Did you hear that? That’s the sound of a wave of young pop artists boosting US Vice President Kamala Harris on TikTok.
A video shared this week by Harris’ campaign on the platform, set to pop star Chappell Roan’s song “Femininomenon,” from her 2023 album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” paints her in stark contrast to the former president. Donald Trump. It has already received more than 35 million views.
“But what we really need is a feminine menon,” the chorus of Roan’s song says over rotating photos of Harris and Trump. “A what?” her voice shouts. “A femininemenon!”
The song “Femininomenon” — a word created by Roan that combines “feminine” and “phenomenon” — quickly captured the attention of the TikTok generation, many of whom are potential voters.
While Roan has yet to endorse a candidate in the White House race, mobilizing her fans through her music could pay off for Harris’ campaign.
Roan’s representative did not respond to Roan’s request for comment. CNN.
The singer told a crowd of thousands last month at New York’s Governors Ball Music festival, where she performed dressed as the Statue of Liberty, that she turned down an invitation to perform at the White House Pride Celebration — but this was President Joe Biden’s White House.
Now, with Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee, celebrities who were reluctant to publicly support Biden have come out in full force to support Harris.
And no class of celebrity will be more important to his campaign than the superstars who can rally young Americans to get out and vote.
As the nature of celebrity influence changes in the world of social media, traditional celebrities no longer influence a group of voters that matters most in this election: young people.
In other words, Charli XCX could be more influential in the 2024 election than George Clooney or Barbra Streisand (both of whom also supported Harris).
“Both campaigns struggled to reach Gen Z because both candidates were older than their grandparents,” he told CNN a Democratic strategist who is working with A-list celebrities this election cycle on the race between Biden and Trump.
“Kamala has a very good chance to resonate with Gen Z,” the Hollywood strategist added. “She’s closer to their parents’ age, which is more relatable.”
Harris’ campaign has already received early support from hugely influential young pop stars, including Ariana Grande, who is one of the most followed people on the planet with 378 million followers on Instagram; Demi Lovato, who has 155 million followers on Instagram; Kesha and Charli
Harris isn’t the only presidential candidate using TikTok as a key campaign strategy. While Harris’ TikTok page has 1.1 million followers, Trump, who joined TikTok in June, gained 3 million followers in his first day on the social media platform.
He now boasts 9.1 million followers. However, with significantly fewer followers, Harris, who has 15.8 million likes on her headquarters’ TikTok page, has higher engagement than Trump, who has 22.2 million likes with his much larger following.
Check out three pop stars who can encourage Gen Z to take action this election:
Charli XCX
Charli XCX was already being talked about as the “it girl” of the summer, thanks to her sixth studio album titled “brat”, which inspired a new color name and a fashion trend.
The 31-year-old British singer explained the aesthetic, in part, as visualizing a “pack of cigarettes, a Bic lighter and a white spaghetti strap top with no bra.”
“You’re like that girl who’s a little rowdy and likes to party and maybe say some stupid things sometimes,” she explained in a video shared on TikTok.
“Who feels like herself, but maybe also has a breakdown. But it kind of celebrates, it’s very honest, very direct. A little volatile. Like, do stupid things. But he’s a brat [“brat”, na gíria em inglês]. You’re a brat. That’s brat.”
By declaring Harris a “brat,” she not only gave the campaign a highly visible boost among Gen Z, but also gave the campaign an opportunity to show that it valued the distinction.
Those who visit Kamala’s official X headquarters account, which has a link to her official website, are met with a green “brat” background photo and the vice president’s name in the same font displayed on Charli’s album. XCX.
And Charli XCX isn’t the only pop star getting into the game.
Olivia Rodrigo
Singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo appeared to support Harris on social media Wednesday.
The 21-year-old Grammy-winning artist behind hits like “Drivers License” and “Deja Vu” shared a video on Instagram of Harris giving her first speech at a rally as part of her presidential election campaign on Tuesday in West Allis, Wisconsin.
Rodrigo added hand emojis in praise to Harris’ video promising to protect reproductive rights.
“Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans are because we trust women to make decisions about their own bodies and not the government to tell them what to do,” Harris says in the video. “And when Congress passes legislation to restore reproductive freedoms as president of the United States, I will sign it into law.”
Rodrigo made free emergency contraceptives available at some of her shows during her “Guts” tour as part of her Fund 4 Good initiative, which is a “global initiative committed to building a fair and equitable future for all women, girls and people seeking freedom in reproductive health,” according to the foundation’s website.
This is not the first time that Rodrigo has spoken about causes with political leaders. In July 2021, the singer visited the White House during the pandemic to meet with Biden and doctor Anthony Fauci to encourage young Americans to get vaccinated.
On that visit, she posted photos with Harris and stated that she was proud to support the government’s vaccination drive by using her platform to reach her young fans.
Rodrigo’s influence on young voters could be crucial once again.
Chappell Roan
Harris’ campaign video featuring Roan’s song may be the first time some voters have heard of the artist, but not if they’re Gen Z.
The 26-year-old singer, who signed her first record deal when she was a teenager, became a phenomenon this summer.
Roan, whose music has an 80s synth-pop sound with smooth vocals, has seen his popularity grow so quickly that festivals have had to adapt to his growing concert audiences.
Her 2023 debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” which pays homage to her roots in Willard, Missouri, currently sits at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
She also had three songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, according to the music chart website, including “Red Wine Supernova,” “Hot To Go!” and her latest single, “Good Luck Babe!”
Roan, who identifies as queer and has said she draws inspiration from drag queens, has been compared to Madonna, in part, for her sex-positive lyrics.
“My songs are so overtly sexual on purpose because they are an expression of myself that I wasn’t able to express growing up in a Christian household, in a Christian town that was very conservative,” Roan told Vulture.
When she performed at the Governors Ball last June and declined the White House’s request to perform for Pride, she explained, “We want freedom, justice and freedom for all. When you guys do that, that’s when I’ll go.”
Time will tell if Roan will now come after Harris.
(Alli Rosenbloom and DJ Judd, from CNNcontributed to this story)
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