FEATURE: Spotlight: Tate McRae — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Sam Leviton for SPINDLE

Tate McRae

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THIS time around…

I want to spend some time highlighting a phenomenal teen artist. Tate McRae is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and dancer. The eighteen-year-old is a hugely promising artist who is making some of the most interesting Pop around. I feel that people should check her out (links are at the bottom of this feature). She is someone who I discovered recently but have been doing some research on a lot. Her story and career development is fascinating. I want to start out by quoting from a NOTION interview that was published in 2020:

“Ever since bursting onto television screens and into the public eye as a 13-year-old finalist on American show So You Think You Can Dance?, Tate McRae has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame, having recently dovetailed her talents with a burgeoning career in music. Fresh off the release of her viral hit “you broke me first” and first VMA nomination, the Canadian teen sensation speaks to Notion about her prodigious beginnings, charting commercial success, navigating the challenges of lockdown, and her relationship with social media and fandom. Take note, Tate is certainly one to watch.

Somewhere in the world, a teenager has just experienced her first real heartbreak. She sits on her bed, cross-legged, as she plops headphones over her ears and streams the latest of Tate McRae’s emotionally-driven songs; all of which have been met with unifying acclaim by a collective Generation Z fanbase.

I have this image in mind when hopping onto a Zoom call with the illustrious singer, songwriter, and dancer, who is currently working on a new EP at her home in Calgary, Alberta, following the release of a new collaboration with singer and rapper Ali Gatie. Tate McRae is no ordinary 17-year-old, which is even more evident in the meeting, with her breezy confidence, easy-going disposition, and winning smile that relays several years of experience in entertainment. At the end of August, an electrifying performance at the MTV VMAs pre-show of you broke me first showcased Tate’s aptitude for blending her recognisably melodic voice, brooding lyrics, and an expressive contemporary routine, set to mid-tempo trap-inspired beats. The single, which was released—along with a homemade music video—in April during lockdown, has already surpassed 125 million streams on Spotify, gained TikTok virality, climbed international charts, and is easily the alt-pop singer’s most mainstream song to date.

Tate’s prodigious dance abilities would become visible to an international audience at the time of her 2016 appearance on American talent show, So You Think You Can Dance?: The Next Generation. At 13, she leapt, kicked, pirouetted, folded and contorted her way through complex choreography that broached deeply emotional topics, as well as fun, zesty routines—winning the hearts of the show’s millions of viewers. Tate’s professional background in dance has moulded her into a unique type of performer today; one that is multi-faceted and masterfully apt in commanding both voice and body to communicate a story. I pose the question of whether there’s a symbiotic relationship between her choreography and songwriting—as a dancer first, does one aspect have a larger influence upon the other? Her response is thoughtful: “Definitely—especially when I’m listening to the producer create the track, it’s all about how my body would react to it and how I could make it a dance piece. That’s why I love bass and trappy beats,” she smiles widely, “…I think my lyrics are emotional and pretty, but I love a gritty background because then your movement becomes dynamic. I like being able to push my dance with contrasting genres—you broke me first is such an emotional song that has this beat to it, which I love as it doesn’t fit one category specifically.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Jessie Greg-Alabi for NOTION

Tate’s creative force and discipline also partly stems from an early childhood aspiration that she hasn’t lost sight of over the years. “I’ve always wanted to be a performer since I was like 2—since I was a baby!” she exclaims. “I had the most obnoxious personality when I was super young, I don’t even know how my parents dealt with me. I remember I’d have my plastic mic, blue eyeliner all over my face, a cowboy hat and sparkly outfit—and I’d stand on top of the table like, ‘Watch me, I’m performing for you!’” she erupts into giggles. “I was just a weird child! My mom said she would drive by my school when I was in Grade One, and I’d be singing on the bike stand by myself. But that was my mentality all the time. I never wanted to stop singing and dancing. I was this overly dedicated kid,” she recalls perceptively.

