Imagine a cartoon cat riding a robot, standing tall in digitally rendered worlds, refusing to bow to tyrants—and yes, that’s exactly the vibe of Chris Pellnat’s new music video “No Kings for Me.” This protest anthem, filmed entirely in VRChat, merges grassroots activism with whimsical surrealism—and all without a drop of AI involved. It’s homemade protest art for the digital age, and it hits surprisingly hard.

The setup is immediately charming: Pellnat’s cat avatar cruises through utopias and dystopias alike—water filled boulevards next to bleak surveillance towers. There’s beauty and warning interwoven. And at the end, when the video’s credits roll, you see the names of every creator who manually built those worlds and avatars. That intentional transparency alone sets the tone: this is human ingenuity interacting with decaying systems—and saying no to control.

Musically, “No Kings for Me” starts like a protest folk ballad. There’s acoustic guitar, a harmonica intro straight out of a 1960s rally—and then cowbell. Lots of cowbell. The song transitions into gritty rock territory quickly, adding electric guitars and a driving rhythm that says “OK, now it’s time to crank up the volume.” It’s not polished radio rock, nor is it lo-fi protest mumble. It's honest, rough around the edges, and full of conviction.

Chris Pellnat testifies throughout: “I will not bow / My knees will not bend / There are no kings for me.” The lyricism is direct and visceral—a call-out to oppression, conspiracies, and hypocrisy. He sings lines like “They won’t deport you if you’re white / And love is their kryptonite." Brutal, blunt, and true. You can almost hear the weight of experience when he drops lines like “I’m a vagabond in their stupid eyes / But this vagabond is free.” There’s humor, frustration, and resilience all rolled into the same statement.

It’s not just song or video—it’s performance as protest. The cat on the robot is a metaphor, but it’s also a defiant emblem that says: “I may be small, but I won’t kneel.” In a world leaning into AI surveillance and authoritarian creep, that simple act of refusal becomes radical by itself.

The production is intentionally DIY: Pellnat is a singer-songwriter from Hudson, New York, playing in local bands like The Warp/The Weft and Teeniest. You hear that background. It sounds like a band banging in a garage with friends and neighbors looking on—and that’s the best part. It’s not trying to compete with slick corporate pop; it’s aiming for something more honest. And it succeeds. The cowbell might clang imperfectly, the guitars buzz a little gritty, but it feels alive—and you can feel the spine behind it.

Yes, it’s a protest song. But it feels like a rallying cry sprinkled with cat meme soul. And right now, that combo might be exactly what we need. The cat refuses the tyrants, and so does the artist: not with bombs, but with creativity and conviction.

In a cluttered media world, “No Kings for Me” stands out because it’s unapologetically DIY, heartfelt, and meaningful. You don’t need virtual reality goggles to appreciate it—it makes its point even on paper. But if you have VRChat, you can pop in and see the worlds and credits in immersive 3D, knowing each pixel was made by a person, not an algorithm. That matters.

Bottom line: “No Kings for Me” by Chris Pellnat is protest music for the digital era—quirky, bold, righteous, and heartfelt. It’s a simple message wrapped in joyful defiance: you don’t bow, you don’t yield, and you don’t let systems write your destiny. And if the messenger is a cat on a robot? Even better.

“No Kings for Me” is available now on all major streaming platforms

Listen to Chris Pellnat and other similar artists on our Spotify Playlist ‘New Music Spotlight - Indie & Alternative’

“No Kings for Me” - Chris Pellnat

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