With Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s new video “WAP” trending all over the internet over the weekend, there might not be a more perfect time for a resurgence of club music from places like Baltimore and New Jersey thanks to “WAP”‘s rousing interpolation of DJ Frank Ski’s 1993 Baltimore smash “Whores In This House.” Fortunately for the emerging “Jersey club savant” Cookiee Kawaii, her song “Vibe” has already been bubbling all over TikTok and is primed to boil over into a mainstream hit — especially with the release of the song’s official music video.
Taking visual inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller classic The Birds, the video opens with Cookiee inside a phone booth, being swarmed by thousands of crows, one of which becomes anthropomorphized to perform some dance choreography. Once the beat starts in earnest, Cookiee becomes a bandleader and a space explorer in turn, flanked by theme-appropriate dancers. The video crams plenty of eye-grabbing imagery into such a short song — “Vibe” is only about a minute long — including an especially spider-y scene in which Cookiee appears with six extra legs.
TikTok has become the launching pad for a number of hits in the past year, including No.1’s like Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” Doja Cat’s “Say So,” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage.” While all of those were more or less established artists before their songs went viral on TikTok, it’s only a matter of time until the app produces its own native star. With women finally getting more attention and influence in the music industry and the potential for upbeat club songs to become the next big trend in pop, there’s are plenty of reasons why Cookiee Kawaii might just be the star in question.
Watch Cookiee Kawaii’s “Vibe (If I Back It Up)” video above.