Perhaps, as an artist, the only thing more vexing than becoming famous after you’re dead is finding yourself perennially in the “bubbling under” category. For Tinashe, that was happening for seven of her albums (or, to put it another way, for roughly twelve years) before Popstar broke her on through to “the other side.” The mainstream side. Ironically, one of the singles that helped with that was “Melatonin,” released after “Too Easy” and “Crash Out.” As the title might suggest, it addresses Tinashe’s frustration (however “coolly” presented) with persistently being slept on.
But this song was obviously made before she fully realized just how many people would start to “awaken” to her music upon Popstar’s release. Which is why Tinashe was feeling especially cheeky when she accused the masses of continuing to remain so hopelessly unaware of her and her work (even after viral hits from 2024’s Quantum Baby that included “Nasty” and “No Broke Boys”). Hence, the song’s title, and a chorus that chides, “Sleepin’, sleepin’, sleepin’ on me, bitch, you so melatonin.”
In Allie X’s case, she was being slightly less metaphorical with her similarly-themed song from 2024’s Girl With No Face, “You Slept On Me.” But the point (and colloquialism) remains the same: she’s sick and tired of people largely ignoring her because of, quite frankly, their bad taste. And, like Tinashe, she feels obliged to bring the matter of “coin” into things as she accuses, “Spend your coins on a counterfeit” (Tinashe, instead, insists that she’s still “gettin’ hella coin” despite the bane of being [formerly] slept on). The “counterfeit” undoubtedly being the “average” pop star (i.e., the stereotypical blonde, tan and “plastic” ilk…as recently embodied by, say, Tate McRae)—which is what Tinashe is railing against throughout her own album of the same name (indeed, titling it that was both extremely pointed and extremely loaded on her part). And while the sonic styles of both women are quite different, each of these tracks bears a frenetic pace that mirrors the kind of irritation of being overlooked when you know damn well that your output is fire (Slayyyter also suffered a similar fate until earlier this year, when WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA was so wholly embraced by critics and listeners alike).
So while “Melatonin” opts for a more SOPHIE-esque kind of unpredictability with its soundscape, Allie X remains true to her 80s instrument predilections with a backbeat that’s reminiscent of Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” (yes, from the Flashdance Soundtrack). And, to be sure, she’s very much acting like a bit of a maniac herself as she continues to berate those who have dared to sleep on her (and for so long), “I guess you never learned about quality.” She then ratchets the censoriousness (though is it really that critical when she’s right/just telling like it is?) up a notch with the assertion, “Time to get down on one knee/Tell me why you slept on me/I held my tongue for about long enough/It’s about damn time that I spoke up/I’m an icon, honey, this isn’t a chore/And I need to make money, so give me yours.”
Tinashe has similar concerns with wanting people’s money for her artistic endeavors, but she’s a bit more roundabout in expressing it. In fact, she would prefer to insist that she already has plenty of money and the corresponding lifestyle to go with it—almost as if to prove to those who have slept on her that she doesn’t “need” them anyway (but, of course, she wants them…or, more to the point, wants to be wanted by them). So it is that her form of castigation involves the sort of insults that allude to the tasteless being both broke-ass and, “accordingly” cultureless (though it’s true what they say: money can’t buy taste) as she sings, “In a different country, pull up to the back door/Can’t vacation with me, you ain’t got a passport.”
Allie X’s invective also continues to ramp up as “You Slept On Me” progresses, pulling no punches as she declares, “Now I’m a modern bitch and I’m getting tough/Better make it up, kids, enough’s enough/Oh, what a shame, it’s clear to see/You’ve been so dumb/Sleeping on me.” Of course, it’s entirely possible she’s merely channeling her Girl With No Face alter ego for this particular song—or at least the particularly cunty lyrics of it. After all, of this persona (and side note: she also created one for 2025’s Happiness Is Going to Get You in the form of the “Infant Marie”) Allie X commented, “She’s my invisible muse—my cunty muse!”
Perhaps it’s that cunty muse that enabled her to say what Tinashe could without any “alter ego” necessary. But, to be fair, Allie X goes in a lot harder for the jugular with her “You Slept On Me” lyrics than Tinashe’s “Melatonin” ones. Including her final pièce de résistance of a verse, “You’ve been eating Krispy Kreme/You’ve been praising Paula Deen/There’s no point trying to disagree/Just get in line, you tired queen.” In short, Allie X is also making reference to those who have slept on her being, well, just a bit uncultured (thus, the Krispy Kreme and Paula Deen name-checks).
Unfortunately, it’s the open pockets and recognition of those uncultured swine that’s missing from their lives. And it makes them bristle over how much people seem to prefer trash to quality. Or rather, that used to be the situation for Tinashe. But, while she might have broken through to a point where she can no longer call most people “so melatonin,” Allie X still has yet to truly “transcend” into that status. With her first EP as Allie X released in 2015, she’s been largely “slept on” for about the same amount of time as Tinashe before Popstar.
So maybe it means Allie X is just one-ish album(s) away from achieving similar heights. But even if that isn’t the case, those who know her work are aware that her artistry is almost too special to be shared. Then again, that’s what the Angels thought before Charli XCX (another X-filled name) really blew up with Brat in 2024. The same year, incidentally, that Allie X brought “You Slept On Me” into the world. And is still, two years later, waiting for the masses to wake up as they did for Tinashe.
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