Tommy Richman and Sexyy Red have the internet buzzing after a 16-second clip of their unreleased track "ACTIN UP" made its way online. Shared by XXL on Wednesday, April 16, the snippet offers a chaotic preview of a collaboration that’s already dividing listeners across social media.
The low-lit video, filmed in what appears to be an intimate room with a makeshift stage, finds Richman draped in all black, wearing sunglasses and a brown cap with the hood pushed back. He leans against the stage, exuding a detached cool, while Sexyy Red holds court above him, flanked by three women dancing in sync behind her.
The snippet opens with a brief Richman verse before pivoting sharply to Sexyy Red’s performance, prompting all four women to break into twerking. The clip, though brief, has already gone viral, amassing more than 300,000 views and sparking a digital firestorm. The response hasn’t been kind.
“This is disturbing to see,” one user wrote. Others criticized Richman for genre-hopping, accusing him of lacking artistic direction. “Now he wanna be hip-hop?” a commenter questioned. Another piled on, saying, “Tommy Richman needs to figure out his brand.” Skepticism extended to Sexyy Red’s lyrics as well. “I wonder how many of her songs use the same exact words rearranged,” someone noted, while another compared the track to a low-rent video game soundtrack: “This has Parappa the Rapper vibes, and I can’t unhear it.”
Tommy Richman & Sexyy Red
Several users expressed deeper concerns, suggesting that collaborations like this one contribute to the deterioration of the public image of Black women in popular culture. One even invoked the collapse of past civilizations: “They’ll be making documentaries about the destruction of the Black female image in the West... Weimar Republic in the hood.”
The video originally appeared on Richman’s Instagram the day before it was reshared by XXL. There’s still no official release date for "ACTIN UP." It marks Richman’s first public musical pairing with Sexyy Red, who has increasingly crossed into the mainstream.
Her last high-profile feature came in January when she appeared on Bruno Mars’ single Fat, Juicy & Wet. The track debuted alongside a music video featuring Sexyy Red, Mars, Lady Gaga, and Rosé in matching pantsuits. The single climbed to No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and racked up over 36 million views on YouTube.
Beyond music, Sexyy Red continues to expand her brand into other arenas. Earlier this month, she agreed to accompany WWE superstar Jey Uso to the ring for his match against Gunther at WrestleMania 41 on April 19.
"ACTIN UP" proves both artists know how to spark conversation.