Musically, Tate lists the likes of The Weeknd, Post Malone, and Iann Dior as current inspirations for the direction she would like to take her work: “I love the vibes—rap, trappy beats, and a good guitar—so I feel that’s what I’ve been going for, I have a lot of ideas with rhythm and melodies. I always like to push myself and I get inspired by different things when I’m writing,” she nods thoughtfully. I ask if she has any personal idols that she would like to meet, and she gushes at the idea: “I would love to meet Zendaya! She’s been one of my biggest idols forever and is such an amazing role model. I’ve watched all of her interviews and I’m obsessed with her fashion and vibe, as well as Dua Lipa. They’re people that I will forever look up to in all aspects of life. They’re both really intelligent women and are such inspirations to me,” she beams brightly. And it’s palpably clear that Tate McRae should also cast her own name into the roster of strongly talented and inspirational role models for today’s youth—given her rising trajectory, and growing ubiquity across radio stations and social media. With plans to release a second EP early next year, an album following suit, and a hope to tour across more of the US and Australia, the young star has a lot on her plate. “I want to sit down and create a good chunk of music, and make sure it all sounds cohesive—that’s the next step,” she remarks. “I think my music is gonna evolve like crazy within the next year, I already know it has since quarantine happened”.

Even though I am not sure whether there will be an album anytime soon, McRae has delivered some fantastic singles (her latest E.P., TOO YOUNG TO BE SAD, is fantastic). One of my favourites is slower. I don’t think that it is the case her music is squarely aimed at teen audiences. Modern Pop artists need to speak to their key demographic, in addition to a wider audience. McRae’s songs are much wider-reaching than many of her peers’ tracks. L‘OFFICIEL caught up with McRae this year, where the subject of slower came up:

“McRae’s new single “Slower,” is another example of the artist’s ever-changing approach to music. While the lyrics are likely to resonate with turmoil-filled 17-year-olds (“I'm going through changes/It's a roller-coaster/But I might be somebody/You might not even know her”), she wrote the song at 14 during one of her first co-writing sessions. It wasn’t until it was revived, that the artist realized it still spoke to her.

“I hated it at first,” she admits, explaining she rewrote some lyrics and reproduced some of the orchestration. “Now it's completely come to life again. I get very defensive on what I want to put out, because I feel like I have a very good grasp on which songs connected with me and will connect with my fans. I really had to have an open mind for this song, because I was really closed off at first, thinking that 14-year-old me didn't know what she was talking about.”

Like anyone moving through their teen years, McRae admits that she’s changed a lot. She recently graduated from high school, was nominated for a Juno for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and has even been called Canada’s answer to Billie Eilish. (Having worked with Eilish on “Tear Myself Apart,” she’s a fan.) Now she has a new 6-track EP, Too Young to be Sad, slated to drop tomorrow, which features two brand new songs alongside her singles "You Broke Me First," "Slower," "R U OK," and "Rubberband." But even as the attention to her work grows, creativity continues to be a refuge. That’s something that she doesn’t see changing.

“I don't want to be anyone else when I'm dancing, which is a really really good feeling,” McRae says. “Dancing has just been such a huge part of my life. Same with music. I would never let go of it just as much as music, even if I'm doing singing more now. I will never let go of it until the day that I die”.

One of the defining aspects of Tate McRae and her music is the maturity. Once was the time when Pop was defined by a lack of maturity. That is not to say that her music lacks fun and frivolity. McRae manages to balance intelligence with teenage perspectives. This Woman in Pop interview (from last year) investigates her mature edge:

“As a songwriter and performer, there is a remarkable maturity about McRae that belies her age. Her lyrics are intelligent, meaningful and astute, and the music is compelling and sophisticated. While many of her songs tap into teen angst – broken hearts, schoolyard drama – she delivers them with such authenticity that they make sense to anyone of any age. She says that her age means she is often underestimated by those in the industry. “When I first got into [songwriting] sessions at fourteen, it was like, ‘You’re fourteen, you know nothing, let us write the song’,” she says. “And that for me was like ‘Whoa, I have my own opinions too!’ It’s kind of frustrating. I usually don’t like to tell my age until the end of a session so that people can trust my voice and trust what I want to say.”

In April this year McRae released the moody electro single ‘You Broke Me First’, its lyric about refusing an ex who wants to come back into your life: “Now suddenly you’re asking for it back / Could you tell me, where’d you get the nerve? / … But I don’t really care how bad it hurts / When you broke me first.” Given the emotional pull of the song, McRae says she wasn’t feeling at all emotional on the day she wrote it. “It’s actually kind of funny because my headspace wasn’t really in a sad or emotional state,” she says. “And once my subconscious started to speak I started to draw inspiration from past emotions and really get into the zone. It kind of just came out really fast.”

