real chicken or the egg scenario

People who loudly proclaim that the (niche) music they listen to is better than other (popular) music because reason this or that. Think they themselves are better than you because of that reason as well

It’s an example of fans being pretentious

Dumb niggas always have some s*** to say

You people don’t know what pretentious means

He’s right

Damn on page one too, this @op

They were my favorite out of NYC during the blog era

do me a favor. focus less on this idea that it’s describing something objective and more what it’s actually describing, which is behavior with an intent.

i made this, and i don’t actually know that much about it, and possibly didn’t even put that much effort into it. the reason i created this was to impress you or show that im better than you even if im not. that’s pretension. this is not debatable. words have meanings. this word has this specific meaning. meanings are static and can change over time, but this is the overall accepted meaning and it has been for a long time. if you have your own definition you can come up with that and try to popularize it and hope it gets in the dictionary, but for the moment this is what the word means. and in fact you are actually bending the definition to suit whatever it is you're trying to actually say because you're going against what the actual definition says. we need words to have at least semi unchanging definitions so we can actually communicate. reeeeeaaally not trying to be mean here, but at this point im trying to explain to you that water is wet.

of course i have a burden of proof, and i meet it with the song. that was my point. i looked directly at the text, listened to the song, and evaluated it.

the lyrics don’t try to obscure meaning through complex language or inaccessible metaphors, they aren't explicitly trying to come off as better than any one person or express superiority and he wasn’t even talking about anything that required specialized knowledge that he necessarily wouldn’t have (and even if it did, this is poetry we're talking about so... poetic license ig?), or like he was exaggerating what he knew in a way that seemed unreasonable. he just asks direct, straightforward questions about truth and the nature of choice, shares some wisdom, riffs on some hopeful and despairing thoughts, clearly and self evidently being vulnerable and earnest in its emotionality, from the way it's delivered and sung to the actual lyrics. everything about these lyrics scream unpretentious. so yeah, the text quite literally supports my interpretation, it doesn’t support yours, unless there is something specific you would like to bring up that you feel like does.

and no, i don't want to "only describe art objectively" but some things in art can actually be described objectively, and words have objective meanings that we all at least for a period of time generally agree on. that’s the idea behind the word pretension. it’s evidence based. once again, pretentiousness, by definition, involves intent. it’s not just about what someone says or does, but why they’re doing it. true pretension means projecting knowledge or sophistication to impress others or seem superior, rather than out of genuine interest or skill. without evidence of that intent, labeling someone as “pretentious” is baseless speculation. in this context, pretension isn’t subjective at all because it’s about intent—specifically, the intent to impress or appear superior without genuine depth or interest. calling the song pretentious would mean assuming he wrote it to look profound rather than to genuinely express his thoughts. without evidence of that intent, labeling the song as pretentious is an objective claim about his motivations, not just a subjective reaction to the song itself. this distinction matters because pretension implies a conscious attempt to posture, which goes beyond subjective interpretation and requires insight into the artist’s purpose.

it's like saying you don't like this versus this is bad. one is purely an opinion, and the second, at least in a perfect world, requires evidence to qualify, because the implication is that something is fundamentally wrong with it beyond it not being to your taste, such as a video game literally being unplayable or having broken mechanics.

art itself can’t actually carry intent—only the artist can. the artist imbues it with that, if anything. when you call a piece of art pretentious, you’re actually making an assumption about the artist’s motives. unless you know the artist was creating it just to appear sophisticated or to look down on others, calling the art itself pretentious isn’t accurate; it’s a projection. if someone is genuinely expressing themselves, that’s not pretension, even if the art feels complex, highbrow, or like it's trying to come across as superior to you. when you use “pretentious” subjectively, you're basically saying “i don’t like or understand this, so the artist must be faking it.” it’s a personal interpretation turned into a character judgment without basis, which is why pretentious should be used only when there’s actual evidence of insincerity, because that's what it's for. calling someone pretentious without knowing their intent is like accusing a person of being “flashy” for driving a nice car, without knowing why they chose it. if they bought the car because they love its design or performance, then it’s not about showing off—it’s about genuine appreciation. in the same way, if someone shares philosophical ideas or creates thought-provoking art out of real curiosity or passion, it’s not pretension; it’s sincerity. labeling it as pretentious assumes they’re posturing rather than being authentic, which obviously dismisses the genuine intent behind their choices, which you don't know. you can be a schizo and speculate that prince's entire career is an exercise in trying to come across as superior to everyone instead of a genuine expression of his very obvious prodigious skill and talent all you want, which is what you're doing with this song. but there's no evidence for that, whereas there is overwhelming evidence that prince was a highly sincere and skilled artist, from this song let alone his entire career.

so yeah, calling someone pretentious without knowing their true motives doesn’t hold up bc it’s based on an assumption that what they're doing is performative rather than genuine. really don't know how much more i can explain this. you can ignore that if you want, but you're still wrong. you can use whatever words you want, that doesn't mean they were used correctly. lol

im fr gonna leave it here though because this convo ain’t really going anywhere atp and i got things to do all the best to you tho

seethe and cope you f***ing loser

It’s an example of fans being pretentious. Do not reply to me again

no it isn't at all you f***ing idiot lmfao

but im not about to explain to another dude the definition of a word you can just take 6 seconds to look up

The most pretentious user on this site in a discussion about what’s pretentious and what isn’t. Shut the f*** up dumb b****

It’s always the Prince avis

the entirety of music journalism

your tiktok brain brainrotted ass literally posted a video of either some fans just innocently speculating about random s*** or actual f***ing bait and you fell for it like a total stooge. i f***ing pity you lmfao

nigga got a pharrell avi like that's any better. you give big P fans a bad name. imagine roasting yourself like this like there’s anything wrong with having great musicians in your avi. find god

Yeah yeah shut up loser ass f***. You have nothing where your brain should be. You’re an idiot and the most pretentious person on here

Cry more

verbal brainrot from a dude who refuses to read a dictionary definition

yeah you're not worth the effort lmfao. blocked

Use more words that you discovered on Twitter five days ago. Do not reply to me again

Flatbush Zombies, Underachievers, and Pro Era

Beast coast was my s*** back in the day. Named my 2k myteam Flatbush Zombies