If you were in your teens in the early-to-mid 2000s, I’m sure you’ve heard of the Pain Olympics. It was a wild AF viral trend where people hurt the beejeebus out of themselves to gain internet fame. There was one where a guy legit castrated himself. Just thinking about it all makes my private bits ache with pain. Keep in mind that this was before most sites, including YouTube, were regulated as much and social media was in its infancy. So, between this and “2 Girls 1 Cup,” the internet was ablaze with a lot of sheer what-the-f*ckery.

I say that to say virality has always been a sickness on the internet and we’ve all been infected by it in one way or another. Peru-born Hirow compares these painful videos to that chase for virality on his latest track. I have to agree with him. Going viral may not require (as much) sick sh*t anymore. However, it still feels like (mostly) everyone’s chasing the dream of getting rich and famous off a TikTok or a Reel or what have you. It’s wild, when you really think about it. People live and die by the number of likes and views they get. We truly live in a Black Mirror-like society in all honesty. No, not all social media is bad. But the drug that going viral can be? That’s a different story.

Check out the dark song below and support dope music in all its forms.