Item #: SCP-5276

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-5276 is to be stored in a secure storage locker located in Site-44. The Foundation will maintain a cover story that the item is currently in the possession of an unknown millionaire from Long Island. All testing of SCP-5276 should be conducted in a soundproof room and no personnel should enter the vicinity of the test for a period of at least 42 minutes.

Description: SCP-5276 is a vinyl copy of the album Silent Secrets by Youthful Galaxy, a rapper with connections to several anartists and a prominent member of the Fifthist hip hop scene. SCP-5276 was released as the sole copy of the album. It was purchased by the Foundation after it caused an anomalous incident at a Marshall, Carter, and Dark event in New York City.

The album is approximately 70 minutes in length and has been described as "lo fi hip hop" by listeners, consistent with Youthful Galaxy's other releases. Unlike previous albums by the artist which normally contain over a dozen relatively short tracks, Silent Secrets contains 6 songs of varying lengths. The longest song being just under 36 minutes long and the shortest just over 2 minutes.

Subjects who listen to the vinyl experience a state of strong emotions and weakened inhibitions, in addition to a strong compulsion to socialize with other listeners. Participants take turns sharing insecurities, weaknesses, and problems they have experienced and make immediate and major decisions to deal with these issues. The other participants in all cases react by applauding the behavior, regardless of the action or their previous relationship with the individual.

The album's anomalous effects only occur when the original vinyl is played to an audience. Youthful Galaxy has released a single from the album, allegedly with "the permission of the owner" with no anomalous effects noted in listeners. The Foundation has decided to allow the single's release to create the façade that the album has no anomalous properties, as the album's release was well publicized, having been covered by several independent music publications. The Foundation has produced several copies of the album, including digital copies. None of these copies display any anomalous properties.

Attached is a report from a Foundation employee present at the album's debut, noting the effects on the crowd gathered at the event as well as the agent herself.

SCP-5276 Incident Report 07/25/2020

Report authored by Field Agent McKenzie Rúnda

This is a report of an incident that occurred during a Marshall, Carter, and Dark event that I was assigned to attend to observe for anomalous activity, with permission to use Foundation funds to obtain the copy of Youthful Galaxy's album if it proved to have anomalous properties. As you will see within this report, it most definitely displayed anomalous properties.

The event began in a similar manner to several other Marshall, Carter, and Dark events I've attended incognito which is to say that it was mostly just a bunch of extremely rich people socializing and buying expensive anomalies. Mostly instruments and music collector's items with minor anomalous effects, the stuff we'd log as a minor anomalous item and toss into one of the mass storage units. Nothing that we'd waste Foundation money on.

I greet the attendees. More actors, painters, animators, and musicians than your usual MC&D affair, but you've got the usual crowd of stockbrokers, CEOs, and hedge fund managers too. I introduce myself with my typical cover story, an early cryptocurrency investor. There's a bunch of alcohol and drugs being sold at the bar, employees flirting with clients, and your usual scummy state of circumstances that every one of these "parties" contains. I was expecting a rather uneventful night watching high class hedonism.

Youthful Galaxy shows up and he's not quite the sight I expected but he's definitely still the kind of musician you'd think would make a splash with rich hipsters. No tattoos on his face or insanely expensive watches but he has pink highlights in otherwise jet black hair, cheap sunglasses, a Suspiria t-shirt and a pair of acid washed jeans. He comes out with a light blue vinyl and speaks to the crowd about some common American political wedge issues, pretty typical stuff. Then he pivots hard over to Fifthism, how there's a better world out in space and that he's seen it. That he wants to bring more people out there with him, and that he wants to bring a lot of "space love" to earth because we need it to fight back against the corruption that's "everywhere". He says this album will "allow you to experience space love for yourselves". He gets some mild applause and then he walks over to put the record into the sound system.

That's when things start to change, and we all got swept into it. The opening notes of the first song kicks in and immediately everyone, myself included, sits down in a circle. Everyone just sort of nods along to the music for the first song and then the second song comes in and everyone starts introducing themselves to each other. They give a name and a few fun facts about themselves. I was able to keep my composure a little bit, didn't compromise my real name, but I did name drop my favorite convention and prattle on for a minute about how I sometimes do some karaoke on the weekends. Everyone, even the MC&D employees who try to keep some sort of air of elitism around them, is sitting on the floor and waving to everyone. Marine, a MC&D event hostess who I've met probably hundreds of times has taken her hair out of a ponytail and is smoking cannabis in front of everyone which is not at all in character for her when she's out on the floor. I've never seen Marine act that way on company time before. Billionaires start taking off their ties and loosening their dress shirts. Models start using their purses as pillows. By the time we get through everyone's introduction we're already starting the third song.

