It's Chrissy Chlapecka’s world...We're all just living in it

Women and folks belonging to marginalized genders produce the best music. It’s simply true. Every single John Lennon song trembles at the feet of Ayesha Erotic's "Literal Legend." Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” and Mega Thee Stallion’s “Outside” each do circles around any Linkin Park tune you could think of. Get all that Justin Timberlake and Adam Levin off my radio. Replace them with Nina Simone and Sangeetha Rajeshwaran right away. Try and tell me with a straight face Imagine Dragons is superior to Cheap Perfume or Little Mix, just try. This summer’s music landscape has proved this truth is alive and well. Chappell Roan has been everywhere this summer, as she should be. Billie Eilish's "Lunch," Sabrina Carpenter's "Taste," and Charli XCX's Brat tunes have been inescapable. These peppy tunes (not to mention prominent SZA, Taylor Swift, and Beyoncé tracks) have meant that folks far removed from cis-maleness have dominated the summer’s music scene.

While we’re breaking down artists of marginalized genders crushing it these days, one must simply also throw roses in the direction of Chrissy Chlapecka (who uses she/her and they/them pronouns). They’re delivering the tunes with automobile-themed cunnilingus metaphors, zesty melodies, and fiercely bimbo aesthetics we don’t deserve…but we desperately need.

Chlapecka’s origin story as a musician starts not in smoky Greenwich Village bars or opening for Nirvana. Instead, it dates back to her days doing humorous TikTok videos at the dawn of the 2020s. Through this medium, she established an identity blending leftist rhetoric with a modern bimbo aesthetic. In a nutshell, Chlapecka’s default fashion and on-camera persona were drenched in pink while critiquing matters like fascism, Palestinian genocide, the prison industrial complex, and more. While providing laughs over fiercely punching hypothetical homophobes, Chlapecka’s internet persona established something exciting.

Through this politically active rhetoric, Chlapecka reinforced the truth that femininity can mean anything you want it to. Pink and glitter are not indicators of "shallowness" or exist only for the male gaze. Bimbo is not an “insult” or means that somebody is inherently “mean” to other women. Chlapecka reclaimed this term as part of a broader “bimboification” movement at the dawn of the 2020s. This phenomenon reinforced what had always been true: a person with ultra-femme characteristics was worthy of respect.

With a firmly established aesthetic and political ethos from their TikTok days, Chlapecka’s musical exploits began in 2023. Lord knows cringeworthy results occur when internet celebrities transfer over to the world of music. How many male YouTube or Vine stars of the 2010s have supposedly "can't-miss" singles just languishing somewhere in a desolate corner of the internet? Happily, Chlapecka’s subversion of expectations in their career didn't just include redefining what politically conscious femininity looks like. It also included upending expectations for artistic quality one can expect from internet stars transitioning to music. Right from the get-go, Chlapecka’s first single “I’m So Hot” declared she had the goods as a singer.

“I’m So Hot” immediately plunges into a self-confident tableau. Chlapecka's opening line marvels at how every time they "wake up alone...I just can't believe I get to myself naked." From there, a self-confidence anthem unspools destined to be sung into hair dryers everywhere. Chlapecka nicely channels Britney Spears and Madonna vibes as they purr "I'm So Hot's" lyrics. However, this is no mere pastiche of pop girly's past. Chlapecka's explicit lyrics ("three of us girls, just playing with my flower") and a very forceful instrumental accompaniment give this tune an enjoyably aggressive air.

This isn't just a modern incarnation of "I'm So Pretty" from West Side Story. It's the musical equivalent of basking at your reflection while giving off a middle finger to homophobes. Do you hate it when "gay people are in your face"? Sorry to say, that's Chlapecka's whole schtick and it's a great trait to orient her tunes around. Chlapecka's third single, "Head Bitch," continued this ethos with a delightfully queer anthem of giving head to a woman. The ditty is full of enough automobile-themed euphemisms for oral pleasure ("I need to check/underneath the hood/babe, we're gonna wreck") to make both Crash and Titane smile with pride. Chlapecka's phrasing here intentionally evokes typical bawdy lyrics from male musicians. This further reflects Chlapecka reclaiming typically derogatory elements towards folks belonging to marginalized genders.

