A LDN Vibe Expressed in Cartoon Form

This cartoon that I stumbled upon while surfing the ‘net made me think: Why is a lack of emotion sometimes deemed COOL??

I may have opened a can of worms with this vibe felt, but once I noticed it, I can’t stop seeing evidence! The word ‘cool’ itself is associated with chillness/nonchalantness, but why is this the standard for cutting-edge swagger? It may be rooted in snobbishness, radiating sentiments that one is constantly unimpressed with the mundane world around them, but just typing that seems lame. Who are the gatekeepers of cool in 2016 London (as well as the world) spreading this vibe?

EXHIBIT A: FASHUN

Taken from a Selfridges campaign, this Rick Owens ensemble looks like something a couple would wear to a funeral in some cold, dark dystopian future universe. Nevertheless, dudes like A$AP Rocky love rocking this STREET GOTH flow, and thus Londoners pick it up.

EXHIBIT 2: MUZIK

Ever since hitting the scene with lo-fi VCR-filmed music videos accompanying tracks from his Unknown Death 2002 mixtape, Swedish teen rapper Young Lean and his SAD BOYS crew have risen to cultural prominence. In 2013, Fact even published an article titled “Rise of the Sad Boys: from Kompakt to Yung Lean, a history of how electronic musicians have worn their sadness on their sleeves”, which claimed that “[Yung Lean]’s mixtape Unknown Death 2002 is the epitome of sad rap”.

SEMI-CONCLUSIONS

This vibe is immensely dense and hard to fully understand. I doubt any many in the history of this beautiful country has ever fully fathomed it. This being said, I do believe the urban-cool vibe is a bit elitist and looks down upon others who won’t conform to their mold. Certain fashion and music trends even perpetuate this.

But #SadStyle isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it’s genuine. I love tons of music deemed emotional or dark or sad such as Radiohead or James Blake. It can be a refuge as one occasionally seemingly gets swallowed by the madness of this wild world!

Happiness shouldn’t be stomped out in London but sadness shouldn’t be ridiculed– HUMANS ARE EMOTIONAL CREATURES!