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GAYLE’s Punk-Pop Prowess Transcends Her Viral TikTok Fame
GAYLE opens up about her viral TikTok song, "ABCDEFU"; her upcoming bedroom-pop EP; and exchanging DMs with Olivia Rodrigo.

GAYLE’s Punk-Pop Prowess Transcends Her Viral TikTok Fame

Olivia Rodrigo set the tone for a new generation of musical badasses when she posited, “I’m so sick of 17. Where’s my fcking teenage dream?” in her hit song “Brutal” at the start of 2021. Exactly seven months later, TikTok exploded with thousands of loops sampling an equally passionate “fck you” anthem: GAYLE’s “ABCDEFU.”

Sweet in tone yet sharp in delivery, the breakup song seemed to be an overnight hit, raking in millions of likes and spurring hundreds of covers. But according to GAYLE — whose rebellious image comes through in her fierce stage presence and the middle-finger emoji that doubles as a cursor on her website — the song’s trajectory to viral acclaim isn’t as clear-cut as it seems.

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