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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at CWU chapter.

A new band has taken over Tik Tok and people have a lot to say about it. The trio goes by The Tramp Stamps, and their most-known song “ I’d Rather Die” has some questionable lyrics, to say the least. It’s also important to note that many people are suspecting that they are pop culture’s newest industry plants.

TikTok app on phone
Photo by Cottonbro from Pexels
Most of us were introduced to The Tramp Stamps from hearing their song “ I’d Rather Die” play endlessly in the back of multiple Tik Toks. Notably, Tik Tok doesn’t allow videos over a minute and a lot of people didn’t hear the full lyrics to the song. The song speaks on topics such as non-consensual sex and how they would quite literally rather die than hook up with another straight white guy. It’s unacceptable that this “riot girl” pop-punk band would ever promote sexual assault, and that they thought this would go unnoticed to the public. Once this was discovered, people decided to dive deeper into the band and the findings were… exhausting. 

Being that this band is built off of mediocrity and hypocrisy, you would think that they would have done a better job at hiding that, but they didn’t. Recently, advocates for the LGBTQ+ community have spoken out about the band’s queer-bating antics. Their backstory on how they met and formed as a group has changed multiple times. Why does that matter? Well, what’s there to lie about? There’s a lot of evidence that supports the industry plant theory as well. The band was created in November 2020, and they already have a professional site, merch, a “hit single”, along with a professional Instagram. That does raise eyebrows and for the right reasons. 

Industry plants unfairly take an opportunity away from someone who’s trying to get their work out there for people to stream and hear. The only thing that can be done at this point is for the Tramp Stamps to take accountability by taking down “I’d Rather Die”, and for people to continue listening to underground artists. If you do decide to support them, please don’t support a song that encourages sexual assault. 

Professional and Creative Writing Major. IG: zaireeltayeb