Does Lola Young have that “One Thing”?
With her latest offering, the London-born singer sheds the messy antics and serves tongue-and-cheek nasty sex appeal. With it being a step in the right direction, does she have what it takes to make it as a full-fledged alternative-pop princess? Gordistotle tells us what’s what with his music industry knowledge.
This article is part of The G Spot, a weekly segment where criticista Gordistotle gives insight into the pop culture happenings of now through opinions or anecdotes on his life living in Toronto.
Lola Young. Credit: Ashley Osborn for NME
“Oh, hi - I wanna take you on’a likkle ride” has been reverberating in my internal monologue this entire past week. Just in time for summer and that coveted “Song of the Summer” spot, Lola Young released her follow-up single to “Messy”. With “One Thing”, she may just be an early front runner. Cause baby this track—it’s too gaggy, and it’s too goddamn tea.
Who even is Lola Young?
The 24-year-old singer hails from London and has been vying for a spot on the music scene for a couple of years now, only getting her big break stateside when Tyler the Creator reached out to her via DM to feature on his album ‘Chromakopia’.
While riding the Tyler-induced momentum, her single, “Messy” (off the album ‘This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway’) began going mega-viral on short-form video sharing apps. You couldn’t go one scroll without hearing it… However, the Beckenham-born artist began to face “controversy” (if that’s what we’re calling this) when it was discovered that her great-aunt wrote The Gruffalo, which led the internet to immediately dismiss her as an industry plant. At first I thought, well, The Gruffalo is kind of whatever, the name rings a bell, I guess, but her great-aunt, Julia Donaldson, is actually the UK’s best-selling author… like, bigger than JK Rowling.
So maybe she does have some sway in the music industry… life’s all about working your connections, isn’t it?
Hit big with “Messy”
Back to “Messy”—the song went on to top the charts in the UK, became a radio staple in the US, and went top 10 in multiple countries across the world, all while being absolutely inescapable online. The song was a bona fide hit, and the haters were mad! While some resonated with the message of the song and felt empowered by the lyrics, others (mostly stan twitter and mean-spirited people in the comments of TikTok) took to clowning Lola Young, making fun of her appearance and overall vibe.
Is “Messy” kind of a ridiculous song? Yes, but like, it’s for teenagers and influencers to soundtrack their GRWMs or recipe videos. It’s not meant to be taken seriously as an actual song, but to each their own. Alas, the nature of stan Twitter is to take everything in absolute earnest—Lola Young isn’t exactly trying to appeal to gay boys, but they’ll try their hardest to hurl insults at her until she conforms to their every desire.
Which is poignant, because like, she knows she’s messy. She wrote a song about it. She wants to be herself or whatever, is that not allowed!?
Lola Young doesn’t exactly fit the 2020s popstar mould that her contemporaries have set the standard for; she’s not extremely thin, her hair isn’t blown out, she’s not wearing cute sparkly outfits, and that’s fine. She doesn’t have to, historically there’s always a grunge-y girl on the scene, and I find Lola Young’s look endearing—it’s fun. She gets a little messy with it or whateva.
If everyone’s doing the same thing, it gets repetitive and frankly, boring!
Oh, hi!
On to the main event, and what really drove me to look into Lola Young as more than just a meme.
Her latest single “One Thing” is hilarious, and that might just be the reverse-viral marketing surrounding the track where, be it willingly or not, the internet took the teaser videos and RAN with them.
At first, I was like “what the actual fuck is this”—keep in mind I already had my reservations about her, even if parodying “Messy” lyrics had somehow made it into my rolodex of verbal ticks. The industry plant narrative definitely soured her for me a tad.
I, like most, began using the teaser for “One Thing” as a reaction video; it’s hilarious and the lyrics are ridiculous, but then I found myself repeating the first verse over and over.
Why am I fighting the urge to sing “when ya deep up insiiiide, I wanna show you just what I - liiiike” while at the office? I’m classier than this.
What I love about “One Thing” is that it isn’t a sob story like “Messy” or another frumpy track by someone who doesn’t fit the mould. Lola Young is sexy and empowered in “One Thing”, and like, fuck it, it’s a vibe. She’s owning it, and she looks amazing in the Dave Meyers (ok budget!) directed video.
I hate self-deprecating music, this is what I want to see from her going forward. Give us mid-aughts P!nk teas, that’s what's missing in the current popsphere, the lines have become too blurred with the advent of streaming—let the labels give us manufactured alternative-pop meant for radio domination again!
With “One Thing” and the direction Lola Young’s career seems to be going in—I believe she might just have what it takes to stick around. Tyler the Creator, the Gruffalo, and “Messy” were all a foot in the door, but now it’s about proving she can stick.
My advice would be to keep touring and getting those viral moments on stage, artists like Lola Young don’t really have online fanbases in the same way other artists do; her lane is more word-of-mouth. You don’t always want to be associated with having a crazy online following, it can scare away casual music fans.
“One Thing” is definitely a made-for-radio song, and the first verse is something that instantly gets stuck in your head. I’d recommend the next single from the rollout be a ballad in the same vein as “Messy” but maybe tackling a more adult topic—a “Love Is A Losing Game” or “Chasing Pavements” moment would be soooo gaggy.
Lola — can I call you Lola?
I’m rooting for you; become famous enough so gays online can start calling you by a mononym—that’s when you know you’ve really made it. Prove them wrong with “One Thing”, reel them in with that ridiculous first verse and then get them hooked with the chorus—you got this!