In brief: Mia Khalifa: On Oct. 9, Khalifa posted: “Have you uplifted Thoom today?”
Some people start the day with affirmations. Mia Khalifa starts it with a music recommendation.
On Oct. 9, Khalifa posted: “Have you uplifted Thoom today?”
She was quote-posting an Oct. 4 post from the account @PopTingz, which reported that “Mia Khalifa shows love to Thoom, using ‘Going Back to Lebanon’ in her latest TikTok.”
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Thoom is a singer-songwriter whose music mixes pop with Arabic influences. Her single “I’m Going Back to Lebanon” comes from her mixtape Everyday, Everything Is At Stake, HighClouds reported. Thoom described the project as “messy, pop, Arabic, experimental, and unapologetic.” The song’s music video was directed by Neve Abcari, according to a Pigeons & Planes post announcing its premiere.
Wonderland magazine wrote in a Sept. 30 interview that the single maps “displaced senses of belonging.”
For Khalifa, who was born in Lebanon, the connection is obvious. Using the song on TikTok put it in front of a very large audience, and her X post asks the rest of the internet to do the same.
It’s a nice example of what a big platform can do for an emerging artist. One TikTok can move more streams than a month of playlist pitching.
Khalifa’s follow-up question works as a daily check-in, the way a friend might ask whether you’ve had water today.
Thoom, for her part, gets a famous fan who keeps asking strangers to listen. Few promotional campaigns are that sincere.
Today’s answer, if you’re reading this: probably not yet. The song is on Spotify.