WHAT HAPPENS AFTER a video drops on the internet is in the hands of the lords of the algorithm. Whether it spawns a dance craze, lingers in limbo, or springs the dawn of a new rap superstar, the "For You" page has catapulted or throttled many a creator traversing the digital realm. The results are as thrilling as they are disorienting. GloRilla knows this feeling well. Her music video for "F.N.F (Let's Go)" debuted on YouTube in April, and over the summer, fans quickly made it a viral hit, propelling the song, a collaboration with music producer Hitkidd, onto the top of year-end "Best Of" lists. Its bumpy, staccato spelling-bee chorus-"I'm F-RE-E fuck nigga free/That mean I ain't gotta worry 'bout no fuck nigga cheating"just as swiftly made its way onto TikTok, where thousands flooded feeds with #FNFChallenge-tagged bouncy dance moves that might make purveyors of classic Memphis juke joints side-eye. Today, the YouTube video has amassed more than 58 million views, and the TikTok hashtag has more than 22.6 million-that is to say, it was a certifiable smash.
Usually the short attention spans of the clock app end the story there. Not this time. What made the "F.N.F. (Let's Go)" video work wasn't just that the song is a femme anthem. It also has on-the-block relatability.
Here was a woman, a round-the-way girl, petite and brash and with a deeper register than many of the dudes in her airspace, who'd simply had it with the pettiness of men. It felt real because it was real. Two months before the track's release, Glo and her friends Teezy and Keila decided to go on a cleanse. They cut out men, partying, and alcohol and homed in on money moves. For Glo, this was recovery from the heartbreak left behind by a skeevy ex, the heart obliteration brought on by a (now) ex-friend who had hooked up with said dude behind her back, and the mental taxation of an abortion. This was the funk that produced her TikTok hit, a bop born of betrayal and sacrifice.
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