There’s one element of Cancel Culture on which the Left and the Right can agree.
Any celebrity discussing the topic, either pro or con, is going to get clicks. Lots and lots of ’em. We saw that with Seth Rogen’s recent comments on the toxic trend, and the same is happening now with comedian Katt Williams.
The phrase “Cancel Culture” is a web site owner’s dream (and a free thinker’s nightmare).
So you’d think a viral music video dubbed “Snowflakes,” referencing Cancel Culture along with too many other hot button issues to count, would generate endless news stories.
And you’d be wrong.
Rapper Tom MacDonald’s “Snowflakes” video boasts 4.1 million views in just four days. That’s newsworthy in and of itself. It doesn’t stop there, though.
“Snowflakes” tackles Black Lives Matter, the woke generation, socialism, bigotry, trans issues and more. It’s a feat stuffing so many themes into one irresistible song. That’s MacDonald’s modus operandi. He’s also renowned for telling the woke mob off in blunt but humorous terms.
The new song, like previous MacDonald tracks, excoriates social justice platitudes. “Snowflakes” suggests the uber-tolerant crowd can be more bigoted than their opponents. “Snowflakes” builds on that philosophy, tackling Cancel Culture in a way anyone can grasp:
We’re all afraid to speak the truth. The more afraid we get, the more we hate the ones that do.”
Next, he’s assailing socialists for their simple-minded critiques:
Blaming capitalism like that’s the reason things are tough
While you tweet from an iPhone and sip on a Starbucks
Want more incendiary lyrics?
If America’s so terrible and racist
It probably isn’t safe to encourage immigration, just saying
I hear ’em preaching at a protest that hatred’s the problem
But hating straight men, white folks, and Christians is common
Ashamed to be American? Okay, that’s cool
‘Cause honestly, we are all ashamed of you too
“Snowflakes” isn’t just a YouTube sensation. The song hit the top of the iTunes charts, according to Headline Planet, one of the few news outlets to note the achievement.
The video’s most provocative element? MacDonald pokes fun at pronoun usage, a core part of the trans movement’s philosophy, while featuring a trans woman in the video. Yes, that’s Blaire White lip synching part of the “Snowflakes” song. She’s a trans woman who rejects the progressive narratives on BLM and third wave feminism.
So where’s the media coverage? The outraged headlines? The think pieces condemning MacDonald for defying the groupthink, perhaps? MacDonald has no label to call his own. He’s a self-made man upending the music world on his own terms. Again, that should be catnip to a fair reporter.
A quick Google News search for “Tom MacDonald Snowflakes” reveals a few right-leaning outlets covering the video’s success. That’s more or less it.
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Media bias operates on two distinct levels. Some reporters unfairly cover select topics, bending the truth to fit a preferred narrative. Others ignore subjects entirely if they can’t be framed in a way to disparage them.
It appears news outlets don’t know how to cover MacDonald in a way that diminishes his lyrics and growing clout. So they pretend his hit-making high jinks aren’t happening.
“Snowflakes” is far from MacDonald’s only claim to fame. The independent rapper has been dropping viral video smashes for some time now. Recently, his single “Dear Slim” became a top 5 smash on Billboard’s Rap Digital Song Sales Chart along with no. 8 on the Digital Song Sales Chart. The song’s video generated north of 8 million views since its May 14 debut.
Of course, media outlets previously covered MacDonald in the cruelest ways possible. Showbiz 411 shared this information about MacDonald.
I’m assuming there will be no radio play, even if to make fun of it. That’s how you normalize….
There’s no label involved. MacDonald just uploaded “Fake Woke” to iTunes and YouTube. But he’s managed to find 8,000 customers. That should worry everyone. MacDonald has 10 songs streaming on Spotify including one, “Everybody Hates Me,” that has 20 million streams.
The Dallas Observer dismissed MacDonald for his “Coronavirus” song, even though the rapper’s lyrics proved prescient.
“The government’s lyin’ / They’re trying to keep us calm through the sirens” and “This a pandemic, but we don’t listen to the news / Cause they lied to us for years so how we know that this the truth?”
MacDonald doesn’t need radio air play to become a sensation. He did it on his own terms, thank you. It might help to have media outlets capture his revolutionary success, but it’s clear news organizations would rather pretend he doesn’t exist.
His ballooning fan base and solopreneur mindset are doing the heavy lifting for him.
