# Cannibalism!
**"CANNIBALISM!"** is a song by the American pop singer [Slayyyter](https://www.edgepedia.org/slayyyter), released on September 12, 2025 as a single through RECORDS and [Columbia Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-records)[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/c3ab57bc-3aba-4980-bee3-e65de37225f6/details). It runs 2 minutes and 47 seconds[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/c3ab57bc-3aba-4980-bee3-e65de37225f6/details) and became the second single from her third studio album, *WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA*, which followed on March 27, 2026[2](https://www.thefader.com/2026/01/13/slayyyter-announce-new-album). The track pairs club-oriented electronic pop with distorted guitar, a sound Slayyyter has described as "iPod music" for the way it reflects what she listened to as a teenager[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | Slayyyter (Catherine Grace Garner), American pop singer from St. Louis[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview) |
| Release | September 12, 2025, digital single on RECORDS/Columbia Records[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/c3ab57bc-3aba-4980-bee3-e65de37225f6/details) |
| Length and tempo | 2:47; 146 BPM in B-flat major[1](https://musicbrainz.org/release/c3ab57bc-3aba-4980-bee3-e65de37225f6/details) • [4](https://www.beatport.com/track/cannibalism/27811585) |
| Production | Austin Corona and Wyatt Bernard[5](https://femmusic.com/2025/09/11/slayyyter-cannibalism/) |
| Album placement | Second single from *WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA* (released March 27, 2026), track 17 on the album[2](https://www.thefader.com/2026/01/13/slayyyter-announce-new-album) • [6](https://readdork.com/track/slayyyter-cannibalism) |
| Music video | Self-directed by Slayyyter, released the same day[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview) |
| Influences | The Cramps and Jack White[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview) |
## Background
Slayyyter signed with RECORDS, in partnership with Columbia Records, after eight years of releasing music independently, following the 2023 album *Starfucker*, which critics praised but which did not produce the mainstream breakthrough she had hoped for[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview). In label meetings she told executives she wanted to make something "kind of gross and trashy and the opposite of what I think a pop star is to a lot of people," and found them receptive[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview). The lead single from the new project, "BEAT UP CHANEL$", arrived in August 2025, and "CANNIBALISM!" followed on September 12[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview). Some listings, including the music site Dork, date the release to September 11, 2025[7](https://readdork.com/track/slayyyter-cannibalism-2025).
## Song and production
The song grew from a groovy guitar lick that reminded Slayyyter of The Cramps, the horror-punk band whose music she liked but had never expected to surface in her own output; her vocals carry a stutter and growl inspired in part by [Jack White](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-white)[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview). She said the track was written and assembled in about 45 minutes[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview). Production is credited to Austin Corona and Wyatt Bernard[5](https://femmusic.com/2025/09/11/slayyyter-cannibalism/), and the recording draws on a folder of real drum loops and basslines rather than fully synthetic instrumentation[8](https://www.thefader.com/2026/02/25/slayyyyter-worst-girl-in-america-interview). Slayyyter asked for the mix to be left deliberately unpolished so the track keeps a "real crunch" to it[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview).
Lyrically, the song uses cannibalism as a metaphor for overwhelming yearning, opening with the line "He kisses me, it feels like cannibalism"[9](https://music.amazon.com/tracks/B0FQ68MW3K) • [10](https://wruv.wordpress.com/2025/10/14/slayyyter-cannibalism/). Slayyyter later described it as being about having a crush and being consumed by the thought of it, sometimes more than by the person themselves[11](https://www.coupdemainmagazine.com/slayyyter/worst-girl-in-america-interview-zine/20384).
## Music video
Slayyyter directed the video herself, her latest in a run of self-directed clips for the album cycle[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview). It was shot in several settings: a seedy burlesque club dressing room where she wears a 2000s Moschino dress decorated with embroidered dolls while showgirls and drag performers vamp nearby; a junkyard, where she sings in a vintage mechanic's playsuit reworked with patches from the LA-based designer Brody; and a stage performance in a hand-beaded, [Bob Mackie](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-mackie)-style two-piece she made herself, worn with a swan headpiece inspired by [Bob Fosse](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-fosse) films[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview). One look pairs a corseted minidress made of garbage bags with Playboy bunny ears, a nod to her late mother's collection of bunny figurines[3](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview). The cast included performers Frankie Fictitious, David Friedman, and John C. Meyer[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt38482089/).
