Bow Down to Chicago's Veritable Hyperpop Princess: Interviewing vivi video vixen

Vivi poses in wolf ears for a Halloween-themed performance at Cole's Bar in Logan Square on Oct. 30, 2025. (image credit: @diorhrtclub)

1. Introduce yourself: who are you and what do you do?

   "Hello, I am vivi video vixen, I’m an artist a performer and really anything you want me to be. I like to do a lot, creating is my passion. Ultimately I hope to be a kind person and cute and sexy and lovely."

   
   

2. When did you first get into music, and when did you first start performing as vivi video vixen?

   "I’ve always been into music, since I was a kid. I was in the church choir singing with my older sister Heaven aka Chicago Experimental DJ ‘Ilovecomputergirl’ and owner of the Textile brand ‘Ugliknits’. We used to create dances to perform in front of our family and I loved taking choir in school. But I made my first song when I was 17 called HxH (Hyper x Hottie) ft. Mezha. I will forever be grateful to Mezha for taking a chance and encouraging me to make my first song!"

   
   

3. Describe your genre/aesthetic in your own words.

   "I feel like I switch genres a lot but definitely electronic + hyper pop at its core, that’s what inspired me at first anyways. Just some music you can dance to, you know? Some club sh*t!"

   
   

4. Who are your biggest musical and stylistic influences?

   "Whenever people ask this question, I always say myself. Especially for my stylistic choices. I wear what I look good in and what I think is cute. I don’t really follow an aesthetic or subculture. I have my own thing: #vivicore. Finding outfits for an event or party is my favorite thing to do. I hope personal style becomes popular again. I’m tired of fad fashion. (Sorry guys I’m a stuck-up fashion student) Everyone is so beautiful to me when they’re being their true selves. Now, for music it’s a bit different, I’m good at noticing trends and what people are/will be into, and I’ll study artist in that genre and then make my own rendition of what I think a song in that genre would sound like. At heart I’m a party girl so you’ll find a lot of songs centering that message and what the lifestyle is like."

   
   

5. Formation: tell us all about it!

   "FORMATION. That was … yea. The city had been tired, okay? The clubs, the bars? The raves?? It wasn’t doing it for the people! But house parties? That’s where it’s at right now. Affordable and 18+ for the most part, house parties are in right now and you don’t have to worry much about promotion when it comes to that. But me and my friends, we kinda went all out on the promo, and it was so fun to be creative like that again. We were hungry! We would meet up at our new apartment the space completely empty and wondering how we would catch people’s eye know? It was St. Patty's weekend and that’s a MAJOR holiday in Chicago, so we had to convince the masses to come to our little 'ole house party. At the core of it all, people love to dance.

   So that was the underlying theme of the party, we were spitting out words for the title of the party and Formation just fit perfectly (thank you, Beyoncé). We had a loose concept of how we wanted the flyer to look— luckily everyone I worked with were creatives at heart. Heaven did the color grading and edited the flyer, Tzoe and Amira helped with styling, and Val helped with the more technical ballet choreo since she’s a dancer and all. And I handled the video shooting, editing and directing!

   Tzoe, Amira and Valerie also were the models and they were honestly perfect, they had such good chemistry, most of the choreo was freestyle, they just knew what to do. And picking the DJs came easily, a lot of people wanted to be a part of this project even before they saw all the promotion, like I said, people were hungry for something new that week. I love throwing parties because I can pick who I want to spin at my shows, highlighting DJs who people NEED to hear more from!!"

   
   

6. Last November, you opened for Cortisa Star, one of the latest viral breakout hits in the hyperpop genre. Can you tell us about the experience?

   "My favorite performance of 2025. Me and Cortisa go back a few years, we’ve been mutuals for a while so getting to perform with her was amazing! The crowd was so so good, and I still meet people to this day saying they saw me perform at the Cortisa show. I'm always rooting for her; she genuinely is a sweet and cute person to be around. We definitely all raved till like 5am after the show, it was such a great night. She has such great energy and fun songs to mosh to. I was also able to show out a little bit and perform my songs with some new choreography made by my friends and backup dancers Yosei and Riot. I hope to perform at even bigger show this year! House of Blues with Brokencyde was also fun. More Vivi soon!"

   
   

7. Who’s your dream artist to collab with?

   "Hmm... I don’t exactly have a dream artist I’d want to collaborate with because that would be BTS, but how would I sound on a BTS song? A more practical answer, like someone who I would sound good with? I’d say… Pinkpanthress, Canelle , and SOPHIE as of right now."

   
   

8. Favorite memory of being at a rave in Chicago?

   "There’s so many …2024 NYE everyone was there. If you know, you know. Biker bar and raving till 7am (RIP) and truly just everyone I met through raving. I kind of infiltrated the scene lol. Now everyone thinks I’m throwing every damn rave in the city, or they think I’m a dj lmao"

   
   

9. Are there any particular local artists or collectives you support that you’d recommend the people reading this to check out?

   "Honestly, people are going to have gripes with whatever I recommend because no collective is perfect. You really just have to feel it out or look at who I repost on Instagram. Because a lot of these parties sometimes aren’t run by an official collective so there isn’t really a page to follow, y'know? Also, stop sleeping on clubs and bars! There are some nice ones in the city with good music! I’ll list my two favs right now: Podlasie and The Whistler for sure."

   
   

10. I’ve always admired that you aren’t afraid to be outspoken about how social issues like racism and sexism continue to manifest in alternative/underground spaces as a prominent woman of color artist in the scene. Did you have any commentary you wanted to share on this topic for RAVE101?

    "I’ll always stick up for injustices or what I think is right. It sucks seeing talented individuals in the city not get the recognition they deserve because of known or unknown biases that some collective, promoters or other artist in the city may have. The advice I have for right now, look outside of your circle, make new connections and network with new people."

    
    

11. Finally, do you have any current or upcoming projects that you wanted to promote?

    "I am currently working on an EP, so be on the lookout for that! New songs, MVs and collaborations coming. Get ready for more vivi video vixen in 2026. Goodbye, my lovelies. ♡"