Latest news with #RenéeRapp
BBC News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Renée Rapp: Media training is boring, I can't give fluffy answers
"Would you like me to source you a paper towel?"Less then two minutes into an interview with Renée Rapp – pop star, film star, Broadway actress, media sensation – and I have spilled an entire bottle of water onto the as a father of two, I carry a permanent supply of tissues (and plasters and sun cream and antiseptic) everywhere I go. Within seconds, the mess is mopped up."You literally have tissues with you? I'm so impressed," Rapp squeals... Then admits her parents are basically the same."My dad brings hair bands everywhere because I'm always without a hair tie," says the 25-year-old."So I know I'm going to be an insufferable parent. I'll be saying, 'please let me brush your teeth', and the kid's going to be, like, 17." We meet in London's King's Cross, near Rapp's record label offices. She's a little frazzled after two days of live shows; and somewhat sleep deprived, thanks to a group of kids who have been running races in the corridor outside her hotel she's friendly and engaging, full of zingy quotes that confirm her reputation as pop's most unfiltered a label she acquired while promoting last year's Mean Girls film. Rapp played central villainess Regina George, reprising a role she originated on Broadway, and spent the press tour gleefully going off tore into the owner of a bus company whose boss had been an "asshole" to her mum, declaring, "I can't stand you and I hope your business burns"; and praised co-star Megan Thee Stallion for having "the best ass I've ever seen in my life". Elsewhere, she confessed to being "very publicly ageist" and said her only male crush was Justin Bieber, because he "looks like a lesbian".YouTube is full of compilations with titles such as: "Reneé Rapp making her PR team question their life choices for 5 minutes straight". The singer knows what media training looks like, she just doesn't vibe with it."I got on a phone call years ago where they were telling us how to answer certain kinds of question, and what not to say," she recalls, "and I just remember being like, 'This feels so boring to me'."I think it's a skill to be able to give a thought-out, fluffy answer. It's just not something that I want.""Good interviews, to me, are like a conversation that illustrates how you get on with the other person... or you don't. And that's fun. That's something I want to watch." When she first discovered her interviews were attracting attention, however, it caught her off guard."Everybody on my team was like, 'Oh, there's a trend going on where you just say whatever [comes into your head]."It was confusing because, to me, I didn't really understand what I was doing, other than speaking exactly how I've always spoken since I was a kid."And I actually got insecure about it a bit last year - because I never imagined my personality and the cadence of my speech would be analysed."Eventually, Rapp summoned the courage to watch some of those YouTube compilations, "and I was like, OK, this is kind of funny"."I just realised that I couldn't stop it or tone it down. So I just ran with it."She even pokes fun at the situation on her recent single Leave Me Alone. "Signed a hundred NDAs but I still say something," she snarls with punky brio over an Oh Mickey drumbeat. 'Get off my back' Leave Me Alone is a bratty, witty response to the people who've tried to sand off Rapp's rough edges. But it was born of real March, she had just wrapped up a European tour, at the same time as the Mean Girls single Not My Fault gave her the biggest hit of her career so far. Suddenly, she was under pressure to follow it up."I was told that, basically, everybody wanted me to put a single out in the summer and an album in the fall," she says."I started panicking. I was like, 'Holy crap, how am I gonna do that?', because I was really, really, really depressed last year. I was so overworked, and I was so run down. I didn't have any time to get myself together."I was crying to my girlfriend about it, like, 'I have no idea how I'm going to do this'. And she was literally like, 'You don't have to, and, by the way, you shouldn't'."Rapp agreed with the advice but she went to work regardless, a by-product of career insecurity and a need for approval."I was like, 'This is what somebody's asking of me, so I can't not fulfil that, because that means I'm not working hard enough, and that means I don't want it enough'."When she got to the studio, her frustrations spilled over."I was basically saying I wished people would get off my back - and everybody in the room said, 'That's the song'." Written on the spur of the moment, Leave Me Alone quickly became the obvious choice to launch Rapp's second album, Bite the interview, she plays me six of the 12 songs, including an irresistibly catchy tribute to her girlfriend, Towa Shy, it describes how Rapp became tongue-tied around the British musician when they toured together in 2023."I am not a shy person whatsoever, so that made me realise how madly in love I was with her," she says."I'd just got out of a relationship and I was so relieved to be on my own, then I was smacked in the face by