It's Your Duty to Finally Make Zara Larsson’s "WOW" a Hit, With Sabrina Carpenter’s Help

Make your jaw drop-drop.

Zara Larsson released the shimmering, drop-tastic bop "WOW" more than 400 days ago. Finally, it can be the hit it was always destined to be, thanks to an assist from Work It’s Sabrina Carpenter.

Let's go back to the beginning...

The song first arrived in April of 2019, preceding the Swedish singer’s forthcoming third album (which was initially meant to arrive later that year). Alas, it was concerning when the label didn’t support such a prestige banger with a music video, adding the following to YouTube instead:

However, despite "WOW" clearly being one of the best songs of the year, with an absolutely irresistible post-chorus, a disinterested public did not give it the love it so clearly deserved. Mere months later, Larsson announced her record was delayed (rumoured to be the result of her not having a big enough hit serve as a lead-in).

Thankfully, she had better luck with the also-very-good 2020 tune "Love Me Land", which at least came with a memorable video to help match previous hits "Ruin My Life", "Ain’t My Fault" and "Lush Life". Her third album, "Poster Girl", was suddenly back on.

But Larsson, bless her Scandi heart, did not let "WOW" lay buried in its unmarked grave. It was given a second life by featuring prominently in the surprisingly fun Netflix dance flick Work It, starring Sabrina Carpenter. A centrepiece sequence involving Carpenter and co-star Jordan Fisher being extremely horny to Larsson’s tune helped streams of the song soar by 2,300 per cent. And why wouldn’t it? Just look:

The success of the song in Work It helped inspire a colalb remix featuring Carpenter (who is also, niftily, a talented singer—check out "In My Bed", another one of 2019's best tunes).

The two of them have now joined forces on an honest-to-goodness music video for the "WOW" remix (seemingly filmed in socially-distanced circumstances, fair enough). Is this what finally pushes it to world-domination?

Maybe not. In its first two days of release, the clip has accumulated half a million views, which is fine. We ultimately have to blame its lack of virality on the fact that the video does not actually articulate the song’s very simple premise of Larsson and Carpenter being told they look good lounging on their couch in their PJs, which, honestly, would have suited our COVID times far better.

Basically, the clip from Work It is a better music video for "WOW" than anyone else could have made.

But that doesn’t mean "WOW" is done (again). If the last 400 days proves anything, it’s that this unkillable song’s journey has just begun. I mean, if Lizzo can get a #1 hit three years after a song's release, why can't Zara? "Truth Hurts" was boosted by a Netflix film too!

So, now comes your part. Go stream it already and make this thing a #1 hit as it has long been fated to be, singlehandedly saving 2020 in the process. These are the stakes, people.

Larsson’s Poster Girl, featuring "WOW" and "Love Me Land", is expected to arrive later this year, though we’ll believe it when we see it.