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Ring the bell: Beiber v. Carney a match made in music
By Aaron Garland
On February 20, 2013
It's a Twitter war that has kept me on the edge of my seat - a thin, gangly drummer taking on a legion
of fans of an 18-year-old pop star all by his lonesome. And the former is undoubtedly winning the cyber
tilt.
After last Sunday's Grammy Awards, a reporter from TMZ asked The Black Keys drummer, Patrick
Carney, his thoughts on the decision to exclude Justin Bieber from the awards show.
For those who do not know, The Black Keys are a rock duo that is one of the biggest musical acts in the
world. They have played at Bonnaroo multiple times, headlined Lollapalooza last year and have won
seven Grammys.
Carney responded to the question with, "I dunno, he's rich, right? GRAMMYs are for, like, music, not for
money. ... He's making a lot of money. He should be happy."
Seems like an honest answer with little harm intended. That's not how "Biebs" and his millions of
Twitter followers heard it.
A barrage of hate-tweets from Bieber's fans were aimed at Carney's account, including Bieber himself
tweeting, "the black keys drummer should be slapped around haha." The teenager and his fans
overreacted with the fabricated mindset that Bieber is an untouchable global icon, the beat of the music
industry.
All via direct tweets from "Bieber Nation" since the awards show, the Keys' drummer has received
death threats, been called a "one-hit wonder" and been accused of being gay. Talk about gullible and
delusional.
But then again, what is really expected from fans who actually think the gobs of cheesiness that are
Bieber's lyrics and songs are actually good music?
Carney's reaction to it all has been nothing short of hysterical. While many of Bieber's Twitter followers
- which numbers nearly 35 million - are enraged by the most delicate of insults, Carney has countered
with an equable demeanor. Instead of fighting fire with fire, the Akron, Ohio, native began toying with
the people who made the inappropriate and uncalled for comments.
One fervent Bieber fan tweeted to Carney, "just die. DIE." Sounds like the "slapping" went a little too
far, huh, Biebs? Not to stoop to the same immature level, Carney answered with, "I will and so will you
one day. It's kinda scary to think about isn't it?"
There are hundreds of sarcastic responses from Carney aimed at the hate spilled his way, with each
more funny than the last. My personal favorite was, when replying to an uninformed fan that said, "You
are some one hit wonder. JB has been doing it for YEARS," Carney simply said, "true."
The Black Keys were actually formed in 2001, while Bieber hit the scene in 2008. But I'm sure Bieber will
headline a major music festival like Lollapalooza one day -- after all, one hit wonders have before.
What may have caused the biggest uproar is when Carney decided to take the ordeal up one last notch
this past Sunday. He changed his Twitter avatar to a photo of Bieber and his display name to "Justin
Bieber." This sent me from soft chortles into a boisterous howl.
In came more fighting words than I could have ever imagined this escalating to. Through subtle jabs on
Twitter, Carney exposed a whole fan base.
The comical part of it all is that smaller deals have been made out of much bigger issues. When the over-
passionate fans went into fury over a truthful and largely innocent comment, they showed the world
how vulnerable they are, as well as their beloved Bieber is.
I wonder how outlandish and immature fans of say, Jay-Z, would have acted in a parallel situation. It's a
safe assumption to say they wouldn't have acted like clowns.
Some may think a few of Carney's retaliatory tactics came off just as juvenile as the initial coarse attacks.
But as a fan of respectable music - and thus, The Black Keys - I enjoyed the feud Carney chose to take
part in.
He brought comedic relief to an issue that was blown out of proportion by the wrong people. And he
exposed a cult following that seems to believe Biebs deserves some sort of entitlement and respect
from the music world. Spare me.
Carney said it himself - the Grammys celebrate music. Well then, I guess it is he and his pal and band
mate Dan Auerbach that have more respect, as they won three awards to Bieber's goose egg last
Sunday.
If the past week-and-a-half has proven anything, it's that whenever The Black Keys are put up against
Bieber nation, Carney will always have the last laugh. Long live The Keys.
Aaron Garland can be reached by email at garland.record@live.com and on Twitter @AA_Garland.
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