After she was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2020 MTV Music Awards, McRae performed the song at the livestreamed ceremony at the end of August. It was a career high for her. “I never thought that I’d be performing an awards show this early,” she says. “It was a huge dream of mine to even get on that stage. So the fact that I was able to get nominated as well as perform was a huge honour. And it was incredible.” The performance took her career up another notch as the song not only gathered millions of streams but rocketed into the music charts across the globe, including a top 20 spot in Australia and the UK – and rising.

With success in both the new world of streaming and the old world of singles charts, coupled with her exceptional talent and unmatched work ethic, McRae is well and truly on track for an impressive pop career . Although she expresses frustration at not being able to tour yet, or meet her fans face to face, she promises more good stuff is coming. “I have a new song coming out in mid-October,” she says. “I’m really excited [because] we filmed a music video and it’s the first professional video I’d been able to film since quarantine. It was pretty cool and I’m very excited to release it”.

I am going to wrap things up very soon. I would encourage people who are unaware of Tate McRae to check her out and listen to her music. I feel she is going to go a very long way. The current market is very busy and broad in terms of young artist. Whilst it is quite hard to stand out and sustain, there is no reason to suggest McRae is here for the short-term.

Just before closing up, there is one more interview I want to source from. FASHION spoke with her this year. We discover more about a talented young artist with many years ahead of her:

“What’s it been like working and making art during COVID-19?

It’s definitely been interesting. I’m not a fan of Zoom sessions, but have to do them every day. You have to adapt because you can’t hear anyone, ever. It’s always glitchy, always in and out. You just have to go with it, because it’s a hard process. I’ve been stripping back my writing team — it’s easier than having a million different people on a call.

Have you had to look in different places for writing inspiration, given all the isolation this year?

Usually I’ll be with my friends and I’ll observe everything, and grab emotions from that to write my songs. But now I can’t see any of my friends, and I have nothing to grab from. I’ve been trying to push where I get inspiration from — photos, quotes, things I see online. And that feeling of literally just being in your house and analyzing every part of yourself. That’s what I write about.

You write about a lot of serious stuff that some people might say you’re too young to know about.

That’s probably one of my least favourite things that someone can do, judge me based on my age. A 17-year-old and 30-year-old both have their own lives. No matter how much time has passed, it doesn’t mean you don’t have the same relevance. I feel like I’m an old soul; people always tell me I’m a 50-year-old trapped inside [my body]. Everyone’s brains work different. I’m super observant. I’ve written songs that I feel like people [older than me] relate to. That says a lot about what I have to say. You can’t put an age on a writer or an artist.

How does it feel to be Apple Music’s Up Next artist this month, following in the footsteps of so many incredible artists?

It’s one of the coolest things I’ve done. I’m really stoked about working with Apple. I mean, it’s Apple. It’s an honour, and it’s cool to be able to just push my creativity and make more content. They also have the resources to be able to create some cool documentaries and videos”.

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Actually, the interview below will be the last one! The recent interview that The Stingray Blog saw some quickfire questions aimed the way of Tate McRae:

“What’s the best part of performing for you?

The best part of performing is by far the energy from the crowd. It’s the biggest adrenaline rush ever.

If you could have dinner with one musician (dead or alive), who would you choose and why?

I would love to have dinner with The Weeknd. I would be so intrigued to learn more about his mind and his creative vision behind all his songs.

When you are on tour, what is one thing that you absolutely can’t live without?

I can’t live without throat coat tea on tour.

What was the funniest thing that happened to you on tour?

Right before my first show in Los Angeles, I did a squat and ripped the biggest hole in my pants. We had to think quick and find new ones before getting on stage. It was a chaotic experience.

If you had to choose between singing and dancing, which one do you love more and why?

I could never choose. They both are unique outlets for me in different ways; therefore, I could never drop one of them.

What is the best thing that a fan has ever said to you?

The best thing you can hear as an artist from a fan is “your music saved me.” It’s honestly the craziest feeling knowing that your music and lyrics have that much impact on people”.

Many people are going to watch McRae closely. She is shaping up to be a big star. With the likes of Tate McRae and Olivia Rodrigo offering modern Pop that is broad, mature and exciting, things are looking promising. Make sure you spend some time with…