This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s senior fall editorial intern Dalal Daher. Find her on Instagram at @dalalllldaher. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
The idea of nepo babies, or celebrities who owe their success largely to their family’s pre-existing fame and wealth, is one of our recent cultural long-standing fascinations. When you think of a “nepo baby,” your mind probably jumps to celebrities whose connections to their famous relatives are well known and publicized: think Hailey Bieber, Lily-Rose Depp, and even two of pop’s most successful stars this year, Sabrina Carpenter and Gracie Abrams. Maybe your mind jumps to that infamous Vulture cover from 2022 that eerily yet unforgettably Photoshopped Hollywood A-listers’ faces onto images of babies.
Nepo babies have been the subject of intense discussion, often facing heat for their ‘easy way into’ the competitive entertainment industry, with this ongoing debate being reignited the moment a trending piece of media is revealed to have a Hollywood legacy in their cast. While the polarizing presence of nepo babies in the industry, who themselves argue against the power their status has given them, is well known, there’s one facet of the entertainment industry that remains peppered with nepo babies, yet rarely in the center of the debate: the indie music industry.
Sorry, Clairo fans…
While nepo babies abound in the acting sphere, and the pop music space, their success in the grassroots indie scene is perhaps the most ironic, and also the most overlooked in the mainstream space. Perhaps Willow Smith, whose genre-bending, melodic indie tracks such as “Wait a Minute!” have earned her tons of streams under artist moniker WILLOW, is one of the most well-known indie artists with famous parents. But WILLOW’s just the tip of the iceberg. Crooning indie singer-songwriter Clairo, whose albums “Immunity” (2019) and “Sling” (2021) rocketed her from lo-fi hit to more mainstream success, has a father who was the CEO for corporations such as Starbucks and Coca-Cola. King Princess, a pop and indie-pop artist, is controversially the great-granddaughter of the co-owner of Macy’s.
Even Julian Casablancas, the frontman of popular indie rock band The Strokes, met his bandmates in boarding school, with his father having founded a modeling management agency. Perhaps the most notable, if not entirely confirmed indie nepo baby turned pop sensation is Billie Eilish. Her parents’ careers in voice acting and screenwriting and possible nepo baby status are quite ironic when compared to her truly indie discovery story and shock overnight fame after uploading the song “Ocean Eyes” on SoundCloud, a hub for underground musicians.
So why does it matter if there are nepo babies in the indie genre? Hollywood nepotism is often mostly about getting an in to opportunities that the average artist cannot- such as a casting, a starring role, a record deal- and does not influence the quality of what these artists produce. Just because I love her albums doesn’t mean Clairo isn’t a nepo baby. The dissonance of nepo babies in the indie music scene is not due to their talent, but how counterintuitive it feels to the ethos of the genre.
Indie Integrity
In a world where globalization and streaming mean mainstream music reaches billions of streams and ears, indie music fights to remain a more underground space. Indie music is band members meeting by chance in a local dive bar, making artistic choices even if they’re unpopular, DIY production. It’s a genre that inherently opposes the mainstream, a self-expression feedback loop that creates a community to outsiders. Indie art may intersect popular success, but as a result of individual aesthetic, not out of a pressure to conform to traditional culture. Many indie artists choose to forgo record labels, like Chance the Rapper, in favor of connecting with their audience through digital streaming organically.
The inherent idea of a grassroots subculture bending to mainstream nepotism feels… wrong. Out of all the genres, it’s quite depressing to realize the extent of Hollywood connections even in the indie space. This is not to say that indie artists who happen to be nepo babies shouldn’t be in the genre– their origins don’t diminish their talent at all. It just feels that in our increasingly digitized world that empowers social media influencers and celebrities to gain more real estate in our pop culture, the one industry that subverted mainstream norms is in danger of losing its integrity.
When in doubt, don’t look into their Wikipedia…
To many social media users, this feeling of betrayal is definitely felt upon discovering the true origins of one’s favorite indie artist. TikTok users have posted videos lamenting the inevitable realization that their new underground music find, whose album they just saved to their Spotify, has a rich background. The death knell is all if these parents’ names are blue on the artist’s Wikipedia page, meaning they’re hyperlinked to their own standalone page with their industry accomplishments. While no one is disputing the talent of these artists, the idea that their success is owed to their families’ mainstream success in the industry leaves a sense of disappointment in some indie fans, especially as their presence means the window of opportunity for more grassroots musicians becomes even slimmer.
The ongoing debate over nepo babies is how much their families’ fame influences their success. Where do we delineate what makes a nepo baby- is it a term only relegated to Hollywood legacies, or the children of extremely successful entrepreneurs? And does their parentage truly impact their ability to succeed beyond that crucial first step in the entertainment door? It’s hard to say, especially in such a musically wide-ranging genre such as indie, where the success of a lo-fi, pop, or rock artist is also hinged on countless other factors.
There are still countless stories of artists who make it big from scratch, except instead of just playing local clubs and venues, they’re connecting with their audience thanks to the power of social media, playing trends and algorithms in their favor. In a way, the ability for a creator to reach overnight viral success has become the new version of ‘making it’ as an indie artist, allowing them to amass a platform and fans organically. Perhaps now the lingering question of indie music is no longer just how to make it in the genre and how to manage the staggering power of mainstream entertainment, but also what role to occupy in a space being redefined by celebrity influence and digital culture.
What do you think about the Billie Eilish and Clairo nepo baby allegations? What other nepo babies have you discovered? Let us know in the comments!
Leave a Reply