CNN
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Hear that? That’s the sound of a wave of young pop artists powering Vice President Kamala Harris on TikTok.
A video shared this week by the 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 former President Donald Trump. It has already garnered more than 35 million views.
“But what we really need is a femininomenon,” the chorus of Roan’s song plays over rotating photos of Harris and Trump. “A what?” her voice screams. “A femininomenon!”
The song “Femininomenon” — a word made up by Roan that combines “feminine” and “phenomenon” — quickly secured the attention of the TikTok generation, many of whom are potential voters.
While Roan has not yet endorsed a candidate in the race for the White House, galvanizing her fans through her music may pay off for the Harris campaign. (Roan’s representative did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment).
The singer told a crowd of thousands last month at New York’s Governors Ball Music festival, where she performed while dressed as the Statue of Liberty, that she’d declined an invitation to perform at the White House’s LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration — but that was President Joe Biden’s White House.
Now, with Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee, celebrities who were reluctant to publicly endorse Biden have been coming out in full force to support Harris. And no class of celebrity will be more important to her 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 A-listers no longer move the needle with a group of voters who matter great in this election: the first timers. In other words, Charli XCX could be more influential in the 2024 election than George Clooney or Barbra Streisand (both of whom have also endorsed Harris).
“Both campaigns struggled to get to Gen Z because both of the candidates were older than their grandparents,” a Democratic strategist who is working with A-list celebrities this election cycle told CNN of the race that was between Biden and Trump.
“Kamala has a really good chance to break through with Gen Z,” the Hollywood strategist added. “She’s closer to their parents’ age, which is more relatable.”
Harris’ campaign has already gotten early support from young, hugely influential pop stars including Ariana Grande, who is one of the most followed people on the planet with 378 million Instagram followers; Demi Lovato, who has 155 million Instagram followers; Kesha and Charli XCX — who gave Harris more attention than any campaign could ever dream of with her now-infamous “Kamala IS brat” post, which was quickly embraced by the vice president’s team across their social media platforms.
Harris isn’t the only presidential hopeful who is utilizing TikTok as a key campaigning strategy. While Harris’ TikTok page has 1.1 million followers, Trump, who joined TikTok in June, garnered 3 million followers in his first day on the social media platform. He now boasts 9.1 million followers. (However, with significantly less followers, Harris, who has 15.8 million likes on her HQ’s TikTok page, has higher engagement than Trump, who has 22.2 million likes with his much larger following.)
Here’s a look at three pop stars who could galvanize Gen Z into 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 has explained the aesthetic, in part, as visualizing a “pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra.”
“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes,” she explained in a video shared on TikTok. “Who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.”
By declaring Harris “brat” she not only gave the campaign a highly visible boost among Gen Z, but also gave the campaign an opportunity to show they valued the distinction.
Those visiting the official Kamala HQ account on X, which links to her official site, are met with a background photo in the “brat” green color and the vice president’s name in the same font as sported on Charli XCX’s album.
And Charli XCX is not the only pop star to get in on the game.
Olivia Rodrigo
Singer and songwriter Olivia Rodrigo appeared to endorse Harris on social media on 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 rally speech as part of her presidential election campaign on Tuesday in West Allis, Wisconsin.
Rodrigo placed emojis of praising hands on the video of Harris vowing to protect reproductive rights.
“Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do,” Harris says in the video. “And when Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms as president of the United States, I will sign it into law.”
Rodrigo made free emergency contraception available at some of her concerts during her “Guts” tour as part of her ongoing Fund 4 Good initiative, which is a “global initiative committed to building an equitable and just future for all women, girls and people seeking reproductive health freedom,” according to the foundation’s website.
This is not the first time Rodrigo has spoken out about causes with poltical leaders. In July 2021, the singer visited the White House during the pandemic to meet with Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci to encourage young Americans to get vaccinated. At that visit, she posted for photos with Harris, and stated that she was proud to support the administration’s vaccination initiative by using her massive platform to reach her young fans.
Turns out, Rodrigo’s influence on young voters may prove to be pivotal once again.
Chappell Roan
The Harris campaign’s video featuring Roan’s music might be the first some voters are hearing of the artist but not if they are Gen Z.
The singer, 26, who signed her first record deal as a teen, has become a phenomenon this summer.
Roan, whose music has an ‘80s synth-pop sound with smooth vocals, had seen her popularity rise so quickly that festivals have had to adjust for her growing concert crowds.
Her 2023 debut studio album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” which is a nod to her Willard, Missouri roots, currently sits in the No. 5 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. She has also had three songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, according to the music charting site, 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 it’s an expression of me 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 Governors Ball this past June and turned down the White House’s request to perform for Pride, she explained, “We want liberty, justice and freedom for all. When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
Time will tell if Roan will come now for Harris.
CNN’s Alli Rosenbloom and DJ Judd contributed to this story.