## Reception and album context
On the fan-rated aggregator Album of The Year, the single holds a user score of 89 based on 1,008 ratings, with no critic score entered[13](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/1452557-slayyyter-cannibalism.php). Reviewers placed it in dance-punk, post-punk, and new-wave territory; Pitchfork described it as barreling "out the gate with a surf rock bassline that staggers and starts as it's derailed by peals of blaring guitar," with Slayyyter recounting a toxic love affair in gasping [Fred Schneider](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-schneider)-style intonation[13](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/1452557-slayyyter-cannibalism.php) • [14](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/slayyyter-worst-girl-in-america). NME called it a new-wave bop led by a lusty chorus that undulates between screamo-pop and the bravado of a tragic, on-screen heroine[15](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/slayyyter-worst-girl-in-america-review-3936891).
Slayyyter has called "CANNIBALISM!" her favorite thing she has ever made, both the video and the song[8](https://www.thefader.com/2026/02/25/slayyyyter-worst-girl-in-america-interview). When *WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA* arrived in March 2026, the track appeared as track 17 on the album and ranked among her most-streamed songs on Spotify[6](https://readdork.com/track/slayyyter-cannibalism) • [16](https://open.spotify.com/embed/artist/4QM5QCHicznALtX885CnZC?locale=en). The album itself debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Albums chart and gave Slayyyter her first-ever entry on the Billboard Hot 100[17](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/08/summer-songs-2026-slayyyter-adela/688394/).
## References
1. [Release "CANNIBALISM!" by Slayyyter, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/c3ab57bc-3aba-4980-bee3-e65de37225f6/details)
2. [Slayyyter's WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA: release date, album art, and more, The FADER](https://www.thefader.com/2026/01/13/slayyyter-announce-new-album)
3. [Slayyyter Is Ready for Pop Music's Big Leagues—But She's Still Keeping Things DIY, Vogue (Liam Hess, September 12, 2025)](https://www.vogue.com/article/slayyyter-cannibalism-video-interview)
4. [Slayyyter - CANNIBALISM! (Original Mix), Beatport](https://www.beatport.com/track/cannibalism/27811585)
5. [SLAYYYTER - CANNIBALISM!, FEMMUSIC Magazine (September 11, 2025)](https://femmusic.com/2025/09/11/slayyyter-cannibalism/)
6. [Slayyyter – CANNIBALISM! (2026), Track profile, Dork](https://readdork.com/track/slayyyter-cannibalism)
7. [Slayyyter – CANNIBALISM! (2025), Track profile, Dork](https://readdork.com/track/slayyyter-cannibalism-2025)
8. [It's Slayyyter season, The FADER (February 25, 2026)](https://www.thefader.com/2026/02/25/slayyyyter-worst-girl-in-america-interview)
9. [CANNIBALISM! song by Slayyyter, Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/tracks/B0FQ68MW3K)
10. [Slayyyter – CANNIBALISM!, WRUV Reviews (October 14, 2025)](https://wruv.wordpress.com/2025/10/14/slayyyter-cannibalism/)
11. [Interview: Slayyyter on her 'Worst Girl In America' album, Coup de Main Magazine](https://www.coupdemainmagazine.com/slayyyter/worst-girl-in-america-interview-zine/20384)
12. [Slayyyter: Cannibalism! (Music Video 2025), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt38482089/)
13. [Slayyyter - CANNIBALISM! (Single), Album of The Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/1452557-slayyyter-cannibalism.php)
14. [Slayyyter: WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/slayyyter-worst-girl-in-america)
15. [Slayyyter – 'Wor$t Girl In America' review, NME (March 27, 2026)](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/slayyyter-worst-girl-in-america-review-3936891)
16. [Slayyyter - Top tracks, Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/embed/artist/4QM5QCHicznALtX885CnZC?locale=en)
17. [Party in the (Downwardly Mobile) U.S.A., The Atlantic (August 2026)](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/08/summer-songs-2026-slayyyter-adela/688394/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Pop songs › Pop songs of the 2020s › 2024 and 2025 songs › 2025 pop songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license