Happier Than Ever<\/em>. But as Kay heads into this new decade, she\u2019s pouring gasoline on the fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cIf I have a choice between a good decision and a bad decision, but the bad decision is fun, I\u2019m probably gonna choose the bad decision,\u201d the singer-songwriter says. \u201cBut it\u2019s not like I\u2019m choosing these terrible, terrible things for myself. In my own personal life, I think it\u2019s more reserved. Like, I\u2019m not in danger. I don\u2019t know, I like to be a little reckless.\u201d She would always rather take the risk and know than spend her life wondering what could have been. So far, it\u2019s been paying off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIn January, she released \u201ciloveitiloveitiloveit,\u201d which is currently sitting comfortably in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. The brazen record is full of declarations that require a double-take, including the very first lyric: \u201cI like being used, it means I have a purpose.\u201d The three-minutes that follow her blunt confession leave an undeniable first impression. Kay isn\u2019t some kind of unhinged chaos agent or emotional thrill-seeker (well, maybe just a little), but rather an adventurous artist eager to dig deep beneath the surface.<\/p>\n
\n\tLast summer, Kay signed a contract with Atlantic Records and released her debut single \u201cThe Sick,\u201d a harrowing song about hard truths and lost causes. It opens with the cutting line: \u201cI hope your daddy\u2019s done hatin\u2019 you.\u201d Kay delivers the gut-punch in the southern drawl she picked up between Houston and Orlando, adding a sweet edge to her razor-sharp songwriting. But her latest single, \u201cPromise,\u201d is a soft, sensitive, and all-consuming record about taking a risk that could potentially ruin a friendship. \u201cI want you but I\u2019ll never tell you\/\u2019Cause if I tell you, you could say I\u2019m not the one you want,\u201d she sings. \u201cAnd I couldn\u2019t handle that\/So if I tell you, then promise me I can take it back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tKay seems to be more of a relentless romantic than a hopeless one. \u201cWhen it comes to relationships, I will wear it out until it\u2019s done,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ll call them until they don\u2019t pick up anymore.\u201d There\u2019s one particular connection that occupies her mind across her upcoming debut album. \u201cIn the vein of relationship things, it also explores so many thought processes of this thing that\u2019s happening,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s a \u2018will they, won\u2019t they\u2019 type of vibe, which I think is exciting.\u201d She\u2019s leaning more towards will they, but teases, \u201cWe\u2019ll see when you listen to the album.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe record is nearing completion with about a dozen tracks already slated. There\u2019s one final track Kay has been searching for to close the album. She knows there\u2019s something left to say, but she hasn\u2019t decided on a sound yet. The preview tracks she shares with me aren\u2019t finalized, but the lack of polish isn\u2019t obvious. There\u2019s an element of grit that evokes the raw emotion in her performances. Kay wraps her voice around propulsive rock arrangements on one, while another leans into flamenco pop. A third is a grievous ballad with swelling violins laid over a restless piano melody.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\tThey each introduce more complicated dimensions of Kay, a young artist who is still making sense of where she\u2019s been and where she\u2019s going. \u201cIt\u2019s talking a little bit about my past, what it was like growing up, and talking a little bit about struggling with mental health and struggling with body issues,\u201d Kay says. Her intuition as an artist is the strongest it\u2019s ever been \u2014 especially considering she only started properly writing songs about five years ago, when Olivia Rodrigo overhauled pop with \u201cDriver\u2019s License.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\t\u201cI thought she was the coolest, especially from a songwriting perspective,\u201d Kay says. \u201cI didn\u2019t know that songwriting could be such an impactful thing. I grew up with a lot of pop music where the lyrics aren\u2019t the heaviest part of the song, so it was really cool to see someone take pop and have songwriting be so heavily the main drive of the song. I basically learned what songwriting was from her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAt the time, Kay was still in high school and uncertain about what to do next. She figured she\u2019d go study law. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how to make music, like how to start,\u201d Kay says. \u201cAt that point in time, [I thought], TikTok is not working, so I gotta go to school.\u201d After a year, that wasn\u2019t working either. She missed music and thought, \u201cI\u2019m betraying myself by not doing that.