Disclaimer: Yes, this isn’t about advertising. It’s about culture which is a dotted-line to advertising, hopefully making this post relevant to the cause.

Intro.

The term is ubiquitous. It’s a compliment, an insult, a badge of honor or a shameful recognition of self. And why shouldn’t it be. Just about every 12-20-30-something, cosmopolitanly-inclined person is one, whether they like it or not. Silly, hipsters.

So, with hipster now solidly in the vernacular and just about everyone either claiming club membership or vehemently denying their unavoidable affiliation, what does it mean to be one and what’s really hip? I don’t know, but what I’ll argue is that there’s more to this than rockin’ plaid and vintage boots while you listen to the latest in progressive indie-rock or American roots tunes. The term, with it's overuse, is meaningless in describing true hipsters, as I see them at least.

For context, we could look back at where this (new hipsters, not 1940’s hipsters) all started. But it’s a pointless and fruitless exercise. Whether it was Williamsburg or Silver Lake or Omaha really doesn’t matter. People move, trends move and we can do it all firmly planted behind our computer. Still, looking back, one thing that's clear is the preliminary social commentary and core values (if there were any) are now too watered down to matter. “Hipster” is an Urban Outfitted, mass-produced movement that (like anything which reaches this type of momentum) means nothing. If there was a point to it all, this blog-sesh wouldn’t be happening.
 

Now I’ll do some debunking and start to seed my position that the real hipsters are the chefs not the drinkers of this cultural soup.

You’re not a hipster just because you dress “cool” or ironic or like someone from the 70’s, 20’s or pre-colonized North America. We live in a post-modern world where everything is recycled, redone, rehashed and reinterpreted for open appropriation. Finding your look somewhere between steampunk and gutterpunk is awesome, but the clothes don’t make the man. You’ve got to be more than a facade.
 

And who doesn’t like the new Bill Callahan and Animal Collective albums? Or really most of the stuff Pitchfork recommends? Their music editors are discerning in their selects and ruthless in their criticism. If Pitchfork says it’s good, it most likely is. You can accept the spoonfeeding of tasty sonic bites and then sing the praises of their greatness, but where is your unique contribution?

See, in my mind, the real hipsters are hard-working challengers. They’re cynics and contrarians and revolutionaries. Right now they’re looking at our society, realizing “hipster” is nothing more than one striving for the prototypical “cool.” Our heroes here are perpetual outliers, always pushing forward into what’s next. They’re hip because they have perspective, taste, creativity and relevance. And they leverage their position as influencers to push culture forward and boink the status-quo straight rotten.
 

Outro.

Self-congratulation: For the argument and cultural-face I’ve laid out in this blog, I’m taking the title of hipster, just for today, putting it on a badge and wearing it proudly.

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