An Uber driver has found that stereotyping his passengers has actually paid off — though it probably helps that they don’t know that he’s doing it.
TJ Jones recently became a driver for the ride-share apps Uber and Lyft in Asheville, North Carolina, and decided to curate 11 different playlists on Spotify based on generalizations of different types of people.
When new passengers get into his car, he plays what he thinks is the appropriate music — and since he started, he’s been earning plenty of compliments for his tunes.
Music: An Uber driver curates playlists to match his passengers
DJ: TJ Jones just recently became a driver for Uber and Lyft and made 11 different playlists on Spotify based on different generalizations of people
Amazing: Despite the categories people are being grouped into, passengers are loving his music
‘So I just started driving for Uber and Lyft and I’ve been getting a lot more compliments on my music since generalizing my passengers by one of these 11 playlists,’ he wrote on Twitter.
He included screengrabs, which show the lists and their titles. There’s a list for ‘heady bros,’ one for ‘white dudes who look like they like rap,’ ‘basic 20-30s,’ and people aged 30+.
There’s one for ‘quiet ppl,’ ‘f*****g hipsters,’ people of color, white men in their early 20s, early 20s females, people 30 to 40, and white men in their 20s and 30s.
When he picks up a custome,r he quietly assesses them in his head and then chooses from one of his playlists what type of person the passenger is.
While stereotyping may not always be the best course of action, it seems to be working for TJ, as his passengers have grown fond of his tailored music choices.
Curator: TJ (pictured left) doesn’t tell passengers he is picking lists based on stereotypes
Love: Many people have taken to Twitter to share how obsessed they are with his playlists
Job: One guy even tweeted at Spotify saying they should hire TJ to make playlists
Funny: This user joked that they want an Uber driver who will play the music and be quiet
Agree: TJ was quick to respond to that tweet saying quiet rides in silence are his favorite
And he has fans on Twitter, too: Since posting his music, he has earned over 257,000 likes on the social media platform.
‘Now I’m going to anxiously wonder if everyone I pick up has seen this tweet,’ he joked later.
While some people may get offended by these generalizations, many Twitter users are actually begging him to tell them what playlist they would fall into.
At first, the driver just posted photos of the playlist titles — but then Twitter dug deep and found his Spotify profile, and now he has almost 33,000 followers.
In response to being found on the music player he wrote: ‘Dam they found the playlists I’ve gotta step my game up now.’
His taste in music includes Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Drake, Sufjan Stevens, Weezer, Earth Wind and Fire, Sia, Fleetwood Mac, and Lorde.
Caught: After posting screenshots of his playlists, Twitter did some digging and found TJ’sprofile
Good question: One user asked what playlist the driver would be
Everything: In reply, he said he would fall into every category and playlist because they’re all from his library
Unbelievable: This girl joked that he needs to add this playlist for drunk girls
People are loving how creative the driver is. One tweeted, ‘I’m sorry but these playlists are so good and I’m so shook. quiet, hipster and heady are all bops I can’t.’
One user even replied to his original tweet saying, ‘The REAL question is which one of these passengers are you’ and someone replied saying Sufjan.
TJ jokingly replied, ‘I don’t want my passengers to cry. Sufjan is for after I drop them off.’
Although some people enjoy listening to music with their Uber driver, others like complete silence and don’t want to be bothered.
So one user wrote: ‘I want an Uber driver who will play that “quiet ppl” playlist while we ignore each other.’
‘My fave rides,’ TJ replied.