The third song was very long, and this is where everyone started to act very erratic, myself included. One by one people would stand up, run into the center of the circle and declare something about themselves. They always shared something deep and personal, and then made an immediate change in their behavior after sharing it. A rock musician of some renown came into the center of the circle first. He said he had cleaned up his act on pressure from his label and his doctor, but he was stressed beyond belief and he wasn't living the lifestyle that brought him his fame and fortune in the first place. He was drinking less, partying less, and all to live maybe a decade longer than he would otherwise. He then immediately opened a bottle of vodka and chugged from it for a solid 10 seconds. Everyone clapped and cheered him on for a few seconds and immediately turned their attention elsewhere.

A political consultant said he was tired of keeping his personal life separate from his work life, that his work place was full of attractive and intelligent men and that he ought to have a chance with. He then told everyone he was going to make a phone call to a coworker that he had feelings for. We all clapped.

A model popped up and talked about how she hated her husband, hated most people in her life, and she's tired trying to deal with them and how she's just going to run off to Paris and leave everyone else behind. She started purchasing her plane tickets right then and there. Everyone clapped, including her husband.

Then Marine took to the center of the circle. She bemoaned her life that she never stood up for herself and never lived life on her terms. She hated living in the city, she hated wearing fancy dress clothes, and she even hated the name Marine. She wanted to go by a different name, but she rode the path of least resistance her entire life and ended up never having a good chance to reinvent herself. She then ripped off all of her clothes, tossed them into a pile, and used a lighter to set them on fire, she took out a tube of lipstick and wrote the name "Tina" from shoulder to shoulder and screamed out "My new nametag!". We all clapped.

Then came my turn. I thought for sure I'd blurt out something about being undercover but I didn't. It wasn't my biggest secret that I blurted out. It was my most personal one. The one that was the most difficult for me to tell other people. The one I was afraid of saying the most. Without mentioning it by name, I said I had a career that required me to have a firm grip on my emotions. How I had suffered a bunch of personal tragedies. The loss of a pet, a falling out with a long time friend, and a family member's diagnosis with a terminal disease. All of those happened in a two month period and at no point did I cry. At no point did I process all that pain.

I fell to the floor, bawling my eyes out and shaking. Everyone around me clapped.

It just kept happening so quickly. Person after person would jump up and admit something deep and painful. A few people admitted to affairs and made breakup calls to their spouses. One person admitted to drinking too much, and immediately smashed the glass in his hand and vowed to quit right then and there. An actor admitted to resenting the film he was currently working on and used a letter opener to begin cutting off the beard he had grown for the part. By the end of the song over half an hour later, everyone had very publicly worked through something while everyone clapped.

I stayed there sobbing on the floor only to quickly pop up and clap for someone when they made a hasty decision. Then I'd go right back to sobbing until it was time to clap again. The man who quit drinking just kept smashing bottles he found behind the bar. Marine kept writing Tina all over her naked body. The political consultant must have sent a hundred texts to his coworker and called him two dozen times, but he wasn't picking up. Everyone took their turn overindulging in a quick and cheap answer to their sorrows.

The the third song ended over thirty minutes later and a fourth song kicked on. It was long by most standards, but it felt short after such a long and painful event that preceded it. Everyone stood up and gathered in a circle again. One by one a person would take a walk around the circle and give a hug to everyone else in attendance. Having hugged everyone there twice, I can say they all felt sincere and emotional. Some people would pat others on the head or kiss them on the cheek. I received compliments on my emotional strength and assurances that I could make it through the tough times. Everyone seemed sympathetic to my plight, and I felt sympathetic to their pains as well. The song slowly sank into a buzzing noise and the next track swept in.

The fifth song came in and everyone began to clean up the mess we had made. Someone helped me clean off the makeup that I had cried through. A few sat around a toilet and held the rock musician's hair back as he puked his guts out. I fished a set of clean clothes out of my briefcase and helped Marine get dressed after we both washed the lipstick off of her with a sink and a lot of paper towels. The fifth song ended abruptly and the final track began.

The final track was rather short, just long enough for everyone to stand up again and return to the exact spot they had been standing in before the music started to play. The song faded out and everyone suddenly just processed what they had done that night. Most people left in a hurry. Some people were frantically apologizing to other attendees. A few others just sat back down on the ground and rested their face into their hands.

Youthful Galaxy, who had sat completely unfazed the whole time and watched the events unfold, asked if there were any bids for the record. I was the only one to raise my hand. As the receipts show, I purchased the record for $10,000 which was his initial offer.

Personal note:

Please send any questions you have about the anomaly as soon as possible. As with all field agents exposed to a mind altering anomaly, I will be attending my mandatory psych meetings over the next two months. Once those are over, I'd very much like to never talk about this night again.

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