Andrew Tate’s hatred of women has landed him in a foreign prison. Chrissy Chlapecka’s hatred of Andrew Tate has landed her an absolute smash single. The two are simply not built the same.
Hot off the release of her gay-beloved debut single “I’m So Hot”, a self-love anthem in all senses of the term, this TikTok star-turned-bopstress is heading into new pop territory. While her first track was selling an infectious early-’00s banger à la Lindsay Lohan’s “Rumors”, “Alpha” jumps ahead a few years to that sound that made Blackout and The Fame legendary.
This dive into inspired pop is highly welcome from a social media personality with such a big queer following. The audience comes naturally, as Chrissy’s own queerness has informed their intersectional feminist comedy from the very beginning. Now, they’re taking that same philosophy — and their hot pink, bimbocore packaging — right into the popstar world.
We caught up with Chrissy to learn all about their new single, their response to Tate himself, their current queer music faves and more.
First things first, we have to talk about your new music, obvi. Give me the lowdown on “Alpha”!
“Alpha” is all about Internet culture and the way that alpha males present themselves online versus how they really act in person. It’s about how silly alpha males are and how harmful they are, both on the internet and in real life.
And it’s very ‘all bark, no bite’. Like, you can say whatever you want on the Internet, you can DM me all these things that you feel, but in real life, I know that you would be flirting with me and terrified of me.
The Internet has been talking about alpha males for a while; it’s been a big thing with the rise of Andrew Tate (unfortunately). It’s influencing a lot of young men to embrace that culture and embrace those really, really harmful things that Andrew Tate and people like him are preaching online.
It’s really hard to get through people’s heads that this is dangerous, especially for young teenage boys who are trying to find their place in the world. So I just wanted to do my little statement on it all – as someone who is actively online fighting men a lot. [Laughs] But it’s definitely a silly song, too.
Speaking of Andrew Tate specifically, there was a moment on TikTok where some people were saying you were “the female Andrew Tate”. Some of them seemed to mean it in that way that some girls say the Barbie movie is going to be their Joker, but it seemed like some of them were serious. How do you respond to a comparison like that?
It’s funny. A lot of what I do on the Internet is just calling out blatant bullsh*t. And somehow that led to a phase around last summer when people were really like, “Oh my god, Chrissy Chlapecka is the female Andrew Tate.” I know a lot of it was joking, but there were some people that were very serious.
I would love to remind those people that call me a “misandrist” or whatever that misandry doesn’t exist. Like, that isn’t a real term. That’s not something that actually happens in real life. Misogyny is the problem and the root of it all. And someone calling out misogynistic things on the internet is not someone who is being a misandrist or a “man-hater”. If you want to call me that, I’m not going to take offense, but I think people need to really understand what things mean and how these terms are used.
It kind of just shows the lack of education that people are taking in on the internet. They hear these clickbaity words like misandry and they’re like, “Oh, that’s what you are!” without actually diving deep to understand the roots of that word and how it really is not a thing at all.
A lot of what I do on the Internet is just calling out blatant bullsh*t.
Chrissy Chlapecka
I don’t get upset when people say that to me, personally. I really don’t take things that people say about me on the internet to heart, because I know myself. That’s a skill I had to develop as someone who’s been visible on the Internet the past three years. I know myself, and I know what I’m doing.
But it is frustrating. I wish people would understand the blatant difference between people like Andrew Tate and people like me or like Drew Afualo, who are actually trying to uplift women and queer people that are constantly being looked down on by men like that.
There are so many issues going on all the time that root from white supremacy and misogyny and homophobia, and making that known is not, like, reverse-anything. It’s not the same. What people like me on the internet are doing is not the same as just being a blatant misogynistic creep online.
Yeah, male violence and the reaction to male violence are not immediately equitable. That said, lots of us struggle with balancing the feminist reality of total gender equality with the same joking compulsion you have to “hit men with your car”. How do you balance the two internally?
I mean, it’s hard. [Laughs] Truly, it’s hard. Obviously, wherever you are on the gender spectrum, there should be equality. It’s just that we’re so far behind that right now, especially with all the blatant transphobia everywhere.
Gender is really throwing people for a loop in a weird way. It’s really hard not to be like, “Are you literally stupid? Like, is it actually affecting you day-to-day that some people are living as they want to and trying to make it through the world in their own way?”
And unfortunately, men’s actions, especially white men’s, affect everyone else. So it’s difficult to not get on the internet and just be like, “This is all BS and I want to hit you with my car.” I think it’s valid to joke in that way and valid to respond to those things. For years, lots of people have had to bite their tongues and hold back their feelings about it out of fear of what that person could do to them.
RelatedSeason Two shows us an even more vulnerable side of Sam, as she realizes she can’t escape in the same ways she once did.
In my case, I have been through a lot of abuse from a lot of men in my life since growing up. It’s been very difficult for me to get to the point where I can say ‘no, you are not allowed to treat me like that’ and set a boundary, because that wasn’t always a safe space for me to live in.
I’m sure there are many people who are where I was three or four years ago who still feel like that now. I think it’s so important to have people, even if we’re making a joke about it, to affirm that it’s okay to set boundaries and it’s okay to say no. People should never be treating you horribly just because of who you are as a human being.
