The Fastest Career Arc in Show Business

There’s a Simpsons episode where Bart becomes a local celebrity because he said "I didn’t do it" on camera at exactly the right moment. The crowd goes wild. He’s on talk shows. Then, about forty-eight hours later, everyone’s sick of him and he’s back to being nobody. I think about that episode every time I see Mason Ramsey.

Ramsey is the kid who went viral yodeling a Hank Williams song in a Walmart, got immediately scooped up and dragged through every American talk show by his parents, and became the internet’s favorite wholesome novelty act for exactly as long as the internet allows anything to stay wholesome. Then Whethan—the producer behind tracks like "Be Like You," "High," and "Good Nights"—caught wind of an online joke comparing the two of them and apparently decided, sure, why not, and invited the little Christian cowboy to perform at Coachella. Just like that. This is how culture works now.

Whether the half-drunk festival crowd loved it or hated it, you genuinely can’t tell from the footage. Probably both simultaneously, which is sort of the point. I’m not trying to be cynical about the kid—none of this is really his fault. But the whole arc is already written. The album, the multi-part film, the behind-the-music special about the downfall, the comeback tour in 2058. You could set your watch by it.