The Hellp found themselves in a little trouble the other day. The music critic Kieran Press-Reynolds wrote a short post for underground rap blog No Bells about the electroclash duo’s recent Halloween DJ set. It was paid for by Praxis, the Peter Thiel-funded company that seeks to build an independent network state — a kind of crypto-powered utopia free from traditional economic jurisdictions — in Uruguay.
On some level, this is old news, given that The Hellp performed at Praxis events in 2023 when the company’s footprint was all over downtown New York. It’s when they were throwing parties where e-girls and crypto bros mingled and discussed the kind of right-wing ideas that became synonymous with the Dimes Square phenomenon that captured the attention of the media class. Though they’ve tried to distance themselves from the “indie sleaze” label they’ve come to be associated with, their leather jackets and greasy haircuts have tied them to the scene, with all the political baggage that comes with being the soundtrack for downtown edgelords.
Regardless, Noah Dillon and Chandler Ransom Lucy of The Hellp replied to the post, claiming they were unaware that the party they were DJing was funded by Praxis, and they swiftly disavowed the company and founder Dryden Brown’s beliefs. A lot of this is pretty inconsequential for anyone who isn’t terminally online, but I think their swiftness and clear stance are indicative of the end of a particular era in time.
In 2022, The Cut published an essay on “the vibe shift,” signaling an exhaustion with cancel culture and the liberal do-gooder mentality of the 2010s, attitudes that were embodied in the writing and ideas emerging from downtown New York during that time. Years later, that nonchalance and transgressiveness feels incredibly dated in a city that rallied to elect a socialist mayor last year, and a country that just rallied against Trump, electing a cadre of senators and representatives to swing Congress back into the hands of the Democratic Party.
Suddenly, we’re in the throes of Woke 3.0. Caring is cool, and associating yourself with the right makes you a relic, not a sign of the times. In light of these recent midterms, I pray I don’t have to read another think piece about young right-wingers who party in New York’s Chinatown ever again.
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