Depressed superstars embody modernity’s digital pathologies from within it.

Evidence

If Drake and Kanye West expose the sadness and madness deep within the cyber-pleasuredome — the sound of depressed superstars as hypercommodities — then eMMplekz observe the malaises and pathologies of capitalist cyberspace from outside the digital matrix. Instead of the seamlessslick, depthless pixellation to which always-on digitality has habituated us, Ekoplekz’s analog electronics seethe and hiss, gathering and dispersing like a steam and mist. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1341

Categorization

• XREF: Drake and Kanye as ‘depressed superstars as hypercommodities’ connects to Fisher’s own broader capitalist-realism thesis about celebrity depression fitting smoothly into commerce. — connects to: Depression is a despecialization that ruptures the social bond — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 20; A total collapse of everyday meaning echoes depression and neurological disorders — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 238
• SEED: The contrast between inside-the-matrix sad superstar pop and outside-the-matrix analog noise reads as an essay angle on authenticity and format in critique.

Broader Connections

• Depression is a despecialization that ruptures the social bond #complicates (0.75) — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 20
• A total collapse of everyday meaning echoes depression and neurological disorders #expands (0.75) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 238