Dear Spotify Wrapped, what the f*ck is Goblincore?
Spotify Wrapped's moods sure have an interesting way of describing the way we feel. According to the music streaming platform, a lot of people are apparently into Goblincore. Yes, you read that correctly.
In case you haven't logged onto, well, anything on Wednesday (Nov. 30), it's Spotify Wrapped day. This is the day when we all post what we listened to throughout the year, courtesy of a playlist and slideshow curated by Spotify. The copywriting from Spotify has traditionally verged toward how do you do, fellow kids, but this year it's more strange than anything.
You see, Spotify added a feature that categorized what you listened to throughout the day into moods. And these moods, based on popular internet aesthetics, mostly read like word soup. Things like Pumpkin Spice, Indie Heads, Acceptance, were listed as moods. But strangest of all was Goblincore. No, that is not a typo. Goblincore. GOBLIN. CORE. Surely, Goblincore had to be a fan-made photoshop edit, right? But then we saw tweet after tweet after tweet about Goblincore, which is a weird prank for people to play all at once.
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Spotify didn't immediately clarify if Goblincore was an actual mood from the platform or, if it was, elaborate on what that meant. Though it does seem odd that this many users would make this thing up.
Goblincore, for the not perpetually online, refers to an aesthetic for people into goblin-esque objects and vibes. Think small, weird trinkets or strange, unnatural objects in nature. As Mashable wrote in 2020, it's a gritty, semi-occult version of the cottagecore aesthetic that started on Tumblr. The goblincore subreddit describes it as an aesthetic "centered on the celebration of natural ecosystems usually considered less beautiful by conventional norms, such as soil-animals and second-hand objects." And Spotify does have curated mixes with Goblincore in the title, so maybe that's how so many people ended up with the phrase in their Wrapped.
But Goblincore was hardly the only strange phrase in this year's Wrapped moods. The morning, afternoon, and evening moods were full of random collages of... vibes? I guess? Things like "rebellious, amped, cyberpop" or "positive, clowncore, confident."
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One person even made a great meme using the classic Breaking Bad template to show how weird these descriptions were.
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It's yet another year of strangeness from Spotify Wrapped. That seems to be almost purposeful at this point. Wrapped Day has become A Thing online primarily because people love showing off their music taste. But it also always goes viral for some other, unexpected reason. This year that just happens to be Goblincore.
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
