Don’t Hate: Five Reasons Why It’s Okay to Like Hipsters and the Pitchfork Music Festival

Hipsters! I mean, just look at them. They’re basically the End of Western Civilization as we know it. Even the New York Times got beef, and they’re one of their core audiences. Could any other subculture be as easy to hate?

Well, yes? Obviously. Hating on hipsters now is the equivalent of hating on Rebecca Black– it’s over, we get it. We know you dislike their skinny jeans and horn-rimmed glasses. Get over it. Look beyond the superficial stuff and you’ll find a number of things to love about ‘em, stuff you probably love too. Like good beer and cute chicks and slick rap.

The Pitchfork Music Festival arrives in Chicago’s Union Park this Friday for a three-day blowout of good bands and good times, and it serves as a perfect example of what we’re talking about. You may be saying to yourself, “I’d never go to something like that,” but if you actually went, you’d have the time of your life. Why? Well, damn! Let’s find out!

5. Good Beer

Hipsters LOVE beer. They love obscure IPAs from Oregon and they love a cold High Life. They love Heineken, they love Keystone, and they really love PBR. Beer is the energy-juice that fuels the hipster machine.

Wherever you’ll find hipsters, you’re also likely to find good beer. They demand it. That works out for you, for two reasons: one, you’ll get to chug great-tasting brews from around the world, and two, it’ll be within prices hipsters can actually afford. That bar downtown with the pricey, obscure German brew? It’s pricey because you’re buying something that bar rarely sells. When that bar is located in Williamsburg and they’re ordering 7 cases of that German stuff a week, it’ll be cheaper. Where good beer goes, good prices on that beer go as well, as well as good times.

4. Good Rap

Yeah, indie music isn’t all heartfelt acoustic guitar strums and twee, feel-good tunes perfect for iPod commercials. Hipsters love a good rap jam. And why wouldn’t they? They wouldn’t be caught bumping Lil’ Jon in their ’97 Civics, but give them some Wu-Tang or Biggie and they’ll be all over it.

At Pitchfork, you’ll find plenty of awesome rappers. Like G-Side, “two of the hardest-grinding MCs in the business” from Huntsville, Alabama who bring synth-y beats and sharp rhymes to the table. Or Odd Future, a young group who you’ve probably heard about, because they’ve been covered literally everywhere. Or Curren$y, who’s been on XXL’s Freshman list of up-and-comers and has worked with Young Money and Def Jam. Or Shabazz Palaces, an alumni of 90′s jazz-rap group Digable Planets whose offbeat swagger and boozy lyrical flow are impressive and intoxicating. Or Das Racist, who blew up with the hilarious single “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” and released two of the funniest (and best) mixtapes in hip-hop last year. Basically: If you like rap, you’d love Pitchfork.

3. Crafts and Records

Do you like crafts? Well, okay, but your girlfriend does. There’ll be rows of the stuff at Pitchfork, because if there’s one thing the hipster community loves more than an icy-cold brew, it’s putting birds on things. (But that’s kind of a joke, they also put trees and clouds on things.)

After you pick up an impressively-heartfelt iPod cozy for the girl’s birthday, you can head over to the record aisles, where you’ll find the best record shop in the Midwest over the weekend (there’s also a huge poster shop, so you can unboring your walls while you’re at it.) Remember that cassette copy of Paul’s Boutique you replayed to tatters in 4th grade? What about that Prince vinyl you had hanging up in your dorm in college? Finding a good record store these days is a challenge. Flipping through the rare, hard-to-find stuff at the fest is both an exercise in unrestrained nostalgia and an easy way to drop $200 in 20 minutes. Seriously, iTunes just ain’t the same.

2. The Music

And besides rap, there’s a hell of a lot of great tunes to go around at this fest. Maybe you’re into electronic heart-pumping jams? Cut Copy’s your ticket to a perfect Sunday night. What about no-frills lo-fi pop, with nothing but a drummer, a guitarist and a sound as big as a six-piece? No Age on Saturday will get you moshing. Guided by Voices will be performing a set of their mid-90s classics, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth will be shredding a fretboard to pieces, and Superchunk will be bringing two decades of experience rocking crowds to the stage. Every day brings a new spread of genres and sounds, and if you can’t find something to like here, you’re not looking.

1. Indie Cuties

We almost forgot the most important reason you could find some love for hipsters: Indie Cuties. Look at these damn cuties! They dress like an American Apparel ad, if that ad had to go out in public and be socially acceptable. Hipster girls are cute, admit it. How could you not?