VIDEO: Brittani Nichols Releases Video for “Tandem Ride,” Furthers Excitement for Upcoming Rap Career and World Domination

feature image c/o Geneva Armstrong.

The rap world experienced two amazing and historical births Saturday. At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Kimye welcomed their baby girl into the world. And in Los Angeles, rapper, comedian, writer, and otherwise perfect human Brittani Nichols was texting me to let me know she’d dropped her first-ever music video.

B, who is both hilarious and insanely talented, has released a video for her second single, “Tandem Ride,” featuring Ali Kol. The song is part of her upcoming and much-awaited mixtape, “Spirit Finger Gazebo,” which until recently often felt like a distant dream left in the very bottom of my heart to keep me warm on cold winter nights. It’s about, um, girls on bikes. JK it’s totally about lesbianism! And bikes.

The single has already received heady praise, including a statement this weekend from Lil Carmen – Pretty Money Records founder, Klub Deer co-founder and private dancer, and one-time personal rapper to Kate Nash – that “this shit is amazing.” You all know how I feel about Brittani when I’m not drunk and channelling my rapper “alter ego,” so I’ll skip the gratuitous worship and save it, hopefully, for a column in which it would be more well-suited.

And in case my own opinion as two completely different people isn’t enough for you, the other reactions on the Internet remained positive, by the way. 

All of that being said, I’m going to continue willing Brittani into the rap world until she’s cemented as a piece of its history. Just ’cause I sorta can. I mean, sure, at a certain point Drake’s gonna have to take over because I just lack the solid connections I wished to have in place by now three years ago when I recorded “Fuckin’ Nasty Bitch” in my living room. But I digress. I know it will all work out. Girl’s got a gift.

You should follow Brittani’s activity on BandCamp and follow her on Twitter to stay updated on her up-and-coming spot as the world’s next Greatest Rapper Alive. Oh, and if you haven’t already followed Words With Girls on YouTube, you’re kind of behind on some stuff and we should talk. But it’s never too late to volunteer as tribute to what I like to call #Brittani Nichols Appreciation Lyfe.

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Carmen

Carmen spent six years at Autostraddle, ultimately serving as Straddleverse Director, Feminism Editor and Social Media Co-Director. She is now the Consulting Digital Editor at Ms. and writes regularly for DAME, the Women’s Media Center, the National Women’s History Museum and other prominent feminist platforms; her work has also been published in print and online by outlets like BuzzFeed, Bitch, Bust, CityLab, ElixHER, Feministing, Feminist Formations, GirlBoss, GrokNation, MEL, Mic and SIGNS, and she is a co-founder of Argot Magazine. You can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr or in the drive-thru line at the nearest In-N-Out.

Carmen has written 919 articles for us.

31 Comments

  3. “we could bike to the woods/you could be my loveless” is that a real lyric or did i dream it since i am currently watching that episode?!?

    beautiful girls and beautiful bikes. IT’S PERF

  5. So I watched this yesterday and it’s been playing over and over in my head ever since.
    SO MANY AWESOME REFERENCES.

  7. SERIOUSLY. B you are super talented and I love the shit out of this rap, but the first thing I noticed about this video is that ZERO PEOPLE are wearing helmets. Safety first! (I’m old.)

    • See. I bet what we don’t know is that the people without helmets are stunt doubles – professionally trained to ride helmetless.

    • My brother’s life was legit saved by a bike helmet so I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS

    • http://www.iihs.org/research/fatality.aspx?topicName=Bicycles&year=2011

      I should note that I come from the racing side of cycling, not the commuter side. Within the racing community, helmet use is much more widespread (and almost universally required due to race liability). So to see people without helmets is weird. So that’s where I’m coming from. (I also come from Houston where commuter cycling is a daily dance with death, as Houston drivers are notoriously horrible and really REALLY don’t like cyclists). If one was in a place like Park Slope, I can see how not wearing a helmet would be less of a big deal.

      My stance on helmet use for commuter cycling is thus: it is the same as wearing a seat belt in a car. You’re not doing it for your driving, you’re doing it for all the other a-holes out there.

      That being said I totally get how it messes up the hair.

      Sorry for derailing! Sweet video, B! I’ll buy all your singles!

    • errrmmmm…. I don’t wear a helmet when I go to the grocery store either? whats up with that?
      …oh wait.. you mean on a bike?

    • the grocery store is like five blocks from my apartment down quiet a residential street with no cars on it, and then when i reach the road that i have to cross to get to the grocery store, which has actual cars on it, but is just two lanes, i get off my bike and walk it across the street to the store. i wear my helmet all the other times for real! because i have had a lot of bike accidents. i also love seatbelts

      anyhow mostly the point of my comment was that i love B’s video!

  9. B riding a unicorn will never be old to me and I will always need it in my life.

    Now, we just need B on a tandem bike.

    Also, Lauren pumping up her tire is my favorite.

  10. Could you possibly upload closed captions to youtube for those of us that are hearing impaired? :)

  11. also i think what really makes this video a brittani nichols video is the part at the end where she says “i hate bikes”

  12. this was amazing. i can’t wait until brittani becomes famous and i can tell everyone everywhere ever that she was my counselor at a-camp.

  14. Oh my gosh my first biggest ever lesbian crush was on a bike messenger.

    Frame. Rack. Um, I love this.

    But yeah, I wear a helmet.

  15. Um, how cute are Liz and Brittani when they are walking up the hill together?! Also, I just love this whole thing.

  16. LOVE IT. I hate bikes, too!!! I am the biggest Brittani stan. I’ve watched the video a cool 100 times. Who’s gonna annotate the Rap Genius lyrics, now?

    • I hate bikes too! Nothing enhances my natural clumsiness quite like a bike. I have a scar on my hand that I like to pretend I got doing something cool… but really I got it when I ran into a tree while riding a bike. It’s safer for me, other people, vehicles, and innocent vegetation if I avoid bikes completely.

      Bike phobia aside, I love this video. I’m going to humming this song all day now :D

  17. LOVE! “On fire and she fly, get her Joss on.” Great lyric. Can’t wait till Brittani is totally “gaymous” and I can say I listened to her before she dominated the world.

  18. Proud that my love for this vid got featured in the article (YES I am Lilamander FOLLOW ME/ASK ME OUT I know how to ride a bike and I am also pretty hot) !!!!!

    sorry, I forgot for a second that this wasn’t a personals website.

  19. Somehow I had missed this? Well, this song will never leave my head again, I’m sure of it.
    BRB, messaging all of everyone about it.

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