Pop music always has something to say about love. Sometimes it feels like the whole genre is less about the quality of music and more about the themes of dating, boyfriends, and, if the artist wants to be more sensational: sex.
Olivia Rodrigo is no different. Whether she’s getting a driver’s license or grappling with a blood-sucking vampire, her music is almost always about romance and its downfall. She’s consistent, I’ll give her that.
But it’s hard to connect with mainstream pop as a gay girl, especially to catchy songs like “Expectations,” where you feel like you need to change every pronoun for it to be relatable.
So, thank GOD for Chappell Roan. Her theatrical, drag-like persona brings an unapologetically queer influence to mainstream pop, and her surprise feature on Rodrigo’s “Expectations” only amplifies it.
There’s a big difference between featuring a queer artist in your song and letting her shape the actual music with her lived experience. That’s why this collaboration matters so much; Rodrigo already has a massive audience of (mostly) young girls, and including openly queer experiences brings a perspective these listeners might never have sought out on their own.
“Expectations” already boomed due to the universal experience of dating frustrating bums, but Chappell’s verse expands this even further to being with women. The “classic LA behavior” she sings about appeals to the girls holding it down in other cities too. Getting ghosted, misreading signals, and expecting more from the girl you’re with are relatable for sapphics everywhere, and the verse paints a specific picture of what those relationships look like, rather than just a vague remix of Rodrigo’s original lyrics.
Explicitly singing about kissing and touching other girls is a big step in mainstream pop, and the shift makes queer dating just another part of the genre narrative, rather than something separate or niche.
The representation is even more powerful because Roan can show the funny, messy, and overwhelmingly normal parts of being gay, not just the inspirational or fetishized portrayals that mainstream media almost always shows.
And Chappell’s feature is only a glimpse into the phenomenon that is gay culture. The remix’s music video, campy, retro, and over-the-top, celebrates expression and theatricality, traits common in queer pop culture.
With nods to iconic game shows like Family Feud, Jeopardy, and Wheel of Fortune, the competition between Rodrigo’s and Roan’s characters reinforces the overarching message: raise your standards. Romance doesn’t mean accepting less than you deserve, and that goes for everyone!
Sometimes it feels like you have to settle more in sapphic dating, since gay girls are an endangered species in an ocean of heteronormativity. But Roan shows us that girls can be losers too, and that setting a high bar isn’t asking for too much.
The remix is a leap for mainstream representation, but its significance isn’t just that it’s an exception. In fact, I think it’s even more beneficial because it makes queer experiences feel like a natural part of pop culture, which doesn’t happen very often.
Rodrigo’s got big expectations for future boyfriends, but mine are for the future of pop. In an age of so much negativity and hatred, seeing representation in mainstream spaces excites me for younger audiences who will grow up with it—and for girls who won’t have to change pronouns to sing along.