Why the“Stateside” Music Video Hits the Sweet Spot
by Yasmine Arjoun
After an exploding 2024, it seemed no one was coming to save pop music in 2025. Sure, there were some hits here and there and we were still riding off the high of Brat (2024) or the Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet tour, but nothing was sticking like it had the year prior. Little did we know the best was to come at the very end of 2025. In September 2025, Pinkpantheress released remixes of her album Fancy That that offered a new version of Stateside with a featuring of Zara Larsson that within weeks became popular on the Tiktok platform. Other than the catchy, dance-beat, the addition of Larsson’s vocals made for a layered and fun experience in which she openly describes her aspiration towards the American dream.
There have been plenty of discussions on the supposed ‘death’ of the music video– even MTV’s channel shut off for good, leaving us with nothing but nostalgia. It is clear the tide has shifted and the stakes are not as high anymore; streaming services and social media obscured our collective interest towards the music video. To me, it seems it only needed time to be reinvented and consumed. When in January 2026 the music video for Stateside with Zara Larsson was released, I only ever knew of it because of Tiktok and I noticed it was being shared because of how in touch with culture it is, although it may also strike as too on the nose.
Zara Larsson at the 2025 VMA’s in September 2025, matching the theme of her album Midnight Sun.
In the music video, Larsson and Pinkpantheress are in two different settings reflective of their strongly branded aesthetics: the British singer with her reclamation of the Union Jack, a palette of blue and red, as well as fantasies of polka dots and gingham. This contrasted the sparkling aesthetic of Larsson: tropical, glittery, warm and almost fairy-like. What they both had in common was a belonging to lost aesthetics of the 2000s: twee-like on one side and a tropical take on y2k’s McBling on the other. The elements that work are essentially two: 1. Working with the nostalgia that Gen Z feels towards the 1990s and early 2000s y2k fashion, music and pop culture and 2. Acknowledging the possession of strong visuals and making it the forefront of the music video, creating excitement. Furthermore, there are discussions to be had about the creation of a strong, branded aesthetic image. In our fast-paced age, pop figures’ managements find elements that stick, so that the audience will remember even after scrolling. We saw this with how strongly we associate Chappell Roan with long red hair, or how big Brat green had become.
Music video of Stateside ft. Zara Larsson divided into the two singers’ aesthetic identities.
How did Zara Larsson, however, emerge from the ashes of a career that did not seem to take off the way she wanted? That was, once again, aided by a very strong branded identity that related to a random memefication of her song Symphony, a cheesy, almost kitschy love song that was being used as the backdrop of images of dolphins, hibiscus and palm trees and their contrast with the captions, usually devastating news such as I hope my workplace explodes, or my therapist told me I’m the problem. As the trend got big, it was acknowledged by Larsson herself, who was preparing for a new album run. The rollout for Midnight Sun saw her embodying the campy meme that her song became the banner of: a highly saturated aesthetic endowed with dolphins, sparkling sun, bedazzled clothes and tropical flowers. Despite being released in June, the single Midnight Sun found its success during the autumn and winter, going triple-platinum in many bedrooms, ironically, during the harsh and cold weather. “Summer isn’t over yet” ironises the singer, jokingly describing snow as a particular kind of sand. All the cards were played right.
Example of Zara Larsson’s Symphony being used as a meme with a tropical backdrop.