14-year-old Australian artist Maple’s Pet Dinosaur’s has racked up millions of views on Instagram and TikTok with a ’90s-inspired fish-eye video for her debut single.
“Lego” was released on August 13th without any announcement or pre-save campaign. Filmed on a neighbour’s Ring camera, the music video for the track went viral, amassing 32.5 million views on Instagram and 2 million on TikTok, and counting.
The artist’s Instagram account has since racked up 33,000 followers, with a further 8,000 on TikTok.
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The song is “rock-fierce, fast and unapologetic” with a riff-heavy and drum-fuelled beat. Maple barrels through breakneck verses, then blasts into an infectious chorus that urges anyone dealing with toxic people to “block ‘em like ‘lego'”.
“‘Lego’ is a bully diss track. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt targeted and wants to fight back,” Maple told Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
“A lot of songs about this topic are ‘in your feelings’ type ballads but I wanted to deliver a bully-beat down, a heavy ‘f*** you’ to anyone out there who tries to kill another person’s vibe and confidence. Writing this song gave me the strength to set boundaries and find my own people. Now I want to build that community further through this music.
“Musically, ‘lego’ is inspired by Faith No More, Beastie Boys, L7 and a bunch of ‘90s stuff – but this isn’t a throwback. I want to tell real stories about being a teenager today, especially a teenage girl.” she said.
Before the Ring video went viral, triple j late nights presenter and Redhook frontwoman, Emmy Mack, raved about Maple’s Pet Dinosaur before giving “lego” a play, while Home and Hosed host Anika Luna followed up with a spin on the show.
Maple’s Pet Dinosaur has also started garnering international attention, with radio spins in NYC, Greece, and Brazil over the last 48 hours.