\u201d She didn\u2019t come from a particularly musical family, in practice, though she learned later that her grandmother nearly pursued a career in music, too. \u201cShe almost did that instead of nursing,\u201d Kay says. What stopped her? \u201cProbably the same thing that I experienced at the time. [Thinking], \u2018It\u2019s time to grow up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe upcoming album feels like a true capsule of her coming-of-age experience. Kay describes the aesthetic of the record in bursts. It\u2019s soft-grunge, blues and reds, and \u201cvery dirty city,\u201d like London or New York \u2014 essentially the polar opposite of Los Angeles, where she experienced her first studio sessions last year. She worked with different songwriter and producer pairings that were arranged for her there, but those songs will remain a mystery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNone of them are coming out,\u201d Kay says. \u201cIt was very clear that I was becoming changed by other people in the room.\u201d As the rookie in the studio, Kay wasn\u2019t completely comfortable shooting down ideas, yet. \u201cI wasn\u2019t like, \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t like that,\u2019 even if that was the case,\u201d she says. \u201cI think at first I didn\u2019t realize they\u2019re my songs and it\u2019s about me. It was like, \u2018Do you want it that way? Of course, it\u2019s obviously not my song. Let\u2019s do it your way.\u2019\u201d Since then, she\u2019s developed a fresh layer of tough skin. Kay doesn\u2019t expect everyone to immediately understand her, but she also has no interest in over-explaining herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter some particularly rough and unproductive sessions, Kay found herself texting Alexis Kesselman, better known as Idarose, the producer she partnered with for \u201ciloveitiloveitiloveit.\u201d \u201cI was like, \u2018This is so much worse. The song is not as good. They don\u2019t get my vibe,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201c\u2018Nobody\u2019s you.\u2019\u201d She hasn\u2019t shut out other creative partners while making her album, but it\u2019s just easy with Kesselman. \u201cShe gets the thing about me that I think people find fresh, which is my [attitude of], \u2018Eh, it\u2019s bad for me. I don\u2019t care,\u2019\u201d Kay says. \u201cI\u2019ll say this crazy thing and she\u2019s like, \u2018Duh.\u2019 Other people would be like, \u2018Huh? What do you mean<\/em> by that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tKesselman is also upfront about when something isn\u2019t working in the studio. \u201cI love people who give me shit,\u201d Kay says. \u201cWhen everyone is around going, \u201cYou did it! Everything you do is perfect!\u201d I\u2019m like, that\u2019s not true. My favorite people are the people that are like, \u2018Yeah, that was ass.\u2019\u201d For as much as her life has changed in the past year, her inner-circle has remained the same, for the most part. Her friend group is still a sounding board for her questionable ideas that often lead to great songs \u2014 and they\u2019re down for the ride.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tA few months ago, while driving around with her best friend, Kay got a new follower notification on Instagram. \u201cYou won\u2019t believe who just followed me,\u2019\u201d she told her. It was SZA<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve loved her, always, and I love SOS<\/em> so much,\u201d Kay says. \u201cCTRL<\/em> is everything.\u201d It was among the records her dad would play while driving her to school. \u201cNow, as I\u2019m older, I come back to that album and every time there\u2019s a new song where I\u2019m like, \u2018This is amazing.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\tThey share the same sense of adventure when it comes to seeing what might be on the other side of an emotional minefield. Think \u201cF2F,\u201d where SZA sings, \u201cKnowin\u2019 you gon\u2019 block me tomorrow, can you still come and get me?\u201d What\u2019s the harm in asking, or playing up the theatrics? \u201cEverything in songs is dramatized to the max,\u201d Kay says. \u201cEspecially with the line, \u2018I love when we fight and I like it when you\u2019re mean,\u2019 [in \u201ciloveitiloveitiloveit\u201d]. People thought I meant we\u2019re screaming at each other. No, no. I meant, like, some banter. Obviously it\u2019s toxic, but it\u2019s not so toxic that it\u2019s like, \u2018Girl, get out of there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s often a tendency to label young artists with sharp perspectives as being wise beyond their years, or somehow separate from their generation. With Kay, it\u2019s obvious her wisdom stems from being present and curious \u2014 not like she\u2019s been here before, but like she\u2019s taking in every new feeling and experience without fear. Still, she undercuts it with some more bad ideas. \u201cI love to text or call someone I should not text or call,\u201d she says. \u201cThe worst thing that happens is they don\u2019t respond \u2014 and they always respond.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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