Countless dudes have used car-themed metaphors for sex to emphasize that attractive ladies are objects...like the Chevy in their garage. Women are just another prop for these singers, who allow male listeners to live vicariously through their lyrics waxing poetic on sexually obedient gals. Chlapecka, meanwhile, uses delightfully lewd phrasing to emphasize the importance of sexually pleasuring women. An act men like DJ Khaled find repulsive is treated with fun and excitement within Chalpecka’s powerful vocals. The delightfully bawdy vehicle-based innuendos stay in the picture.

However, they've been transformed into a superior queer and richly human context. Now these terms emphasize how cool it is to make your partner sexually satisfied. Sexually playful wordplay isn't just a one-way street anymore. It's something emphasizing pleasure for both parties. All that plus a catchy melody and terrific line deliveries (Chlapecka’s execution of the phrase “she’s got me obsessed” just rings with weeks of built-up attraction). “Head Bitch” really has it all.

Across these two tracks and Chlapecka’s other singles (like bouncy 2024 tunes "Verse" and "10 Boyfriends"), one uncovers another important facet of her music. Chlapecka songs aren’t just nifty because of their subversive lyrical qualities. They’re also aided mightily thanks to Chlapecka's superb voice. Throughout the history of music, preposterous lyrics are made extra enjoyable sung by folks with actually striking vocals. Juxtaposing outlandish or vulgar phrases with vocals that could inhabit “traditional” melodies is a winning combination.

Take “Weird Al” Yankovic. He can sing, he doesn’t just have a goofy voice simulating a “real” singer’s voice. That just makes tunes with absurd lyrics like “Trapped in the Drive-Thru” or “Skipper Dan” extra entertaining. Rachel Bloom has a beautiful voice, which makes Crazy Ex-Girlfriend tunes like “Heavy Boobs” or “Feelin’ Kind Naughty” especially delightful. “Edgar’s Prayer” from Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, meanwhile, wouldn’t be nearly as hysterical if Jamie Dornan wasn’t executing it with such conviction. His voice says “serious love ballad”. That makes it such a side-splitting experience hearing those pipes emit phrases like “now I’m going up a palm tree.”

Unlike these tunes, Chlapecka’s tracks aren’t explicitly comedic or parody tunes. However, a similar phenomenon is at work here. Other artists would get too cutesy and self-referential in belting out lines like "then me and ten went and sixty-nine'd" or "wanna take your top off, get it off of your chest." Think of a musical equivalent to how a Ryan Reynolds character reacts to any reference to sex. That’s what typical artists would do in singing these words. Not Chrissy Chlapecka.

She puts her whole chest into these lyrics with a magnificent voice that proves absorbing even when she’s only accompanied by light piano playing. She kicks off the tune “BRAT”, for instance, executing the phrase “angel eyes/lips just like a daydream” with precisely maintained high notes and a transfixing ethereal vocal quality. It sounds like the start to a gospel track more than anything else thanks to Chlapecka’s vocal conviction. This encapsulates how there’s no insecurity in their vocal deliveries. There's no sense that we’re hearing something doused in irony. If anything, their voice echoes Lady Gaga’s captivating pipes!

Filtering these provocative lyrics through Chlapecka’s voice really makes them come alive. Even if they’re playing in a different genre than Yankovick, Bloom, or the Barb & Star soundtrack, Chlapecka makes those musical precursors proud with their dedication to lyrics others would dismiss as lunacy. Chrissy Chlapecka isn’t entering the music industry toning down the eccentric or unabashedly queer tendencies that put them on the map. On the contrary, they’re barging into this terrain with lyrics that perfectly extend out of her earliest unabashedly queer TikToks. With only a handful of songs to date, Chlapecka's already created a compelling musical identity that's as if a bunch of Lisa Frank stickers, Avril Lavigne tunes, and a hardcore leftist version of Elle Woods all merged.

All these qualities coalesce to make Chrissy Chlapecka's tunes one of the great music pleasures of 2024. Just look at how well their songs work in wildly varying environments. “10 Boyfriends” functions just as well as a toe-tapping club tune as it does background noise for putting on makeup. It’s been a great summer for songs from artists belonging to marginalized genders. Why not close out this season by diving deep into Chrissy Chlapecka’s discography? Not only will your ears thank you, but these tunes will make you realize that this truly is Chrissy Chlapecka’s world…we’re just living in it.