sematary, the haunted mound, and parasocial relationships (redux)

    In my last post, I briefly mentioned wanting to write about Sematary, who is an artist which simultaneously needs no introduction if you know who he is, and an at minimum 45 minute video essay if you don't. To put it simply, he is an artist, rapper, producer, and niche internet micro celebrity whose manufactured rap group, the Haunted Mound, is the successor to such legacies as Yung Lean's Sad Boys and Lil Peep's GothBoiClique. I would include Drain Gang in this, but I see a lot of overlap between their fanbases, and observe Drain Gang's rise separately from Yung Lean as a current event, not a past tyranny to be replaced. I describe his rap group as manufactured because none of the artists (Hackle, Buckshot, and Turnabout) successfully made music before joining the Haunted Mound. Sematary scouted them as friends, visual artists, and fans(?), and literally turned them into rappers. This approach, in stark contrast to the more organic collection of artists seen in previous underground white people rap groups, places Sematary as the default leader and essentially boss of his own group. He's their employer, he's the one in charge, like, whereas Lil Peep may have made other members of GothBoiClique more famous, he was not Lil Tracy's employer. Additionally, Sematary is making these people famous, fast. It may not be FAMOUS famous, but the thing is, Sematary has accumulated a cult fanbase, something essential for following in the footsteps of the previously mentioned boy bands, and this fanbase is legitimately rabid. The problem is, his fans have all developed crippling parasocial relationships with the character of Sematary, the idea of this tall, skinwalker-esque serial killer who lives in a house aptly named the Butcher House, chain smoking cigarettes and killing bitches. Parasocial relationships are the most interesting thing to me, and I want to explore the specific ones that Sematary's fans have developed with his identity. 

I. Why do Sematary's fans form such attachments to him?

    Sematary gained notoriety during the pandemic, on platforms like Tumblr, Tik Tok, Instagram, etc. His fanbase is young, a similar demographic to Drain Gang's, and a similar age range to Sematary himself. They are also either already part of an alternative subgroup or searching for an identity, which draws them to Sematary specifically. His brand is clear and distinct, the clothes he wears are accessible and interesting to young people, and his music is violent and edgy, that shit that the kids love. The reason for all of this is, like I said, he's young himself, early 20s. Many of his peers grew up listening to his same influences, and may see themselves in him. He is easy to project onto, not using his real name online, and appearing only in character. He reminds me a lot of Yung Lean in this way, although the character of Sematary is likely much different than who Sematary really is (he's very nice, side tangent but I went to his first ever show in LA and I took a picture w him... I was too nervous to ask so my bf asked for me LOL! he was very polite, so was Hackle :) anyway, back to my analysis) and while I'm not saying Sematary gets home and peels his trues off and puts on VLone, I'm saying that he is (probably) not a skinwalking, serial killing necromancer. It's more of a metaphor, kind of, which is why it's easy to project onto, like I said. An angry sad little teenager might hear the music and be like, yeah, I'm a real nazgul keeper of the trees, too! and begin to identify with Sematary heavily, copying his style and following him religiously. This is literally what happened to me, although with one of Sematary's goons, a dumbass little Irish rapper, Buckshot. I like, heard Keepe Out and I was like, oh my God, I'm in my room and can't get out, too! and now that song is my most listened to song of all time on Spotify. So. Anyway. 

II. Disillusionment with the artist

    Here's where the nightmare starts, as if it wasn't scary enough. So, pov, you're an 18 year old Sematary fan, you've got your trues on, your affliction shirt, your bb belt, your new rocks, you've started growing your hair out, you're arguing with your mom about your newfound love for Marlboro reds. You pride yourself on discovering Sematary before Tik Tok did, you may or may not lurk the subreddit, you complain about getting no bitches even though you hate women. You feel like you know Sematary, like he's just like you. So then, he starts to gain more followers, he adds new members to his rap group, he starts posting less and less. You feel your parasocial relationship being starved, you don't feel like you know him anymore, like he's just a sell out, there's no soul left in his artistry. Then, he's hanging out with Lil Tracy, he's signing to a label, he's playing sold out shows, he's going on a world tour, and now you're not a member of a niche community, you're just another fan amongst the unwashed masses of angry, sweaty teenagers. Do you begin to hate Sematary? Do you listen to the music and feel nothing, like he doesn't get it anymore? Like he's growing a huge ego based on his success and leaving his fans behind? If you answered yes to any of these questions, listen closely- it's not real. None of its real, he's not a real person, he never got you in the first place, you are NOT Sematary, and YOU ARE NOT FRIENDS WITH SEMATARY. Now, break character. Wasn't that cathartic? Don't you feel better? I definitely do.

Right, so, disillusionment with the artist based on their success. I hear a lot about influencers and artists "losing their relatability", but the truth is, influencers and artists DO NOT OWE YOU RELATABILITY. This may be difficult for today's youth to understand, as social media's alleged democracy claims that anyone can be famous, so these influencers MUST be just like me, MUST show that they are still a real human being. This is such a fallacy that I can't believe that the braindead fucking consumers on social media still believe it. In this landscape of social media, when someone gains attention, fans, notoriety, etc, they take on a new role that places them above the masses- they get to set trends, they get to be a character, they get to be a brand, something that an average consumer IS NOT. Although they gain this curse/privilege, that does not mean they have to be a role model or maintain their "relatability". They can choose to do that, and by god, there is money to be made there, but when a celebrity "loses relatability", the truth is that they may just want to wield their platform differently. This is like, if King Arthur decided to still be Kay's squire after pulling the sword from the fucking stone. Like, fuck your roots and remembering where you came from, you're famous now. Be famous. Authenticity does not exist on social media, and if you think it does, you're a fool. 

III. There is hope!

    Right, okay, so what am I fucking talking about. Is the solution to send the entire Haunted Mound subreddit to an intensive rehab? Maybe, but I think the best course of action is, AS ALWAYS, to be more media literate, and understand the attachments formed when you become a fan of someone. I think it's always very important to read the terms and conditions of the human experience, to never take anything at face value, especially when it comes to being a fan. Fan etiquette is severely underdiscussed, and I think that puts artists and their fans at an extreme disadvantage. Here's the basics, if you're not familiar- 1. be respectful of their boundaries (don't make a fancam of their mom) 2. be supportive (give them all your money) 3. be understanding of them as an artist (get to know who they want to be known as). Right, so. Let's bring this back to Sematary. Unfortunately, there is no forseeable hope, at least in the short term. I think that, although he has the wisdom of white rappers past, the tale of crippling social media fueled parasocial relationships will be a cautionary tale for future white rappers. He could have gotten it right, I think, but there are too many factors that needed to go right in order for him to walk the thin middle road between Modern God and Just Some Guy that I think it would have been impossible for him to avoid this. 

Well. That's that, I mean, if you were paying attention, you'll notice that I, too, have a parasocial relationship with Sematary, which is why I thought I could write this in the first place. I'm working on it, I swear, and you might be like, ugh, this is weird, but I'm not fucking wrong, so like. If you want to argue with me, DM me on Instagram @fiveholywounds and we can yell at each other or something.