Cash Money Records is back, takin’ over the COVID 1-9 and the 2020s! “Girl, you look good / once you vax that thang up / you a handsome young brother / once you vax that thang up / dating in real life / you need to vax that thang up / feeling freaky all night / you need to vax that thang up,” raps Juvenile in a reworking of his 1999 hit, “Back That Thang Up.” In this new version – “Vax That Thang Up,” if you didn’t deduce that already – Juvenile reunites with Cash Money’s Mannie Fresh, who was on the original track, to help spread the word (and not spread COVID.) They’re also joined No Limit’s Mia X (“If you want to smash some dude name Scott / go, go, go get the shot”), marking the first time Cash Money and No Limit worked together on a single project.
The new song is both a PSA for herd immunity through increased vaccinations – and an advertisement for BLK, the largest dating app made for Black singles. “I just wanted to do something positive for my people and to stand in the front to show that I’m willing to sacrifice my life not just for me but also for my family,” said Juvenile about the new project in a press release. “We don’t know what we’re facing right now but we really do all need to be vaccinated so we can continue to do our thing and survive.”
“We have a direct line to the audience that needs to internalize this message,” said Jonathan Kirkland, BLK Head of Brand & Marketing, in the press release. “The song may be playful and fun, but the underlying message is as real as it gets.” In late June, the CDC published a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, noting that it conducted a nationally representative household panel surveys during March–May 2021. Among respondents aged 18-39, nearly 25% said they probably or would not get vaccinated, with 23% of the group unsure.
“Adults aged 18–39 years with lower incomes, with lower educational attainment, without health insurance, who were non-Hispanic Black, and who lived outside of metropolitan areas had the lowest reported vaccination coverage and intent to get vaccinated,” noted the report. BLK’s “Vax That Thang Up” campaign, created in partnership with Majority (the marketing agency co-founded by Shaquille O’Neal earlier this year) aims to encourage young Black singles to get vaccinated. In addition to the video, BLK unveiled a “Vaxified” badge on its app, allowing singles to promote their vaccinated status to prospective matches. In less than a month, over 100,000 BLK users added the badge to their profiles.
For more information visit www.VaxThatThangUp.com