The prettiest mean girl in my orbit once complimented my top in the bathroom and spent dinner making me the punchline in a group chat I wasn’t in. I found out because one of her friends sent the screenshot to me instead of her, which remains one of the funniest acts of accidental justice I’ve ever received. She still asked me for a ride home. Bitch, call an Uber! That specific breed of fake friendship is such a mindfuck because she knows your birthday and your business while quietly rooting for you to embarrass yourself. I mean, I could snap my fingers and have her little boyfriend under me in three seconds because I can out-mean any mean girl on the planet and she wants to play these games with me? Please. nasmore & R1VYN drag that whole social circus into ‘Frenemy List’ and give the girls keeping receipts something considerably more fun than therapy homework.
nasmore builds the track out of hyperpop bounce and dark-pop bite, with electronic production that keeps twitching underneath Ally Rozario’s vocal. The arrangement moves fast enough to match the social anxiety in the lyrics without turning the whole thing into misery. Ally sounds cheeky enough to make the girls coming for her feel embarrassingly overinvested. That is the real power move here. I mean, if you are going to talk shit about me, I fucking guarantee you’ll inadvertently give me something entertaining enough to throw back in your face.
The birthday scene tells us exactly what kind of friends we are dealing with. “Three fake friends and a half-burnt cake” gives us a celebration already going to shit, then “They laugh so loud, but it’s me they poke” makes the group dynamic crystal clear. Everybody is technically together while one girl keeps getting volunteered as entertainment. Then comes the phrase every asshole uses after saying something cruel enough to change the temperature in the room: “Just playin’.” Sure. That excuse has protected more mean girls than lip gloss ever could. R1VYN knows the difference between a joke and somebody testing how much disrespect you’ll swallow before making things awkward.
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The online version gets nastier with “They screenshot me / Posted that pic I deleted at three.” That detail is brutal because deleting the photo should have ended its life. Somebody saved it because your embarrassment had resale value. Then Ally gives us “It stings, then fades / But the bruise shows up in my throwback shades,” which turns a disposable little post into something that sticks around long after everybody else has moved on. That is how this shit works. She forgets the whole thing by lunch because ruining your afternoon was apparently just another Tuesday for her. Meanwhile, you remember the photo three years later and still know which bitch thought your humiliation deserved a repost.
The chorus finally stops pretending these people deserve the friend label. “One day love me, next day rot” catches the whiplash of never knowing which version of the group you are walking into, while “Smile so wide while they load the clip” makes all that friendliness feel armed. I love “Wrote your names on my frenemy list” because she quits trying to solve them. The list is already made. Access revoked. Your cute little “we were kidding” defense can take a number and sit down.
Verse two understands that social media has given fake friendship an entire second shift. “They ‘like’ my post / Then drag my fit in a voice note roast” is painfully current because the public affection and private cruelty can happen within thirty seconds of each other. She gets the heart on Instagram while somebody is already recording the autopsy in another chat. That is some efficient bitchery. Ally keeps singing through it with enough attitude that the humiliation starts sounding increasingly pathetic on their side. Imagine dedicating this much administrative labor to hating someone you still follow.
Then comes the nastiest little performance in the song: “‘Are you okay?’ while the pitchforks turn.” That faux concern deserves its own circle of hell. She watched the whole thing happen and still wants credit for checking in afterward, like asking “Are you okay?” somehow wipes her fingerprints off the crime scene. Bitch, you were holding the shovel. The earlier “Lunch tray’s cracked and the silence sneers” makes the school setting feel claustrophobic because there is nowhere elegant to disappear when the people hurting you are sitting three tables away and acting normal.
The bridge finally starts sorting the room with “Who laughed when I tripped, who actually cared.” That is the emotional center for me because the whole song has been asking one question underneath the sarcasm: who is really on my side? The answer gets clearer once she admits “I’m not fine,” then follows it with “I remix pain like a beat I make.” She takes the thing meant to shrink her and turns it into material. That is considerably hotter than sitting around begging shitty friends for an explanation they were never smart enough to give.
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By the final chorus, survival has turned into authorship. “Twist that knife / But I write y’all down with a pen for life” gives the betrayal permanence on her terms, then the outro delivers the best flex on the record: “Your betrayal? / I sampled it.” Fuck yes. Imagine trying to embarrass me and accidentally contributing to my catalog. Now your betrayal has a hook and I get to sing it while you pretend the song is not about you. That is the kind of petty I can support.
Malaysian vocalist Ally Rozario handles the vocals on R1VYN’s work with producer/songwriter nasmore, blending hyperpop and dark pop with modern electronic production. ‘Frenemy List’ fits that mission perfectly because it understands fake friendship as a social pressure problem with a sense of humor. Ally gives the project its confrontational personality while nasmore keeps the production restless enough to make the whole mess move.
The girl from that dinner never got her ride home. She also never found out which friend accidentally sent me the screenshot, and I enjoyed watching her wonder about it considerably more than I should admit. ‘Frenemy List’ understands the moment when hurt finally gives way to clarity and suddenly the whole fake-friend routine starts looking ridiculous. Keep the screenshots. Keep the voice notes. nasmore & R1VYN found a better use for the betrayal and put that shit in the chorus.
