She’s got millions of followers, and dozens of YouTube covers and dance videos. She is also…a rabbit. (Specifically, she identifies as “🌐🐰👩.”)
Meet Apoki, your newest virtual long-eared K-pop obsession.
From Gorillaz to Hatsune Miku to K/DA to Seraphine to aespa, there is no shortage of virtual entertainers digitally arriving on the global stage. In fact, the arrival of computer generated superstars only seems to be increasing exponentially as of late. And in a pandemic world, it’s not exactly hard to understand why pixelated pop stars are debuting en masse as humans are stuck scrolling at home.
Apoki arrived on YouTube back in April of 2019, uploading a consistent stream of covers of beloved Western artists and K-pop acts – from Kehlani to BLACKPINK to BoA – and slowly expanding across social media, including TikTok, where she’s now got over 2 million followers alone.
On February 22, she took a big first step into the spotlight with her debut single, “Get It Out” – with some IRL help, of course.
The banger was co-penned by some reliable greats and some newer names, including Jinooya, A-Dee (Monsta X), Co-Chlear and Melanie Fontana (BTS, Britney‘s “Mood Ring”). (No word on who Apoki herself actually is just yet.)
It’s an instantly familiar kind of bop, bringing the attitude of some of K-pop’s fiercer dance-pop offerers (Chung Ha, Blackpink, Anda), complete with a rallying cry – ““so get it out of your system now!” – and one hell of a catchy post-chorus (“따라와 따라와 tara tara“).
Director Jinooya Makes says the virtual clip is a tribute to Akira, Back To The Future 2, Space Odyssey and the Tesla cyber truck – and that all certainly checks out.
The clip’s already racked up over 200,000 views in over a week – certainly not bad for a digital influencer’s debut.
“I don’t even know how my life is going to turn out, let alone a whole industry. This whole thing is just so new. But I know for sure that I’m leading a new path and that my footprints are going to be a map for future virtual influencers,” Apoki said in one of her first interviews.
Whether Apoki sticks the landing like her virtual contemporaries and stays releasing new singles remains to be seen. But one thing definitely seems certain: the trend isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
