The album strongly resembles The Weeknd’s earlier work, particularly his Trilogy era. Tracks like “Stupidhead” and “My Babydoll” are infused with his trademark vocal effects, runs, and provocative lyrics – to the point where I literally wrote “you could tell me this was a single The Weeknd put out and I would 100% believe it” in my notes for “My Babydoll” during my first listen. Others, such as “Wet Dreams,” show influences of Arctic Monkeys and The Neighborhood, and the two punk rock tracks, “Slow Dance” and “You’re Simply Wonderful” are reminiscent of Nirvana, which comes as no surprise since Artemas has cited Kurt Cobain as one of his main influences.
Throughout the album, Artemas yearns for or gets involved with someone who is already taken, elaborates on his string of toxic relationships, and has a hard time letting go of his love interests who are no longer interested in him. The lyrics remain emotionally elusive, revealing glimpses of vulnerability only in bits and pieces, and he frequently resorts to shock value instead of exploring genuine emotional depth.
This is in line with the image Artemas so carefully creates through his music and online presence, through the lyrics, through the low-effort TikToks where he lipsyncs to his songs while staring into the camera, and through the album visualizers made to look like Snapchats he receives from his mysterious lovers. Yet he also remains relatable by interacting with his fans, creating a deep parasocial relationship reminiscent of those nurtured by other online personalities. He manages to be both within reach and not, all at once.
Artemas himself describes “Artemas” as a character, an emotionally distant protagonist who gets a kick out of saying something provocative for shock value every now and then. However, in these cases it is often hard to tell where the artist ends, and the real person begins.
“I’m convinced if you can say something super crass and make people wanna sing it then you’ve struck gold.” – Artemas, on “You’ve been a bad girl”
I’m sorry, you can’t tell me that this is not problematic. These types of personae and attitudes, although designed to evoke intrigue, only serve to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and attitudes toward women, especially in the age of self-proclaimed misogynists (see: Andrew Tate.) Of course, I’m not saying that we should push all blame to Artemas – he’s only perpetuating and emulating the culture in contemporary music that he has been born into. He is not the first nor the last artist to do this. It is more so a broader commentary on the state of music, where catchy hooks and blind ambition for viral success overshadow all else.
“Stupidhead” is the track that best illustrates this, with provocative lyrics and an uncanny resemblance to The Weeknd’s song “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls”. Throughout the song, Artemas calls the girl he’s with “stupid for falling for him,” and in the same breath calling her “the girl of his dreams.” The repetitive bass line with the grainy synth, sidechained with the kick, the distorted electric guitar, and the autotune on the vocal runs all point to The Weeknd’s sound in his early mixtapes. The similarities continue with the lyrics:
“In that dress, I don't agree/Why don't you take a shot of somеthing strong?” – Artemas, Stupidhead
“Open your hand, take a glass/Don't be scared, I'm right here/Even though, you don't roll/Trust me girl, you wanna be high for this” – The Weeknd, High for This
Spot the difference?
Now here is the kicker. “Stupidhead” ironically happens to be one of my favorite tracks off this album. Especially as an ESL speaker, I grew up putting in significant effort to understand the lyrics after giving a song a few listens, often needing to look them up on the internet. Today, if I couldn’t understand English and the lyrics were gibberish to me, apart from its derivative nature I would have no qualms with this album and this song.
I’ve spent a lot of time, both in and out of the classroom, thinking about whether we can take the art out of the artist and compartmentalize different parts of an art piece to appreciate them separately (i.e., lyrics versus music.) From Wagner’s concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, where lyrics (poetry), music, staging etc. must all be considered together to form a “total work of art”, to Formalism, where the intrinsic qualities of the music (e.g., melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics) are considered first, independent of external factors like lyrics or context, different schools of thought provide differing approaches for understanding musical works. I don’t think I have an answer as to which approach is right yet, and I don’t know if I ever will – my logic tells me that the holy trinity – the artist, their output, and the components of their output cannot exist without the broader context they provide each other with. But I cannot help but also take guilty pleasure in listening to artists with questionable personae/personal lives and lyrics, Artemas ultimately being one of them.
Look, ultimately, I can’t say that this record is bad, because it is not. I’ve listened to it upwards of 15 times while writing this and enjoyed it through to the last listen, even singing and bopping along to some of the songs. But I also cannot in good confidence say that it is good. The jury’s still out on whether Artemas will evolve and stand the test of time, and there is certainly lots of potential here, but to me, the shortcomings, namely the lack of originality and the blatant misogyny, outweigh all else.
On repeat: Stupidhead
Yeah, it sounds like The Weeknd reincarnated. Yeah, the lyrics are just awful. Yeah, I know I ripped it to shreds a couple of paragraphs ago. But I hate to say it folks… it’s catchy
Definite skip: Good girl
This one is just kinda cringe
Slept on hit: I love you regardless
This song has the least number of streams on Soundcloud/Spotify at the time of me writing this, but I think it may be the most well produced and original sounding off the album. The beginning honestly sounds like Flume could have produced it
Most memorable: I like the way you kiss me
It simply needs to be this one, purely off the fact that it spent multiple weeks on Global charts and literally lived rent free in my head
Overall album score: 5.5/10
Musicality/lyricism: 4/10
Production: 8/10
Cohesion: 8/10
Cultural significance/impact: 2/10
Album release date: Jul 11, 2024
What I’m looking forward to from the class of TikTok’s viral hit makers next: Tommy Richman’s COYOTE, which is set to come out sometime in August. We’ll talk about him when that comes out.