VIRAL HIT SINGLE
Racist Sexist Boy by The Linda Lindas CONTENTS
- INTRO: All Girl Punk Tween-Teen Band Goes Viral
- PLAYLIST: A few songs on YouTube. Visit my Spotify page for the playlist there.
- INTERVIEWS: With Pitchfork and the Guardian
- LIVE INTERVIEW: June 3, 2021 interview and performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live
ALL GIRL PUNK ROCK TWEEN-TEEN BAND GOES VIRAL
The Linda Lindas give girl power a makeover calling out racism and sexism
So, you’re the 10 year-old drummer in an all girl punk band and a song inspired by a boy hating on you at school has just been streamed about 4 million times on Twitter. How cool is that? Meet Mila and her three bandmates in the Linda Lindas: sister Lucia, 14; their cousin, Eloise, 13; and their friend Bela, 16.
They performed Racist, Sexist Boy at the LA Public Library on May 20 and within a week got a record deal and shout outs from industry heavyweights like Questlove, Hayley Williams and Thurston Moore. And just two nights ago they were the featured act on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
In the library video, Mila introduces the song: “A boy came up to me in my class and said that his dad told him to stay away from Chinese people. After I told him that I was Chinese, he backed away from me.”
The song calls out anti-American Asian bias and misogyny and was part of a show celebrating AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month.
Here’s the performance:
More than just a viral phenomenon
The Linda Lindas are definitely having a moment. And it’s not just because they’re young and talented. Lots of artists start early. Chopin, Liszt and Mozart all performed and composed before they were nine. Michael Jackson was 6 when he made his professional debut with the Jackson 5.
The Linda Lindas are possible thanks to a convergence of things. Some of them are media-related. But more important is a shift in awareness.
In our information-saturated era young people are growing up faster. They know more at a younger age than most of us reading this did when we were young. And they’re not simply information consumers – they’re an active part of the conversation through social media. Today, it’s a given that young people have a voice. Take Greta Thunberg for example. At 15 the climate change activist started her 2018 school strike in front of the Swedish Parliament. She posted a photo on Instagram and Twitter on the first day. It wasn’t long before other young activists shared the news and, ultimately, vaulted Thunberg onto the world stage.
The Linda Lindas too have benefited from being in that spotlight. What’s most important about their story however is that fighting racism and sexism is at the root of their message. It’s welcome and inspiring to see this all girl gang of four calling out the haters and having a lot of fun doing it. There’s nothing like youthful exuberance and innocent wisdom to make you look.
In their own words:
Racist, sexist boy
You are a racist, sexist boy
And you have racist, sexist joys
We rebuild what you destroy.
NOTE: thanks to my friend and Kurated reader Diane Beckett for introducing me to The Linda Lindas through an article in online publication Pitchfork.
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Stay tuned and enjoy!
Kris Klaasen
05 June 2021
INTERVIEWS
Check out interviews in Pitchfork and The Guardian as well as on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