these feelings."I was a nervous wreck, like, 'I want to throw up'."She's still besotted today. Her opal blue eyes light up as she rhapsodises about her "British princess"."Not only is she my best friend and my most trusted confidant, but also she wants me to win just as much as I want her to win – and that feeling is so scarce." Elsewhere, the album reflects on Rapp's former flames, including a pair of tracks that explore what happens when a third person inserts themselves into a Why Is She Still Here, Rapp confronts her partner about a girl who's gotten a little too close: "You tell me you don't love her/ but you should probably tell her, too."Flipping the script, Rapp severs ties with a friend when the temptation to stray becomes too strong on the melancholy ballad I Can't Have You Around sings it quietly, like an apology, with a subtlety that wasn't always present on her debut album, Snow Angel."Being a theatre girl, transitioning to pop music can be really difficult," confesses the star, who literally has the phrase Plus De Voix (more vocals) tattooed on her left wrist."You go from singing your guts out, to trying to tailor that voice and that volume to a studio setting."It was really hard for me, working out how to give the same quality of performance, but also pulling back 5,000 per cent."But I realised that if I want to have a really successful pop career, I have to make music that doesn't use the same parts of my voice that I use live." She's looking forward to playing these songs live, but Rapp admits the burnout from her last tour still casts a shadow."I couldn't name you one set I've played in the last two years where I felt comfortable," she says. "I look out [at the audience] and I'm like, 'I gotta go home'." Part of the issue is that, as her star rose, Rapp's concerts attracted more casual fans and critics."I guess it's just harder for me to believe now that people care, even though I can see that the ones at the front do," she says."And a lot of voices came into my head. Criticism, self-destruction, labelling yourself not good enough. All of those negative things made it harder for me to perform."But with new material (and a much-needed break) under her belt, Rapp's hopeful her upcoming tour will be different."Early on in my career, I was so euphoric when I played. "It'll be good to remember that feeling."
Toronto Star
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
Toronto's first All Things Go festival will feature Reneé Rapp, Kacey Musgraves and Montreal's Charlotte Cardin
One week after announcing the date and venue of its inaugural Toronto event, All Things Go has revealed the full lineup for the two-day music festival taking place at Budweiser Stage on Oct. 4 and 5. Pop breakout star Renée Rapp and funk-soul singer Remi Wolf headline the Saturday lineup, while country sensation Kacey Musgraves, Montreal-born Charlotte Cardin and Noah Cyrus top the bill on Sunday.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
2025 AMAs: Benson Boone, Reneé Rapp, Lainey Wilson to Perform
Performers for the 2025 American Music Awards have been unveiled. Pop musicians Benson Boone and Renée Rapp, as well as country musicians Lainey Wilson and Blake Shelton, will perform at the awards show for the first time. Gwen Stefani and Gloria Estefan are also listed on the lineup. The show scheduled for Monday, May 26, will also see host Jennifer Lopez take the stage. When the singer first hosted the show in 2015, she performed a seven-minute dance medley of the year's biggest hits. It hasn't yet been revealed whether Lopez will do the same for this year's show, but the setlist for the rest of the lineup has mostly been locked in. More from Rolling Stone Jennifer Lopez Gets Stitched Up After Injuring Nose During AMAs Rehearsals Watch Blake Shelton Showcase Hit Single 'Texas' on 'Fallon' Janet Jackson to Receive ICON Award at 2025 AMAs, Will Perform on TV for First Time in 7 Years Boone will preview his forthcoming album American Heart with a performance of his latest single, 'Mythical Magic,' which follows the earlier release 'Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else.' Rapp will also introduce music from her awaited second studio album. Wilson hasn't revealed her song selection for the night, but recently shared the single 'Bell Bottoms Up.' Stefani will craft a medley of hits for her set in celebration of her album turning 20 years old. The performance will include 'Hollaback Girl' and a selection from her new album, Bouquet, which will bridge the gap between the past and the present. Shelton, her husband, will take the stage with a song from his latest album, For Recreational Use Only. The 2025 AMAs will see Estefan return to the stage for the first time in over 30 years. Her performance will span her illustrious, five-decade-long career. It'll be a night of reflection as Janet Jackson will also perform a career-spanning set. Jackson is the recipient of the ICON Award, previously presented to Lionel Richie in 2022 and Rihanna in 2013. Her appearance will mark her first television performance in seven years. The AMAs will air live from the Fountainbleau Las Vegas via CBS and stream on Paramount+. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
