The rising artist is releasing a Deluxe EP of her viral project, Love, Peach.
Last year on November 23, 2021 you released the original Love, Peach Project. What was the BTS process of turning these poems into songs?
I started writing these poems as songs, but when I was setting the lyrics to piano chords, I really liked how they sounded as spoken word with music under it and no melody. I wanted to see what my audience thought, so I posted a few to TikTok around May 2020 and was shocked that they all immediately went viral! I continued writing the poems and posting them, and after my fans started asking for me to put them on streaming platforms like Spotify, all the ideas started swirling around in my head. Since they were just one-take vocals and piano chords, I went to my friend's garage and set up a makeshift studio and we spent a few hours recording six-fan favorites. We listened back and thought nothing special of them, but a few weeks later when they were released on the streaming platforms, I knew I'd made the right choice. It came out at midnight and I remember crying my eyes out (happy tears!) at 1 AM when I saw that hundreds of people were listening at once.
This year on the one year anniversary of the Love, Peach Project, you are releasing a Love Peach, Deluxe Version consisting of all 13 poem songs. What do you hope your fans gain from this release?
I think the additional 7 poem songs that are coming out on the Deluxe version are definitely my best poems yet. They cover a lot more subjects, including feminism, the pressure of social media, tragedy, my goals, and coming to terms with heartbreak. I'm hoping that my fans can relate and be entertained by 'Truth or Dare' and inspired to dream big after they listen to 'Goals'. I'm hoping 'Before You Ask' 'Woman' and 'Female Lead' push my young female fans to demand respect and recognize their worth. If 'Tyrese' inspires just one person to keep fighting, or brings solace to anyone who's lost a friend to bullying and hate, it'll be worth the tears and the pain of loss that I released into that song. I really wish that upon listening to 'Best Friend' people remember to treasure their close friends and give them some extra love and appreciation. I'm excited for my fans to see the acoustic performances I'm releasing on my YouTube channel, and I hope they love the Love, Peach Deluxe version as much as the original!
Which poem song in the deluxe version is the most personal to you and why?
I was extremely nervous to post 'Tyrese' on tiktok after I wrote it. The name is based on a childhood friend of mine that the world lost due to extreme, horrible bullying. It still feels like it's not my story to tell, but I didn't know what else to do to try my best to make sure this never, ever, ever happens again. I need people to hear this and realize that your words cut deeper than you could ever know, and to be kind to everyone, no matter how different from you they are. I also hope that anyone else who's lost a friend can cry along to this with me and feel understood. I just hope that if anyone who's struggling hears this, that this reminds them that they are more loved than they could ever know.
MUD is featuring one of the poems called “Female Lead." How would you describe the message of this poem to a fan and what feelings you had when writing it.
The 'Female Lead' is pure ANGER! I LOVED the reaction this got on Tiktok. Every woman who saw it seemed to love it, and every man either was infuriated or questioned why it was necessary. The comment section was seriously a battle. It's empowering, it's insane, it captured all the pent up anger that I had for being treated like less than a man in under a minute. The demand for the total equality of men and women (feminism) terrifies too many people, and I hope the fact that women are inspired by this poem really scares anyone who opposes it. I firmly believe that women can do absolutely anything a man can, and I'm not afraid to say it.
Your TikTok has gained a lot of attention with one reaching over 12.4M views and almost 3M likes. Did you think this video would had blown up as much as it did and what was the story behind it?
I wanted to post this because I had written it as a form of therapy for myself. I was re-reading all the screenshots I'd taken of absolutely vulgar and threatening comments on my tiktok lives, feeling helpless that I couldn't do anything to protect myself from all of it. So I took all the worst ones and set them into pairs that rhymed. and made verses out of them. The chorus is "I'm just existing, but I guess that's too risky" and I think that's a line that all women can relate to.
I'm not sure what to say to women that can relate. These comments honestly get to me more than any hate comments ever could. I'm sorry to any woman that goes through any form of harassment.
Tell us something about yourself that your fans might not know about you. What or who inspires you to write music and these poems?
I play five instruments! Piano is definitely my favorite and the only one I'm comfortable playing in front of an audience, but I know my way around on the guitar, electric bass, violin, and the harmonica! I've also been making up songs since I could talk, and writing songs since I could write.
What advice would you give young creators wanting to pursue a career in the entertainment industry?
Post everything. Every song you write, every idea you have. People want to support you. There's hundreds and hundreds of millions of users on the internet, and odds are that someone's gonna like it. Posting your music and growing in front of your fans will get you farther than any competition or live show.