Number One Popstar spoofs work-out fads via elastic electro-pop cut "I Hate Running"
“I Hate Running” sees Number One Popstar lampoon the endless self-help trend treadmill while spurring an urge to get physical in infectious, guitar lick-sporting synth abandon.
Rivalling Olivia Newton-John in legwarmer-donning '80s pop excess, Number One Popstar, alias of Kate Hollowell, parodies an industry of gurus hitching onto collective anxieties.
With a banknote-bursting suitcase and gleaming red Corvette in tow, the LA-based artist's character masters a perfect cash grab in the track’s accompanying self-directed video; offbeat humour rising to the fore with slick choreography and a teasingly wry glint.
Hollowell outlines the rationale behind the track: "'I Hate Running' is a play on the constant pop-up health movements in our society that make us feel like we can never do enough to better ourselves. The song explores facing the hard emotional work instead of the physical. I really don’t enjoy running, and I wanted to troll the exercise industry and write an anti-motivational song. Although in the end, I think a little reverse psychology and the '80s inspired, manic-pace of the song might actually make you want to exercise. Tricked you!”
Well-versed as a filmmaker, having previously directed videos for SASAMI and Katy Perry, Hollowell teamed up with director of photography Jordan Black, on this occasion, to adapt her own material. “The concept for the music video stemmed from me watching way too many cult docs this year," she shares. "Those stories are always so captivating and strange and I loved the idea of portraying a money driven, quasi-cultish exercise instructor who wears a crown made of cigarettes while trying to hawk her new self-help book. Now get out there and work on yourself, losers!’
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