Katie Noel responds to backlash over viral country song ‘Southern’
YouTube: Katie NoelMusic artist and influencer Katie Noel is hitting back at criticism of her country song, ‘Southern,’ which some commenters are calling “worse than Friday.”
23-year-old Katie Noel is a music artist and influencer, boasting over five million likes on TikTok and garnering over 300,000 followers on Instagram.
While the singer’s discography features two albums of peppy pop-country songs, her latest single is coming under fire from listeners just five days after being released.
On February 17, Noel dropped her newest song, ‘Southern.’ The track itself is similar to Blake Shelton’s ‘Boys ‘Round Here,’ with the singer celebrating the country lifestyle in a rap-style before launching into a melody.
Despite other songs like it existing in pop culture, viewers are expressing their displeasure with ‘Southern,’ specifically, with many comparing it to Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ from 11 years ago.
“We are still recovering from Friday by Rebecca Black and you do this to us,” one user wrote.
“Ayooooo, don’t release this,” another begged.
“Is this an SNL skit?” another asked.
TikTok: katienoelofficialNoel’s clip advertising the music video for her song has racked up over 1.6 million views on TikTok as a result of the criticism.
That’s not all; it’s even gone viral on Twitter, with platforms like Barstool and even comedian Theo Von blasting the track to the tune of millions of views — but Noel knows how to hang with the best of them.
Katie Noel hits back at criticism over viral ‘Southern’ video
The singer responded to the backlash against her song in a follow-up video on February 22, where she conducted a mock news segment about the situation using a spray bottle as a microphone.
“This is tasteless b*tch reporting live from Southern Kentucky,” she joked. “Overnight sensation Katie Noel has [gone] viral with her song, ‘Southern.’ And we ask ourselves: ‘What the actual f*ck is that?'”
She then asked ‘Barstool’ how they felt about the situation before panning over to an actual barstool, then launched into an imitation of Whiskey Riff’s Brady Cox and Theo Von.
It looks like Noel’s response video is getting much the same response as her song, but it’s clear that she’s willing to handle the criticism — and even throw a little back at her critics, too.