Christine Nicole Chlapecka, aka Chrissy Chlapecka, is making huge candy-flavored pink waves all over the web. The TikTok star and unapologetic left-wing activist has become a key player in the “#BimboTok” scene, flipping the script on the bimbo stereotype with a fierce, queer, and feminist twist, owning it and using it to empower a whole new vision.Â
Chrissy’s debut single, “I’m So Hot,” has really put her on the map in the music scene. Rolling Stone even dubbed her one of “The Brightest Pop Stars to Watch in 2023,” praising her charisma and likening her to pop legends like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Riding that wave, she also snagged the fourth spot on People’s “Talented 2024 Spring Emerging Artists” list.
In June, Chrissy released her EP, “Girlie Pop,” where she’s all about celebrating individuality and confidence. Chrissy is now ready to take things up a notch with new tracks, bigger productions, and all the love on her latest EP, “Girlie Pop: Encore.” She describes this new drop as bolder and more authentic, saying, “I wanted to take that energy even further—more bold, more unapologetic, more me.”Â
Stick around for our chat with Christine, where she spills the tea on her journey and what’s next for this rising star.
How do you hope “Girlie Pop: Encore” empowers listeners, particularly within the LGBTQ community?
Honestly, I wrote this edition of the EP while I was having my own sexuality crisis this year. I’ve identified as Bi for a long portion of my life, especially online. But within this past year, slowly, and slowly, I just felt like it didn’t represent me anymore. I came out as a Lesbian to my friends months before I had done it online, and it really brought inspiration to my tracks “My Only Dream Is To Be Loved” and “I Only Want You.” I finally felt like I fully understood myself and understood the kind of love I wanted and needed to feel human. I had recently come out around a month and a half ago online as a Lesbian, and I’m happy to share my journey with my audience. I feel like within these tracks I’m being a more authentic version of myself because I FEEL more authentic. You can really hear it in my voice, in the production and in the vulnerable lyrics I’m really ready to share. I finally feel like me. I hope these tracks are inspiring to those who have possibly gone through something similar within their sexuality, or people who find deep comfort in the love they give and receive that makes them feel proud.
How has the #BimboTok movement influenced the themes and messages in “Girlie Pop: Encore”?
I think while creating #BimboTok, I was definitely playing a fun character that was getting an important point across: be who you want to be, love who you want to love, wear what you want to wear, and be proud of who you are. I’m so happy I got to share that message with my audience, and I truly mean it. Now, I feel as if I’m ready to open my audience up to a more vulnerable version of myself that wipes the “character” I had created away. I think the project “Girlie Pop” itself really played into my years online that I love so deeply, but “Girlie Pop: Encore” is an entrance inside who Chrissy really is as an artist and just a human being. The mask can only stay up for so long and as goofy and campy as I’ll always be, it was time to let people in and see beyond the theatrics… into more theatrics… but more of who I am today and who I am developing into.
Can you describe how your sound has evolved from your debut single “I’m So Hot” to the tracks on this EP?
My sound has completely changed entirely. While I adore the work I had done in my first year of music, it’s just not who I am as an artist anymore. I come from a Musical Theatre background – I’ve always been a powerhouse vocalist and performer. I wanted to start making music that really showcased that side of me that I personally know best, the sweet girl whose dream used to be Broadway. My dreams have shifted and changed, but I find myself pulling inspiration from a 16-year-old me who lived and breathed theatre in the way I live and breathe pop music today. I’m So Hot was greatly inspired by the early 2000s, and while you’ll still hear hints of that in my new music – I felt it was time to evolve and change into a singer and performer that I am more familiar with – and become a star in her own lane. These next 3 tracks definitely show an evolution and a departure, simply within my vocal placement, sonic, and themes of the music in general. I’m beyond proud of it and re-inspired to keep making art that feeds that part of who I am.Â
How do you conceptualize hyperfeminine as being empowering?
Femininity IS power. I will never not believe this. There is strength, gentleness, artistry, and pure bravery that comes with being a feminine person and taking that to the utmost extreme. Femininity is something deeply threatening to so many people in our world, they believe acts of shame and violence towards it are acceptable because of their deep hatred and fear towards it. I feel so deeply connected to who I am when I embrace that part of me. For God’s sake, I don’t paint myself pink on stage for no reason. I do it because I live and breathe the artistic power that my representation of femininity brings out in me.
As an artist, activist, and content creator, how do you balance your various roles while staying true to your message? Do you feel like a lot of things can get “lost in translation” between these mediums?
I don’t necessarily think things get lost in translation to myself, personally. I do think that when changing directions in your career, people may get confused, but I think that’s okay. I definitely made a big switch when I changed from content creation to being a full-time artist, not all of my fans stuck with me – but I think that’s ok. I feel as if I’m finally becoming the person I really want to be and the person I was meant to be, and I know that my artistry is what’s going to make me big. People may not understand my journey or why switched careers, but I know that they’ll be back on board eventually. It’s about regaining trust. I have the utmost confidence in myself and where I’m going to be in the future, and my messages never change — just the way I present them to my audience. I’m still the same girl, just someone who’s developing and growing up. My morals and my beliefs haven’t changed.
What do you envision for your musical journey after “Girlie Pop: Encore”? Are there any new directions or projects you’re excited about?
“Girlie Pop: Encore” definitely inspired what’s to come next musically for me. I feel as if I unlocked a part of myself that’s the key to who I am as an artist and I will develop into in the future. I do have a lot of music I’m sitting on that I’m really excited to share with my audience in time. Right now I’m building a world and perfecting it, so much of that has come from the transition I’ve made vocally in the story building that encore has inspired. I feel back to my roots, the 16-year-old girl dying to be the lead in the musical – mind you, I always got the part I wanted. And I’m going to tackle the career I have now.Â
And what about the immediate future? What can we look forward to?
For the immediate future, I have two headline shows in November that will be taking my audience on a trip through girlie pop encore. I’ll be playing at the Roxy in Los Angeles on November 23rd and Lincoln Hall in Chicago on November 29th. I’m extremely excited about these shows, I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a performer since my first tour ever in June. Other than that, I’m excited to keep building my artistry and the world I am building for my audience.
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