TATE MCRAE ON THE RADAR
Singer, songwriter, dancer and viral sensation Tate McRae is poised to become one of the world’s biggest breakthrough artists in 2021. Music Week meets the Canadian teen...
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s it possible to build a global pop career without ever leaving the house? A glance at Tate McRae’s trajectory over the last year would suggest the answer is, yes, it definitely is. “Some of the coolest moments of my life have been
happening over the last couple of months,” the 17-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter tells us from her family home in Calgary. “There have been awards shows and you know... things. But I honestly don’t feel like anything is happening because I’m just in my basement!” The “things”, it’s worth noting, include a VMAs nomination, a sassy (and soggy) EMAs performance (“We were splashing around in freezing water all day, it was the craziest ever!”), a slot on Jimmy Kimmel and one breakout song, You Broke Me First: the 500 million stream monster of a sad banger that has achieved Top 10 status around the world and soundtracked over one million TikTok clips. The YouTube video – shot by McRae and a friend by taping her iPhone to the front of her mum’s car – is nearing the 60 million mark, while the No.3 hit has 557,940 sales according to the OCC and 419,214,721 streams on Spotify, where McRae has 23,034,093 monthly listeners. Much like a pandemic stockpiler, McRae has been hoarding
superstar-friendly skills her whole life. It’s a year since the release of her debut EP, All The Things I Never Said, five emotional tracks about love and friendship which, for someone who hasn’t ever been in a proper relationship, hit pretty close to the mark. Before all that, though, there was dancing. “People always say to
me, ‘You just started posting stuff online and you jumped off!” she recalls. “But it’s like, ‘You know I’ve been dancing and writing songs since I was eight, right?’” She’s not talking routines for mum and dad, either. McRae won
awards touring the world competing in her early teens before breaking into the mainstream as a finalist on America’s So You Think You Can Dance. Around the same time came Create With Tate, a YouTube series she used as a platform to showcase her original songs. The first, One Day, blew up, piquing the interest of RCA, who signed the singer in America (she goes through Ministry Of Sound in the UK). Clearly, dancer + sad songs = TikTok gold, and after You Broke Me First became notorious, her label narrowed its focus towards the app, where McRae now has over two million followers. “Your whole presence that everyone else sees online is super hard to keep up with,” she says of the pressure to constantly be creating, not only music, but social media content. “I’m like, ‘I’m terrible at all of these’. It’s hard to constantly keep your creative juices flowing.” She’s being modest, of course. Her character – alongside her talent – is what makes McRae the perfect pop star. Despite years on stage, she is in no way big-headed. “I was always a motivated kid,” she says.
“And I always had a specific goal in front of me. I tried a million different routes, so it feels like it was super hard to get to this point. But when
16 | Music Week
you see it online, it looks like the easiest process ever!” It is right to acknowledge the determination involved in her
journey to date. A self-proclaimed “work horse”, McRae is used to a life that involves juggling 25 hours of dance a week, school, touring, songwriting and creating content for her “gazillion” platforms. In short: she’s miles from being just another YouTuber trying to blag it. Her success has opened her up to the world of LA writing sessions, with one song – Tear Myself Apart – even being penned by Billie and Finneas Eilish. Since then, she’s worked with Lil Mosey (Vicious), Ali Gatie (Lie To Me) and has reportedly spent lockdown Zooming with the likes of Lauv and Khalid. When she talks about songwriting, her eyes light up and as her early, DIY output would suggest, she is good at it, too. McRae seems to have found that magic formula mastered by the likes of Adele and Lewis Capaldi: the ability to make all types of people really feel things. “I’m not an emotional person, which is surprising because I write
super sad-girl bops,” she laughs. “I love drawing from films and stuff. I’ve been watching a lot of Leonardo DiCaprio movies recently.” But until now, it’s mainly been old diary entries and magnified
teenage experience that’s formed the basis of the stories she tells. Recent track, Rubberband, though, tackles new terrain. “I really was trying not to write about love any more,” McRae says. “So we started talking about addiction. Sometimes when people are recovering, they’ll have a fidget or something that they have to do in order to remind themselves to stay on track. A lot of people – including myself – carry rubber bands. Whenever I get nervous or anxious, I’ll snap it. So the song was perfect for me.” The track is the start of what will undoubtedly be another big year,
ESSENTIAL INFO
RELEASES: Rubberband (out now) LABEL: Ministry Of Sound MANAGEMENT: Hard 8 Working Group
where McRae hopes to bring more of her dance background into her work – and hopefully get to leave the house. “My platform has grown a lot over quarantine so I can’t wait to go on tour,” she explains. “I want to go to festivals, I want to go to award shows. I want to do it in real life!” McRae is heavily involved in all her creative, and insists in leading as much of the decision making as she can, though as a young woman in the industry she has battled to make herself heard. “It’s hard with the age thing,” she admits. “I
WHAT THE TEAM SAY: Dipesh Parmar, president, Ministry Of Sound: “Tate’s
freshness felt unique from the start. Outside of being an incredible singer, songwriter, performer and dancer, she has grown her dedicated fanbase organically and in her own way. That allows her to take control of her destiny. You Broke Me First was immediately reactive, we’re excited to work with Tate, the team at RCA and her management company.”
definitely felt that a lot when I was younger, like, no one would actually listen to my opinion. But I’m a pretty strong-willed person, I have a lot to say. I trust myself way more now. So I have the balls to speak up in any situation. No matter who they are, or what position they’re in, if my gut is seriously telling me to do something, or say something, I will.” As Music Week’s interview begins to wind up,
McRae starts looking towards the future. “In five years, I want to look back at everything I do and know that it was my work, not me being influenced by everyone around me,” she says. “And my obvious dream is going to the Grammys.
That’s just, like, the biggest dream ever.” CHARLOTTE GUNN
musicweek.com
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