Black Girls Can Do That Too: A Look at Tiktok's Newest Popstar
Written by D'Jenaiya Bowser
Black American music is a global phenomenon, and our constant contributions and trendsetting abilities are unmatched. While Black people are not always regarded with the same reverence, our influence cannot be understated. Despite facing a long history of denied access and other racist rhetoric, we thrive in all aspects of life, including music.
That is not without its challenges, however. One challenge is the running narrative of what types of music Black people are "allowed" to participate or be successful in and diminishing one's "Blackness" based on the music they enjoy.
Music is for everyone and does not have a color: Decades of racial profiling and stereotyping have created an environment where Black people are siloed into behaving in specific ways and liking only certain things. Black people in the United States have strong roots across genres, but especially after the rise of Hip-Hop and Rap music in the 1980s, there was a strong push for Black people to stick to those genres in both production and consumption.
Some people have always deviated, but that was not without social and professional pushback. Artists who ventured too far outside the "norm" were considered “odd” and “weird,” and had their Blackness questioned. These attitudes trickled down into the general populace, and Rap and Hip-Hop became "Black music," while effectively everything else was "white people music," despite origins that suggest otherwise.
READ MORE: Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll? These Are the Black Pioneers Who Laid the Genre's Foundations
In a society that both rewards and punishes conforming, those who veer outside the norm have the potential to be trendsetters ahead of their time. One such artist is hemlocke springs, a young artist from North Carolina.
With musical influences like Marina and the Diamonds and Jack Stauber, she has a sound that feels both nostalgic and modern a the same time, spanning the pop genre. hemlocke springs released her first single, "gimme all ur luv," in May 2022 and went viral on TikTok with the release of her second single, "girlfriend," in November 2022.
hemlocke springs teased the song via a video posted on October 30, 2022, while dressed as Dionne from "Clueless." As of April 2023, the video has amassed over one million views, nearly 12 thousand comments, and 24 million plays on Spotify. "girlfriend" has been used as a sound on TikTok by people ranging from casual users to popular creators to celebrities like Khalid.
The song is reminiscent of 80's synth pop and catalogs a desire for love and yearning, and quickly became the "awkward Black Girl anthem." Overwhelmingly, "awkward" is not typically a word associated with Black Women, nor is it an experience that Black girls are allowed to partake in, at least not openly, lest they be subject to ridicule because that isn't how Black girls are "supposed" to act.
Growing up is hard for everyone, but Black girlhood is an experience that, in addition to typical adolescent growing pains, is marred by early exposure to racism, misogynoir, and, commonly, sexualization and adultification. These warring life factions result in an existence where it is difficult for Black girls to just be young girls. These pressures affect every action, idea, look, and experience of growing up, making the transition from Black girl to Black Woman especially difficult.
One of the reasons that hemlocke springs gained popularity is because she represents a different experience of Black Womanhood. She shows that it's okay to be different and try something that others may not fully comprehend.
In an interview with People Magazine, hemlocke springs stated:
"I've gotten a lot of support, particularly from a lot of Black women saying, 'This is tapping into my awkward high school phase,' or saying, 'Where were you during high school?'"
"To be in such a space and to be regarded in such a way, it's just amazing,"
Since going viral, hemlocke springs released another song, "stranger danger," in January of 2023, and it has over one million streams to date. Her musical success can be attributed to her unique sound and perspective and her use of TikTok to promote her music. She uses her songs as a sound for nearly all of her videos and "teases" her songs to arouse interest. For example, with "girlfriend," she teased the song about a month before its release, and the timeline was similar for "stranger danger."
Additionally, she is pretty interactive with her TikTok audience. In a video posted to her account on December 20, 2022, hemlocke springs responded to a commenter asking if she were an "industry plant" or an artist backed by a label but with the appearance of being independent. She explains that while finishing her Master's program at Dartmouth College in the spring of 2022, she made "gimme all ur luv," which put her on the For You page of her current management team and allowed her to connect with them. They were in contract negotiations until October when they decided to release "girlfriend." In the video's caption, hemlocke springs states that she believes she has a good marketing team, another factor contributing to her success on the app.
Her quirky posting style also sets her apart, with many of her videos featuring a close-up of her face featured ironically. She also shares much of her progress and process and gives her audience insight into her journey as a new artist. She promotes her songs with relatable and semi-ironic skits that capture how social media speaks in 2023. She is funny, on-trend, and gives the audience key insight into the person behind the music.
hemlocke springs has over 295 thousand followers on TikTok and 9.3 million likes. Her videos fare well, with views ranging from 25k to over five million. All three of her singles have accompanying music videos, which have accrued over 2.5 million views on her YouTube channel.
In forging a new path, hemlocke springs has successfully established herself as an artist to watch. Though early in her career, she is carving out her own niche in the music industry. She has been featured in Complex, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone magazines, documenting her rise as a breakout star.
hemlocke springs is an artist who has her own unique style and marches to the beat of her own drum. She is a trendsetter, making ground in a genre for which Black people are not necessarily known. She is letting the world know that Black girls can do that too and that there is no genre in which Black people cannot succeed. Her rise to stardom is inspiring, and she is just getting started
My name is D'Jenaiya (she/her) I believe that it is our duty to leave the world a little better than we found it, and that is a guiding principle of my life. One of the ways we can do that is through storytelling, and in turn, we gain a fuller perspective.