“Alpha” is exactly that. Just because you claim that you’re an alpha male and think you’re the top tier of the world doesn’t mean you need to be so misogynistic, so transphobic, so racist, so homophobic, the list goes on and on and on. I think there is validity in going on the internet and being like, “This is bullshit and these people shouldn’t act like this.”
If I had seen that when I was going through my really abusive relationship and the other things I endured throughout my childhood and my teenage years… I’m not saying that that would have fixed it all, but it’s about having someone to look to. Someone that says, “It’s okay to say no. You’re a badass, you are amazing, and you have the capability to be the person that you want to be outside of how men see you.”
I don’t know where I’d be, but I think it would have been really helpful growing up to have something like that. That’s what I want to do in my space, just be someone that people can listen to. If something I say can carry something positive to one person, then that’s why I do it. That’s why I make content, that’s why I make music, that’s why I do anything.
It feels like you’ve settled so comfortably into this aesthetic that you express your femininity and your power through. Do you ever feel at all confined by the expectations people have for your persona? Or is it just the aesthetic that keeps on giving?
I’ve loved settling into my femininity and embracing my body. I love embracing the parts of myself that I tried to cover up for years out of embarrassment. It’s about reclaiming my sexuality in a way, because I was really over sexualized as a kid very fast when I started developing and I never got the chance then to understand that this is all mine. My body is my own, my sexuality is my own. What I wear is for me.
It was really hard growing up the way I did and not understanding that. And it wasn’t my fault; we’re raised to “need” male validation. It took a while for me to understand that that’s not what I need at all. At the end of the day, I just need myself.
I think that with my fashion and how I present myself, I’ve really reclaimed my body and my sexuality. I’ve been able to enjoy how I dress, whether it’s in a little mini-skirt or I’m fully covered. It’s so beautiful to feel like this body is my own and I get to do what I want with it. It’s not for anybody else but me. It’s for me to look at myself in the Starbucks window when I’m walking down the street, it’s for me to look at myself when I’m in the mirror dancing to my music. Even if I’m just in sweats at the grocery store, it’s for me to be comfortable. It’s been a beautiful reclamation for me as someone who has been used for my body a lot.
So I don’t know if I necessarily feel confined by having to stay in this pink, Barbie, bimbocore aesthetic. I think I am getting into an era of wanting to play with it a little more, but I think I will always feel at home and at my most “me” when I’m wearing stuff like that. I’m excited to keep exploring fashion and femininity and other parts of myself that I haven’t unlocked yet, too.
Is there an album in the works that we can look forward to?
Yes! I’m working on a project right now – I’m not sure if it’s going to be an EP or a full album coming first. I’m making a lot of music and seeing where I fit. I’m a new artist, and the best part of that is constantly creating and coming up with new ideas and seeing where it goes and how things inform me as a musician.
We have a couple more tracks to be released this summer that I’m super excited about, and then hopefully by fall or winter I’ll have a full project out. That is, if all goes according to plan, but my life is crazy. [Laughs] But who needs a schedule?
I want to get it out there as fast as possible. I’m ready to show people that this is what I want to do. This is my calling. As an artist it’s so fulfilling to do the thing I feel like I was meant to do forever. My inner child is very happy right now.
Can you namedrop any queer music or musicians that speak to you right now?
I love Madison Rose, all of her stuff. I’m so, so obsessed. I love Gia Woods as well, “Lesbionic” is just absolutely iconic. Peach PRC, I absolutely adore as well. I’m super inspired by her.
I just love all the queers like in the scene; it’s really inspiring to see these people make such wonderful, amazing music and for it to be so celebrated. I would love to work with all of them and learn from them because I’m still so new at this. Like, I’m confident in myself and I know it’s gonna be great, but it’s amazing to watch these amazing people who have been doing it for years keep killing it and keep slaying.
I’m assuming you’ve seen the Barbie movie posters that are like “This Barbie is President” or “This Barbie is a doctor”. What would your Barbie tagline be?
I’m gonna have to be “This Barbie is a popstar.” Or “This Barbie is a bimbo.” [Laughs] There’s just so much to me.
RelatedThis deliciously pink movie comes to the silver screen on July 21.
One last overarching question which we’ve touched on some already. How do you hope that your work meets the current moment?
The reason I post, the reason I make music, the reason I am who I am today is because I really, really care about other people. I’ve been through a lot of experiences in my life that I really wish I had somebody like me now to look to. If I can just be a big sister that people can go to to feel good, that is why I do everything.
Like with my first single “I’m So Hot”; that was all about self-love and feeling yourself and owning your body. I would love to get billions and billions of streams, and I know I’m gonna get there, but if even one person is feeling great because of something I said or because of a song I made, that’s pure fulfillment to me. It means so much to me.
I want to be that big sister. I want to be the person that my inner child needs. I want to strive for that every day, because I really care about the people who follow me, and the people who have yet to discover me, and the people I meet on the street who have no idea who I am. I just really give a f*ck. That’s what I want to lead with, forever.♦
Harness the hot pink power of Chrissy’s new song, “Alpha”: