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Im not a Barbie doll, Im just a multidimensional human being who likes to make things.
Do you remember what you listened to growing up?I listened to so much different, random stuff.
I was excited because I didnt really have money to go to the CD store all the time.
I was going in with headphones on, listening to all the different things that I could listen to.
Not cause I wanted to make music of my own, but just because it was my escapism.
It changes the whole entire mood of the setting, and the whole entire experience of that scene.
Internally, externally, music is power, you know?
Would you want to direct?I would love to score movies.
And I would love to direct films one day.
That would be amazing.
Thats actually a dream of mine.
Can you tell me about some of your favorite movies?I like a lot of older films.
Not necessarily for the class of them.
Im interested in the camera operation and the shots.
I like to watch a lot of different miscellaneous films from the 70s.
I like to look up movies by year and see all the movies that came out in eras.
Its actually really interesting when you see what came out of every year.
I think you’re free to feel that in your music too.
A lot ofIsolationfeels retro.I think its important to explore and just let your curiosity help you find things.
And Ill just look and give a shot to find something where the cover looks like itd be interesting.
Or I look at a certain directors stuff and you end up finding things that are inspiring.
It feels like carrying out a specific vision is important to you.
Has that been frustrating in this industry, which prefers one-dimensional artists?
Most of my ideas and concepts are really big and tough to execute properly.
So I was like, You know what?
Im going to keep make more and more music videos.
It let me perform a social experiment to see what would happen.
Its something that just completely intuitively came into me, came out of me, and came through me.
Everything was so organic, and its been probably one of my most successful releases to date.
Its always just about being the person who believes in yourself.
It doesnt even end up being successful, plus you were untrue to yourself.
I had fun experimenting, for like a second.
It isnt a destination.
And as long as Im doing that, either way, Im taking steps.
Everything has to happen when its ready to happen.
You just cant put the pressure on yourself to do something overnight thats going to take 15 steps.
Can you tell me about your relationship with Tyler, the Creator?
You seem to have a great working relationship and friendship.
How did you meet?It was 2014.
Tyler had hit me up online because I was living in Northern Virginia at the time.
He wrote me and said he really loved my old song What They Say.
Everyone wanted to get to know me.
I didnt realize how much work I was getting done out here and I fell in love with it.
And me and Tyler immediately just hit it off.
Thats why I think its so special.
So, at the time, my voice was super raw because I never really sang before.
It was just me and a little toy keyboard.
I really want to do a stripped-down version thats a little bit more like the original.
And its really just about finding the right person for the right song.
I think thats why every song on this album feels like me with somebody else.
Every single song has a different person that contributed on it, production-wise.
Thats what made making the record exciting for me.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
