Playlist: Let Me Be Toxic

A playlist by Daphne Bryant.

Image courtesy of Daphne Bryant.

I think if we were all asked to name at least one “toxic” artist or song, we could conjure up a few. For example, some of our minds might automatically go to The 1975, whose frontman Matty Healy is consistently under fire for making inappropriate and highly controversial comments. Or we might think of the song by Lana Del Rey, “Fucked My Way Up To The Top,” which details a woman providing sexual favors for rich and powerful men in the pursuit of stardom and success. The line between whether an artist or song is truly toxic is often blurred, with many artists’ personas being part of their brand (think of Doja Cat’s most recent marketing) and many tracks being entirely fictional (with the artist having room to explore more taboo topics as it is art). 

Many people claim they won’t listen to toxic music because they don’t want to support negative images, messages or artists. This playlist is not for those people. This is for everyone who does like to indulge in the toxicity of the music industry, and who wants to escape as they listen to the music of their favorite notorious artist or scream out the lyrics to an angry pop-punk song.