I’m a very casual fan of both Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan. I loved “driver’s license” and slowly collected favorite songs from Rodrigo’s releases as she took off. With Chappell Roan, I listened to “Picture You” over and over until I started seeing all the fandom edits to “Good Luck, Babe!” and that was it for me. I was obsessed like everyone else. Essentially, these two artists have been some of my favs for a while now.
When listening to Rodrigo’s new album, You Seem Pretty Sad for A Girl So In Love, the song “expectations” stood out to me immediately. It’s such a strong vibe, and the moment someone said it reminded them of Chappell Roan, I fell in love with it even more. Though, I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing considering Rodrigo’s past with copyright allegations, from Paramore to Taylor Swift, and the drama that followed. But those situations are for a different article to tackle.
I didn’t think there’d be any drama considering Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan are friends. They have more than a good public relationship. They’ve worked together, with Roan doing back up vocals for the album Guts and even for one of my favorite songs, “Can’t Catch Me Now,” written for one of my favorite fandoms, the Hunger Games. I saw some people on Reddit and Instagram say that because the two artists share a producer, Dan Nigro, there’d be similarities in their music. I think any similarities stems from them just influencing each other over the years.
Regardless, I had nothing to worry about. The two artists released a remix version of “expectations” on Oct. 15, and I ate it up. The music video was gorgeous and so much fun. From the game show theme, to all the outfit changes, to Roan’s laugh at the end. There’s just so much beauty to appreciate in their combined visuals and little details, such as the host Johnny Jonhson being labeled as “Your Favorite Host’s Favorite Host,” a call back to one of Roan’s iconic phrases.
Personally, I love when music videos add to the song rather than just compliment it. The game show was called “The Big Expectations Show” and it was the Rodrigos versus the Roans, with Roan starting her part of the remix by answering a question for the game show. I can’t imagine how much fun everyone had on set.
Now, if you look up “Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘expectations’ sounds like Chappell Roan,” you’ll get their remix and music video more than anything. A great PR move, coincidental or not, that reminded me of Charli xcx and Lorde. They’re two very different situations, but both ended with a remix that I, and many others, adore.
For Olivia Rodrigo, instead of backlash and a change in credits, she and Roan collaborated and made more art. For Charli xcx, instead of receiving a diss track or publicly feuding, she and Lorde worked it out on the remix. What these situations have in common are two talented women supporting each other’s music careers and creating iconic pop culture moments.
Public statements go a long way, but I think when musicians use their art to communicate it’s so more impactful and lasting. And now I have another song to listen to on repeat!