Music

Pussy Riot, PSY and Jay-Z among nominees for TIME's Person of the Year

by Tyler Munro

In stark contrast to GQ’s “Least Influential” list we told you about earlier, TIME Magazine released its full list of nominees for its Person of the Year, and the list includes musicians PSY, Jay-Z and Pussy Riot. Here’s our take on how each made the list.

First, Jay-Z. A popular and once prolific MC who’s name is now synonymous with the Brooklyn Nets, for whom he is as much a mascot as an owner. But while he owns less than one percent of the team, his contributions to its image, popularity and marketing has quickly propelled one of the league’s most historically dreadful franchises to the top of food chain. At 9-4, they’re on top of the NBA’s Atlantic Division, but more than that, the Barclays Center has become the place to be for basketball fans. It’s amazing what moving out of the Meadowlands can do, eh?

And then there’s PSY, who’s culture-jamming pop hit “Gangnam Style” has gone absolutely nova since creeping onto the internet back in July. Earlier this month, it passed Justin Bieber’s “Baby” as the most viewed video on YouTube, and as we write this the number is still climbing: it currently sits at 840,131,442 views. But for PSY, that’s about all he’s done. He’s yet to release a proper follow-up, and in the months since the track went viral he’s done little besides bask in the glory of that one song’s explosive popularity. Rightfully so, mind you. We just aren’t sure if it’s enough.

As for Pussy Riot’s nomination, things get a little more curious. First, Pussy Riot isn’t a person. Though they’re referred to as a collective, three separate individuals were arrested for their February protest, one of whom has since been released. The controversy surrounding their “religious hooliganism” charges is well documented; instead, the issue is the resulting impact from the arrests. Two of the three arrested members are still in jail and have since been moved to rough camps outside of the country’s capital, and as TIME points out, they’ve each got kids to take care of. For representing an idea rather than pushing it, Pussy Riot seem the most likely to win of the three music associated choices, even if they do fall dangerously close to last year’s winner, “The Protester.”

Other nominees include Bill and Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, Paul Ryan, The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart, the guy who sky-dived from outer space, North Korean Supreme Leader (his actual title) Kim Jung-un and the Mars Rover. There are 38 nominees in all.

In addition to the official choice, readers can vote for who they think deserves it. Voting closes at midnight on December 12th, and TIME will announce the winner of the People’s Choice on the 14th. As for the official results, they’ll be out on when the December 31st issue hits newsstands on the 21st.