Ashnikko returns with a new razor-sharp, take-no-prisoners anthem. Her latest single, “Cheerleader,” isn’t about the shaking of pom-poms. It’s about lighting that shit on fire. Warping the archetype of the pristine, all-American cheerleader into something exploded and unhinged and warped, Ashnikko uses “Cheerleader” to admit and call out the unending, unrelenting pressure to be “fuckable” in an industry that asks for it.
Built on a foundation of creepy, warped vocal loops and a thumping beat that throbs like an adrenaline hit, “Cheerleader” unfolds as a feverish dream of pop-star excess gone awry. The opening synths of the track beckon you in, only to have Ashnikko, the venom-laced vocalist, kick in to make clear that this isn’t some sugar-coated pep rally. “Feed the beast unbroken dreams,” she sneers, baring the ugly underbelly of beauty ideals that commodify self-worth.
It’s the kind of Ashnikko-ism that sticks like glue biting, self-aware, dripping in attitude, and the chorus is an explosion of defiance, a cheer routine gone wrong turned on its head on those who try to box her in: “Hate me ‘cause I’m beautiful, bitch, I don’t like you either.” By the time she growls, “Honey, I’m the lead role, you don’t even feature,” it’s obvious she has had it with niceness.