After months of hype, Bebe Rexha has finally released the music video for her latest single ‘Baby, I’m Jealous’. With special guests like Charli D’Amelio, Avani and Nikita Dragun, fans are calling the music video a “cultural reset.”
The new song, which also featured the vocals of singer Doja Cat, is described by Rexha as “a little time travel to check out jealousy throughout the ages”.
Throughout the song, there are countless references to modern social media culture – with the lyrics alluding to timelines, catfishing, internet history and liking pictures. So, it isn’t surprising that Rexha recruited some of the biggest faces in social media to come with her on a journey back to pre-social media times – whether it be the 1800s, 1960’s or the very beginning of time.
This is because when it comes to social media, the credentials of her guest stars are impressive. Some of Doja Cat’s previous hits like ‘Say So’, ‘Juicy’ and ‘Like That’ have become the soundtracks to some of the biggest trends on the app.
https://twitter.com/BebeRexha/status/1314600970513334273
As well as being a previous member of the Hype House, Charli D’Amelio holds a world record for the most TikTok followers, with her current following on the app standing at 79.9 million.
TikToker, makeup artist and actress Avani has a similarly impressive following of 27.7 million. She also rose to fame as part of the Hype House.
Beauty YouTuber Nikita Dragun, despite being marred with controversy and accusations of ‘blackfishing’, still has a strong subscriber count of 3.65 million on her YouTube channel.
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Upon the music video’s release on October 9, the stars of the video got together for a livestream to celebrate – although D’Amelio was sure to take a test to make sure she was safe, following backlash from fans that she wasn’t taking social distancing seriously enough.
https://twitter.com/defnoodles/status/1314424097665765378
Many fans have expressed their enthusiasm for the new video. One Twitter user described it as “mind blowing”, “iconic” and Rexha’s “best music video so far”.
Meanwhile, another user praised Rexha for the message she put across in the song, saying: “I love the idea of highlighting that jealousy is normal and common, as long as it’s not toxic, it’s just a human trait that is part of being alive, it was always around! Good job.”
I love the idea of highlighting that jealousy is normal and common, as long as it’s not toxic, it’s just a human trait that is part of being alive, it was always around! Good job
— Joëlla ²⁸ ✨ 120 (@_softlouis_) October 9, 2020
However, the video has also amassed criticism for its inclusion of TikTokers. One commenter on YouTuber said that “the music video automatically became trash when they added in the problematic tik tokers [sic]”, while several other commenters pointed out the irony of Nikita Dragun talking about getting “canceled” in the music video in light of their recent controversies on Twitter.
Despite the controversy the co-stars of the music video have amassed, it already has over 3 million views on YouTube and over 360,000 likes.