Ethel Cain

Submission 2,415

About

Ethel Cain, born Hayden Silas Anhedönia, is an American singer-songwriter known for her ambient, alternative rock and folk music that touches on Christianity, American nationalism and nostalgic Southern Gothic themes. She first found a following on SoundCloud and Tumblr under the moniker White Silas. Cain began to be discussed in popular culture in 2022, with particular interest being drawn to her song "American Teenager" after it was listed in Barack Obama's favorite songs from 2022.

Career

Cain was raised in a Southern Baptist family in Florida and was heavily involved in the church choir from a young age. She left the church at the age of 16 and went on to release music under the moniker White Silas and Atlas. She released her debut single as Ehtel Cain, titled "Bruises" and her Golden Age EP in 2019.^[1]

Cain was signed to Prescription Records in 2020 and released her first EP with the label in 2021, titled, Inbred. The song "Michelle Pfeiffer" from the album was featured on Pitchfork, Billboard, Nylon and the Fader to generally favorable reviews.^[2] The song has gathered over 160,000 views on YouTube^[3] in two years (seen below).

Online History

Ethel Cain began to be discussed prominently on social media in 2022, with the Instagram^[4] page @shawtydisorder posting a text post on April 7th, 2022, citing Cain and gathering over 1,000 likes in roughly one year (seen below, left). On April 17th, the Instagram^[5] page @contentsewer3 posted a Gay Son Or Thot Daughter meme comparing Semetary and Cain (seen below, right).

On June 11th, 2022, Twitter^[6] user @sadgayboi posted an American Girl Doll meme referencing Ethel Cain and gathering over 33,000 likes in roughly eight months (seen below, left). On August 30th, the Instagram^[7] page @katebush.420 posted a meme about Cain, gathering over 1,000 likes in seven months (seen below, right).

Obama's Favourite Music of 2022

On December 23rd, 2022, former U.S. President Barack Obama^[8] posted his annual end-of-year music list, with Ethel Cain's song "American Teenager" being part of the list. His post gathered over 140,000 likes in three months (seen below, left). Ethel Cain tweeted^[9] about the event on December 23rd as well, saying "did not have a former president including my anti-war, anti-patriotism fake pop song on his year end list on my 2022 bingo," gathering over 110,000 likes in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).

Other internet users reacted to the irony of Obama appreciating Cain's music, with Twitter^[10] user @LucasPJohn posting a meme On December 24th, 2022, that gathered over 17,000 likes in roughly two months (seen below).