The judges’ scores are in for “Fashion Blogger,” and it’s 10s, 10s, 10s across the board. In a pairing as perfect as cookies and milk, RHYME SO – the dynamic DJ duo of Aussie RHYME and DJ icon Shinichi Osawa aka Mondo Gross aka SO – bring together the worlds of figure skating and drag, thanks to the help from RuPaul’s Drag Race star Milk. In the new visually stunning music video, RHYME competes in the fictional IAFB Grand Prix 2020 figure skating competition. While facing judges fiercer than Michelle Visage or a panel at a Ballroom voguing competition, RHYME looks to find her footing. It’s only when she makes the right personal connection that RHYME finally gets the gold.
After all, that’s the point of “Fashion Blogger.” They hypnotically groovy dance track, which feels like it was tailor-made for a drag routine, is a satirical takedown of the social media era. “Wait / I just need to refresh my feed/ LIKE!” sings RHYME as she delivers the knockout line. With an infectious bassline, an irresistible beat and minimalistic spoken-word vocals, the song feels like an instant classic while sounding incredibly fresh. It’s hard to believe that such a dope track was the first thing that RHYME SO made together.
“This was one of the first tracks we made after we first met,” RHYME tells HollywoodLife. “After a conversation about the ‘era’ we were surrounded by in modern music and fashion, we joked it was more like an ‘error’ and decided we’d make a social commentary within the ‘blogger’ and ‘influencer’ world. We also saw a shift from consumerism and more towards sustainable fashion practices & environmental consciousness. It is in our ethos to project this kind of wellness through our music.
“One day I was streaming a video about the world’s fashionistas,” SO tells HollywoodLife. “When asked ‘what is your profession?’ they all answered, ‘Fashion bloggers.’ It felt like we were living in a very strange and interesting era. I wanted to ask the world how to deal with this era, rather than the simple question of what is good and what is bad in the life and economy centered on social media. And so that’s how this concept was born.”
RHYME SO couldn’t have picked a better partner to bring the concept to life. In addition to being a renowned drag queen, MILK is also a fashion model, joining the Marc Jacobs family in 2009 and modeling in their Spring/Summer 2016 campaign. Milk, according to her website, “was a competitive figure skater, for like, ever,” which made her perfect partner for the video, since RHYME can skate too!
“Our A&R had the idea!” says RHYME. “She knew I could figure-skate and we’d talked about melding it into the music. As a big fan of MILK, and connected to the gracefulness of the sport, we thought it would be the perfect combination to make something fashionably entertaining. We created a humble homemade video for MILK with me asking her to skate with me for our next song. The rest is history.”
As for the future, RHYME SO says they have an album debuting soon. That’s something to definitely “LIKE.”