From ‘End of Beginning’ to the end of ‘being basic’

With surface-level cool — or as others may phrase it — a uniquely, geeky boldness, Djo (Joe Keery) expresses disdain for the fads and fashions of LA in his latest single, “Basic Being Basic.” 

The track, listed second on his junior album, “The Crux,” is set to release April 4. It is fast-tempo and equally head-nodding. Lyrically frank, the two-and-a-half-minute synth fest darts between blends of falsetto and spoken verse, reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem. 

The baby-faced, 32-year-old takes a flippant dive into superficiality and his own bemusement with it. It’s a “shot fire to anyone who’s trying to be of the moment,” he says in the press release.

This is the “End of the Beginning” singer’s first drop since his 2022 album, “DECIDE,” marking an era that began with the performer under a wig and the alias Djo (“Joe”) to separate himself from his widely known role as Steve Harrington in Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”

Pronunciation attempts ranged from “D-J-O,” “Joe” and my favorite—“Duh-Joe”— either way pulling a curtain over the eyes of fans and selling Djo as a full-tilt indie artist. 

The mop head flew under the radar until late 2024 when “End of the Beginning” took TikTok by storm — almost two years after its release date. The breakout moment skyrocketed him from underground performer to festival headliner, stat.

Longtime fans wave goodbye to the days when Djo was a “gatekeepable” commodity, sold from his spot behind a mainstream palisade (yet many are still unaware of Djo’s true identity). His rise to success now gives fans an incentive to grouch about his rising popularity rather than celebrate this well-deserved recognition. 

Many speculate the direction the “The Crux” will take at the hands of his newfound exposure. Larger fan base, larger venues — and outreach? Will the new album tread on the heels of his latest synth-pop single or fall back into the realms of his past catalog? Has Djo himself gone basic, embodying the very lyrics he’s critiquing? Or is this a painfully self-aware test, mocking his critics by creating a song classified by their definition of basic, just daring them to prove his point?

Taking no more than a few spins to decode the at-first gibberish message, “Basic Being Basic” raises a middle finger to anyone prioritizing image over substance — a feel-good jab at Southern California natives and the unassuming, pretentious breeds who pride themselves on being different.

 Sugar-coating their lives in “effortless” curated content, it has become a niche pool of zoomed-in story posts with small font and random mentions (guilty as charged). Djo enlightens listeners that in attempting to try not to be basic, we’ve become, well, exactly that… 

This isn’t uncharted territory for Djo, with songs like “On and On” previously exploring social media’s liabilities — desensitization to wrenching headlines and performative “well-wishing.” Stripping us from true individuality and sensitivity, we’ve become distorted versions of ourselves. Maybe there’s some truth in our aesthetics, but to what extent? How can we separate ourselves from true personal expression and taste versus a performative act or self-exhibition?

Walking the line of content zombies, we rot — grotesque and decaying — as we live, breathe and perform for others.

Djo shares that he, too, once fell into this trap — spiting a lover with unavailing nonconformity — but alas, he outgrew her.  He sneers at the conundrum, exposing mistrust in expired desires of counterfeit love and hollowed-out superstardom.  

Djo’s chorus critiques the superficial and materialistic expectations of others while also expressing a yearning for someone more authentic. 

“Cause you’re basic/ Just looking hot and keeping monotone and understated nothingness/ Won’t change it/ (Good luck with that, good luck with what?)”

Mundane and inept at showing we care too deeply about anything, we are afraid of being just like everyone else. God forbid we fall, ostracized, onto the outskirts of being unextraordinary. 

“What an empty ep·i·taph that is, that’s basic.”

He ends the song with a lyrical presentation of wasted legacy. What an empty demise. Sat atop a grassy plot, I imagine a tombstone engraved with the words, “Here lies one who lived for the approval of others,” or maybe, “This was not the aesthetic I had in mind!” 

Can we fully be blamed for caring about image when it has become the currency of belonging — shoved down our throats and rewarded by an Instagram Story like? After all, we are social creatures wired for approval, waiting to be seen.Keery performed a humble version of the song on “The Tonight Show” starring Jimmy Fallon, holding the “The Cruz” cover over Fallon’s wooden desk.

The album cover displays a “Where’s Waldo?” type imagery, a chaotic city street topped with ongoers and general … randomness. Is this an allusion to the album’s storyline? Or maybe an unassuming set of Easter eggs? 

Keery’s stunt coordinator is framed shirtless in a high-rise apartment window (an inside joke between the two), near a blonde-fringed woman, suspiciously resembling pop singer Sabrina Carpenter, sparking rumors of a potential collaboration. Some honorable mentions include a doorman juxtaposed with a red-suited mouse, a kissing couple, a masked bank robber crawling out from a manhole, a red convertible hot rod with a balding passenger and a set of pedestrians peering up at Djo dangling from a second-story window.

On the flip side of the record, a mirrored Keery grips the same window ledge, suited in cream with Roy Orbison glasses atop his nose. Will the double-breasted suit wearer fall from the window like yesterday’s newspaper? Or be pulled into an apartment by an unknown hand?

With “Basic Being Basic” acting as a relish of what’s to come, Keery leaves us wondering about his social commentary. Djo: A self-aware hypocrite or just another “fool” in the long line of artists layering satire on vanishing trends? 

Djo has announced a 2025 global tour, with Post Animal opening on all North American, UK and EU dates. He has partnered with PLUS1, donating $1 per ticket to families impacted by the recent LA wildfires.