With every passing year it’s potentially getting harder to single out our least favorite billionaire as the number of options continues to skyrocket, but I don’t think it should be too hard to reach a consensus—after all, who among us hasn’t been harassed by meme-currency accounts on the major social media platform he purchased and immediately tanked, or nearly gotten mowed down by one of his vehicles, whether it was being driven by a human concurrently operating a full-sized desktop computer or by no one at all?
Kadhja Bonet isn’t explicit on their new single “Don’t Count on Us,” but they don’t really need to be. The soft-grooving synth-pop track lands alongside three other songs that achieve a similar balance of simmering rage and peaceful musicality on the forthcoming Battlewear EP, the songwriter’s first new music since stepping away from recording to pursue a Master’s Degree in Music Technology. After taking on tech giants on the EP’s lead single, “Don’t Count on Us” broadens the scope of Bonet’s attack—though the crosshairs still seem firmly set on the world’s most prolific arbiter of cringe.
“This song is written to your least favorite billionaire,” Bonet shares. “It’s meant to be a critique of the way these individuals—who are richer than some countries—use or don’t use their money. They could solve global humanitarian crises, eliminate famines, houselessness, bolster healthcare, education, and access for millions of people, and instead they build rockets to launder their money, evade taxes, receive massive government subsidies, or invest in AI war-tech. Most philanthropic gifts they make are reputation salve at best, because at the end of the day, they still have billions.
“Hoarding money to this degree is a mental illness and it should be treated as such,” Bonet continues. “For anyone—billionaire or not—that lyric is meant to inspire awareness of our financial power. Billionaires only have billions because we supported their companies with our dollars and complacency. Yes, they may have had a massive inheritance or big investments from others, but when we use their products and turn a blind eye, we send the message that we don’t mind however they operate, whoever they hurt. By continuing to use their services, we condone their companies’ worst behaviors and most damaging choices. I’m still trying to hold myself to this lyric. Decolonizing our money is a very intricate process and I’m nowhere near complete.”
Hell yeah. Check out the new track below, and pre-order Battlewear ahead of its September 18 release here—and don’t expect to find it on the Ek platform.
