Rebecca Black released her viral song Friday in 2011 which caused her to be widely ridiculed as a pre-teen.
But on Wednesday the 23-year-old singer paid tribute to that time in her life as she debuted a new remix with Big Freedia, 3OH!3, and Dorian Electra as well as a futuristic new video.
Commemorating the momentous occasion ahead of the release she wrote, ‘this week FRIDAY turns 10 AND has gone GOLD. been cooking up a very special remix featuring some iconic people.’
10 years: Rebecca Black, 23, celebrates the 10-year anniversary of viral hit ‘Friday’ with a new remix and futuristic music video after opening up last year about the bullying she endured upon the song’s release in 2011
The video features nods to the original video where she could be seen recreating that iconic convertible driving scene – with a twist.
The now blue-haired artist showed off her newfound edgy persona as she rocked a faux leather leotard with studs while driving with the gold plaque in her passenger seat.
The trippy three-minute song features scenes from her bedroom before flying a car high in the sky accompanied by a slew of characters – some animated and some not.
Her voice is sped up and the pitch has been elevated to make it more of a quirky electronic banger.
With a twist: Black’s voice is sped up with the pitch elevated to produce a boppy electro take on the teenage bop
Teenage dream: The three-minute video features scenes from her bedroom as a nod to the old video where accents like bows, bowls of cereal and makeup are strewn about while she gets ready
Driving scene: The original video featured her driving in a convertible with friends as she chose to recreate it for the video with a twist
When Black first released the song at age 13 she received backlash for the teenage anthem, after it was revealed that her mother paid $2,000 for access to the pre-written song, with the money also covering the cost of the video shoot.
The song went viral for being overwhelmingly ‘bad’ and was mocked by comedians and the public alike, though some called it ‘sickeningly catchy,’ and it made her an overnight star.
Just three months after it was released the video had amassed over 166M view on YouTube, but the majority of engagement with the it was negative as it at one point had received 3M ‘dislikes.’
Black spoke out months after the song’s release and told the Daily Beast, ‘Those hurtful comments really shocked me. At times, it feels like I’m being cyber-bullied.’
Gone gold: Black revealed ahead of the song’s release that it had gone gold
Higher production value: When the song was released in 2010 her mother had snagged the song and covered the cost of shooting the video with $2,000
Pushing forward: She has been candid about the bullying she endured over the years in various interviews, most recently sharing more last February when the song turned nine
Her record label Ark Music offered to remove the video but Black said she did not want to give the ‘haters’ the satisfaction, instead saying ‘I want to show people there’s more to me than they think.’
She continued to pursue a career in music, releasing Saturday in 2013 and album RE/BL in 2017.
Sharing more about the hurt she endured as a teenager, she penned an honest Instagram caption on the ninth anniversary of the track last February.
‘above all things, i just wish i could go back and talk to my 13 year old self who was terribly ashamed of herself and afraid of the world. to my 15 year old self who felt like she had nobody to talk to about the depression she faced.
‘to my 17 year old self who would get to school only to get food thrown at her and her friends. to my 19 year old self who had almost every producer/songwriter tell me they’d never work with me,’ she wrote.
Tough years: She shared that she had been bullied for nearly all of her teenage years for Friday, facing depression, and doors shut in her face when trying to pursue a career after the song made her an overnight star
A new leaf: ‘you are not defined by any one choice or thing. time heals and nothing is finite,’ she wrote while reflecting on her career after the viral hit last February; February 2020
‘you are not defined by any one choice or thing. time heals and nothing is finite,’ she concluded.
Speaking about her re-release of the anthem in remix form on Wednesday she told TMZ:
‘I guess the day never really goes away….I guess it’s got like a nostalgic vibe now. So much has happened in the past 10 years, I think it kind of represents some version of a simpler time.’
She continued to touch on the backlash she received when cyberbullying was starting to rear its head.
‘I was 13, I was a kid. I know that people weren’t really thinking before they spoke, which we all do that…but I think and I hope that we are heading in a direction where the words that we say to other people quite carelessly have a lot of weight to them.’
A decade later: She told TMZ on Wednesday ‘So much has happened in the past 10 years, I think it kind of represents some version of a simpler time’