What Is Baddiecore? – Let Us Explain

What is "baddiecore"? Listeners clearly want to know.

In fact, on Reddit just this week, one inquiring rock and metal fan asked that very question — "Wtf is baddiecore" — the listener taking a cue from Stray From the Path drummer Craig Reynolds, who earlier this year posited his theory of baddiecore.

"How do sub genre names stick?" Reynolds (@reynlord) mused on X (formerly Twitter) back in August. "Like djent and nu metal etc? Because I got one that I call bands like Sleep Token, Bad omens and Spiritbox. Baddiecore. Metalcore with enough pop music crossover and sex appeal that normie hot people like it. I hate it so much I love it."

What do you think? Do Sleep Token, Bad Omens and Spiritbox represent baddiecore? And had you come across that music terminology before?

Is Baddiecore a Thing?

Fans responding to the thread on r/Metalcore tended to agree. "As a middle-aged dude who's a huge Sleep Token fan, I want to be outraged at this," one commenter said. "But the r/SleepToken sub is so f---ing thirsty that it actually describes it really f---ing well."

Someone else replying added, "As a middle aged woman who's a huge fan of both Sleep Token and Bad Omens, I also want to be offended. But we are a thirsty bunch, and I don't even care."

Another said, "That makes so much sense… I feel like I only listen to that kind of metal." They requested more baddiecore recommendations.

Someone else offered the thought, "So BMTH circa 2011?" Yet another chimed in, "Baddiecore sounds better than 'core music for thirst traps."

READ MORE: How Spiritbox Became Metal's Most Promising Band - Exclusive Interview

On Sunday (Dec. 10), the day the question was asked on Reddit, rock and metal influencer Finn McKenty (@thepunkrockmba) commented on the thirst trap aspect. "The only way for a metal band to get popular now is if baddies make thirst trap TikToks with their music," he posted on X.

Has baddiecore officially entered the lexicon of metal subgenres?

Perhaps you've come across such videos on social media yourself. But would you call it baddiecore?

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Spiritbox, "Ultraviolet" (Music Video)