Anthony Fantano is one of the most influential music journalists on the internet. If his more than 3 million subscribers on YouTube are not enough to prove it, the content creator behind The Needle Drop has just published an in-person interview with none other than Olivia Rodrigo.
The one who may never be in that position is Halsey. The critic rated his latest album, ‘The Great Impersonator’, with a 1 out of 10 and launched a devastating criticism of the quality of the songs and his “egocentric” lyrics, which he described as little more than adolescent tantrums and as examples of “main character syndrome.” Many fans pointed out the “insensitivity” of this comment, because ‘The Great Impersonator’ is deeply marked by the health problems that Halsey has gone through in recent years, including chemotherapy treatment to combat hematological cancer.
Now, taking advantage of the virality of the interview with Olivia Rodrigo, the singer has decided to respond with disqualifications and some reasonable argument. Halsey reduces the critic to the category of a “reaction YouTuber,” associates him with 4chan culture without evidence, and describes him as a “bully.” She also draws on personal humiliation by stating that “I’m sure that my least memorable song will be remembered more fondly than anything you’ve ever done in your life.”
The artist, above all, criticizes the use of “main character syndrome” in a review of an album that talks, to a large extent, about her illness. And she shares an interesting reflection: “Being a woman facing serious health problems often means being afraid to tell the truth about the pain you are suffering because you fear not being believed or appearing to seek attention,” she writes. According to Halsey, Fantano ended up “validating that fear in front of thousands of women.”
Although Fantano’s review of ‘The Great Impersonator’ was far from kind – and could even be said to have been quite hostile towards her artistic work – the truth is that the critic never mentions Halsey’s cancer in his analysis, not even to contextualize the album.
Because we can agree that Fantano was insensitive ignoring the context of the album. It can be argued that a 1 out of 10 is an absurd grade for an album that is far from unlistenable. It can even be noted that there is some animosity towards Halsey in the way she approaches criticism. What is more difficult to defend is that he was attacking the singer for talking about her illness.
Sticking to what Fantano actually says in his review, the most questionable thing about this entire response is the suggestion that Halsey’s illness should be enough to shield the album from criticism. Is that really the music criticism we want?
In the same way, Halsey would do well to admit that criticism does matter to her and to understand that her work does not deserve to be acclaimed by default or for the mere fact of being autobiographical. You have every right to write about your experience with the disease and to feel offended by a review you consider unfair. But, as one apt tweet points out: “You don’t look good being so reactive to criticism when you’re an artist in the public eye. It’s fucking music. The trade-off is that you make like 20 million dollars. If you don’t like it, there will surely be someone who does.
