Halsey’s newest album The Great Impersonator was released on Oct. 24 and received mostly good reviews, although some popular critics have ripped it to shreds. The Great Impersonator dives into topics such as her morals and fear of death as Halsey was diagnosed and fought both lupus and leukemia prior to the writing of the album. The rollout of the album was super unique, as Halsey posted herself impersonating other artists who had inspired the album – hence, The Great Impersonator. Although Halsey is established as a well known singer with hits such as “Bad At Love” and her major feature on “Closer” by The Chainsmokers, Halsey is not given the props she deserves.
The Great Impersonator features 19 tracks, all inspired by other iconic and impactful artists.Dolly Parton inspired the country-esc track 9, entitled “Hometown.”Brittany Spears’ “Lucky” is sampled in track 16, also titled “Lucky.” Halsey even impersonates herself from her 2015 album, Badlands, which inspired the track “Hurt Feelings.” In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Halsey states “As I get older, I love to write about myself, but I find it boring to talk about myself.” The singer says “So these reinventions give me these little means of escapism—not in the sense of running away, but just telling the story in a different way.”Â
The album’s main theme surrounds Halsey’s recent health scares. Track six, titled “The End”, surrounds the fear of potentially dying and leaving life behind. Such an intense album theme leaves listeners confused when the piece of work receives brutal reviews. The notoriously harsh music reviewer, Anthony Fantano, known as “Theneedledrop” online gave the album a score of 1/10, stating the album was an example of “main character syndrome.” Fans were quick to call out the statement’s ignorance, but other reviews include similar sentiments. Pitchfork gave the album a low score of 4.8 out of 10, and wrote that the album is unrelatable. Â
Although these reviews may have some merit – they are opinions after all– the harsh criticisms could have more to do with Halsey’s status as a meme than her musical talent. The “Mallsey” meme went viral after a video of a 20 year old Halsey singing a Blink 182 song in her classic “cursive singing” voice to fans in a mall was posted online. The Mallsey meme created space for publications to ridicule Halsey’s voice and stage presence. “Cursive singing” is the dubbed phrase for when “a vocalist adds extra vowel sounds to syllables, creating what are known as diphthongs, and leaves out consonants at the ends of some words,” according to The Guardian. Cursive singing has also become a meme itself, going viral on TikTok in the last few years. When artists become a meme, whether intentionally or not, it usually halts success as said artists aren’t taken seriously– they are a joke. A recent example of this phenomenon is Jojo Siwa in her attempts to become mainstream. She has done nothing but feed into online jokes and memes, and it isn’t doing her any good. Halsey has not leaned into her meme, but still is not given her flowers when they are so deserved.Â
Despite the criticism, Halsey has a loyal fanbase who have been with her since the Badlands era and she has shared plans to take The Great Impersonator on tour. She is also now happily engaged to Avan Jogia, known as Beck from Victorious, after her very public breakup with rapper G-Eazy among other failed public relationships. The Great Impersonator is a raw and real account of Halsey’s medical traumas and life experiences as well as anthems about love and angst. Although it may not be relatable for everyone, The Great Impersonator should be appreciated for what it is and its success should not be shadowed by Mallsey.