"Oh they're still mad about that tweet"- Fans react as Pitchfork gives Halsey's 'The Great Impersonator' album a 4.8/10

On October 29, online music magazine Pitchfork gave singer-songwriter Halsey’s newest album, The Great Impersonator a rating of 4.8 out of 10, which stirred up an online debate.

“With a muddled concept at its core, Halsey’s fifth album languishes in dull pop-rock corridors behind emotionally potent but unremarkable songwriting,” the review article written by Shaad D’Souza was captioned.

However, the below-average rating by Pitchfork has now left fans of the artist unimpressed. For instance, X user @aidan7501 commented on Pop Base’s post on the same by writing:

“Oh, they’re still mad about that tweet.”

The tweet in question is the one made by Halsey in January 2020 which read,

“Can the basement that they run p*tchfork out of just collapse already.”

It was a jestful take by the artist after Pitchfork rated her the-then album Manic 6.5 out of 10 and described it as

“chameleonic pop I’ve come to associate with sitting miserable in the backseat of a Lyft.”

Several others joined the conversation and shared similar reactions to Pitchfork’s latest review of the album, The Great Impersonator, sharing screenshots of her 2020 viral tweet.

“Pitchfork is still salty about this FACTUAL tweet clearly cause that album was AMAZING,” a person wrote.

“They still bitter about this,” one person wrote.

“SHE WAS SO RIGHT WHEN SHE SAID THIS,” wrote another.

Others opined that Pitchfork shouldn’t be taken seriously when it came to reviews.

“Oh, Pitchfork, not a single soul takes you seriously,” a netizen wrote.

“I would take this rating with a grain of salt,” one netizen wrote.

“Are we taking them seriously? The album is great,” wrote another.

“That's pretty low. I thought it would at least be a 5.3,” an individual wrote.

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Exploring Halsey's 2020 tweet in connection to Pitchfork

Halsey’s 2020 tweet which jokingly sought the "collapse" of the basement housing of Pitchfork's office, earned her criticism at the time. This was because the music website's headquarters were located in One World Trade Center, the site of the original World Trade Center which collapsed during the 9/11 terror attacks and was later rebuilt.

At the time, the New Jersey native issued an apology after NBC reporter Ben Kesslen commented on her now-deleted post by pointing out,

”Losing my mind thinking about the person on Halsey’s team who had to tell her she just called for the collapse of One World Trade.”

Halsey responded by writing, “ABSOLUTELY deleted it upon realising this,” reposted Kesslen’s comment, and further added,

“Was just trying to make a joke! Intended zero harm. Just figured I could poke at them [Pitchfork] back with the same aloof passive aggression they poke at artists with! Clearly a misunderstanding.”

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In brief, exploring Halsey’s latest album, The Great Impersonator

Halsey dropped her fifth studio album The Great Impersonator on October 25, 2024, under the label of Columbia Records. The album contains 18 tracks followed by four exclusive bonus tracks. A few of its tracks which were released as singles ahead of the album include Lucky, Lonely Is the Muse, Ego, and I Never Loved You.

The project has been described as a genuine exploration of the artist’s personality and experiences and how her music resonates with the ones from the ‘70s to the current times.

As both Pitchfork and People Magazine pointed out, the album was inspired by pop icons including Joni Mitchell, Fiona Apple, and Steve Nicks, among others, which the three-time Grammy nominee previously teased with photoshoots inspired by that era and recreating those artists’ renowned shots.