28 Dec 2023, 00:00

French rapper @JnrSlice inspired the meme, in which people post what they're actually listening to while they try to look tough and cool.

Do you sometimes pretend to seem tough and cool while you're listening to music even though what's really playing through your ear buds is...the RENT soundtrack? Or Miley Cyrus? Or those calming rain sounds you need to listen to for an hour a day just to relax?

Yeah, me too. A new meme has emerged that pairs a picture of a man looking like he's psyching himself up for a serious confrontation with...what's actually playing in those earbuds he's wearing. And said man, the dude who started it all? Well, it's French rapper @JnrSlice.

It turns out the photo came from a French prank show called, "The Worst Intern." Many in France were beside themselves that the photo made its way across the ocean and became a huge meme in the U.S. Here are some of our favorites. 

Listen, some of us just really like to jam out to Owl City, the late 2000s band that I think only had this one popular song. What of it? 

I have to look super concentrated when I'm listening to Norah Jones in public, otherwise I'll burst into tears! Don't you have to do the same thing? Anyone with a soul knows what I'm talking about.

You laugh, but old-school Jesse McCartney is good. Deep down, I think you know that's the truth. 

Taylor Swift's brand new album folklore isn't exactly the "pump up" music that it looks like this guy's listening to, but it will heighten many of your emotions, so that's something. Especially when she has Bon Iver featured. I can tell that dude is really concentrating hard on pretending he's walking through a dewy wood.

Not going to lie, I have one hundred percent had this expression on my face while Miley Cyrus's 'Party in the U.S.A." played through my headphones. Something about that song makes me rage deep down inside.

It's just like, why did they have to break up, you know? I mean, obviously Harry Styles had to go off and do his own thing, but One Direction was a powerhouse. Any time they decide to reunite and make a comeback as a group, we'll be there to secretly listen to them in public while making sure it definitely doesn't look like we're listening to them.

Staring at the blank page before you... Sorry. I just got distracted thinking about how "Unwritten" is actually a song about having writer's block. Not to mention, once this song is in your head, it doesn't leave. This dude is probably desperately trying to enjoy the song while trying to make sure he won't be singing it in his sleep for the next week. 

Last but certainly not least, is this person me? Because HAIM is pretty much always playing in my headphones these days. All day every day. Their new album is so good, but truly their whole catalog is brilliant. It's perfect summer music; it's perfect seething music; it's perfect crying-after-a-breakup music. Truly, HAIM nails it all at once.

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