For Renee Rapp, being anything other than a musician was never an option.
Its just like this or bust, she tells Bustle over the phone.
Nothing else makes sense.
To get there, though, the 23-year-olds pop career had to take some (very successful) detours.
Then she broke out as preppy lesbian Leighton in Mindy Kalings raunchy Max comedyThe Sex Lives of College Girls.
Do you want to clear anything up?
I mean, honestly, my whole life is inspired by Billie Eilish.
They definitely have similarities.
You have a song called Willow on your album.
I actually have never heard of Willow fromBuffy, but now I think I need to.
Ive never seen that.
Im very out of the loop, I guess.
You also have a song called I Hate Boston.
I hate the familial fcking bullsht that I went through in Boston.
Its about a different city, but I use Boston as an alias because it sings better.
Is there a lyric of yours that people often misinterpret?
Honestly, I dont think so.
People will be like, Oh, what does this mean?
And I just kind of sit back and giggle.
It would probably be a Nicki Minaj song like Super Bass or some old Lil Wayne song.
Whats one song you could never listen to again and why?
L$D by A$AP Rocky.
Id never done drugs before.
I thought I was dying.
I was so young, and I was crying.
I associate that song with that.
It really is a loss.
What was the first CD you ever bought?
I dont think Ive ever purchased a CD.
I dont really understand the whole CD thing.
I think it missed me a little bit.
Whats your favorite genre of music?
I idolize R&B singers.
The entirety of music has pretty much been built off the backs of Black women and Black people.
So I love R&B music.
I think its shaped pretty much everything in the industry.
Who is your musical idol?
Frank Ocean is my forever music idol.
I never really understood fan culture until I saw him at Coachella.
And I was like, Oh, I get it.
I breathe and die for this man.
So hes always been my biggest inspiration since I started listening to his music.
But Ive been so into Kacey Musgraves recently.
My favorite Kacey song right now is Camera Roll.
And my legacy inspiration is Karen Carpenter.
May she f*cking rest.
Whats your go-to karaoke song?
Well, its changed over the years.
Probably a Frank Ocean song.
And what song do you want to play at your funeral?
Bootylicious by Destinys Child.
Its thematically my song or California Love by Tupac.
Theyre the songs I was raised on by my mom.
Is there a song of yours that you never want to play live again?
Too Well,but I have to play it live every f*cking second of my life.
I hate that song.
Ive always hated that song.
What track from the new record are you most proud of?
Im really proud of Poison.
Its sitting back and just being like, All right, b*tch.
If this is how you want to act, God will respond.
Whats the weirdest thing youve written a song about?
And I feel like I should tell you that because honesty is the best policy.
Thats got to be the most obscure sh*t ever.
That song really spoke to my OCD and the experience of having intrusive thoughts.
Its so interesting talking about that song.
I have someone very close to me in my family who has OCD.
