Things donât seem to be slowing down for pop sensation Tate McRae. The 17-year-old Calgary native was just announced as Apple Musicâs Up Next artist for this month, making her the fourth Canadian to be featured and joining a roster of talented artists like Daniel Caesar, Megan Thee Stallion, Jesse Reyez, and Billie Eilish. This, after she made Forbesâ 30 Under 30 list in December.
McRae is also planning on releasing her upcoming  too young to be sad,ââââââ on March 26, which will include fan favourites like her 2020 track âYou Broke Me First.â Although sheâs been producing her music in isolation due to the pandemic, McRae has been connecting with countless Gen Z fans worldwide through her singles that are routinely played on TikTok. Amassing 5 million-plus followers and counting, sheâs connected with fans on the platform through her mature songs about love, heartbreak, and relationships and transforms her honesty and vulnerability into art that fans can relate to in their daily lives. You can hear it all over her instantly relatable new track âslower,â which just dropped today.
This week, McRae talked to us about what it was like winning a place on Apple Musicâs Up Next roster and the emotions that come with her new EP. Complex Canadaâs Alex Narvaez caught up with the singer to talk about her TikTok following, blowing up in quarantine, and her love for the â90s.
Talk to me about how quickly this has all been happening for you and how that feels.Â
I think it doesnât actually feel like a really quick process because itâs been a gradual growth for like a couple of years. But I mean, definitely over the pandemic, Iâve done some things that Iâve always wanted to do and some of my biggest goals have happened, which has been pretty cool. But yeah, I think itâs been mostly hard to think about because I canât go anywhere and I literally canât experience things for real and to the fullest extent. So itâs weird to attach your head to it and believe itâs actually happening sometimes.Â
I recently came across some stats and you have over one million TikToks created with your song, âYou Broke Me First.â When you think about something like that, going viral, but not only people screaming and listening to it, but they actually helped to create something with it, how does that feel?Â
I mean, I think itâs just inspiring as an artist because when people create videos to your music, it just feels like theyâre interpreting it and they just connect with it in some sort of way. And thatâs literally all you want to do, is for people to be able to relate it back to their own life. And I feel like people were able to do that when they heard the song, which made me so happy because it felt like such a small, little baby of mine that feels like your own really personal thing. And once you get to share it, all you want is for people to be able to take you back to their own life and feel the exact same way.
That was such a big song. Iâm sure fans are going to be happy to hear that itâs also on the new EP, right? Tell me about the new EP and how that all came together.
Iâm so excited. Weâve been wanting to create this EP for a really long time. But because of this pandemic, random things have been happening that Iâve just cut the process to be longer. So I had to choose six of my favorite songs that Iâve been writing over the past seven months and the strongest ones that are all cohesive. And thatâs kind of hard to do when youâre by yourself and everythingâs virtual because you canât see people in real life and let people listen to things in real life. Like, my old team canât be with me to vibe on things, so itâs definitely been hard to choose, and thatâs why itâs been pushed back so much. But itâs like finally going out and Iâm excited.
The last track, âThe â90s.â Tell me about that song.
I have this thing in my brain that I just wish I lived in a different time era. And I think thatâs honestly just because of social media and everything, like phones and the whole shebang. I feel like relationships are more superficial. I feel like things online just donât feel like real life to me sometimes. But, I have this idea in my head that living in like the â80s or â90s would be the best, even if it wouldnât be. I just have this idea in my brain, Iâm not getting rid of it. And I was just imagining like, how would a boy walk to a girl? Like, now guys will text you and be like, âIâm hereâ. And if you lived in a different era where you didnât have phones, theyâd have to, like, walk up to your door and give you flowers. Theyâd have to open the door and face your parents. Thereâs that whole other idea that I feel like our generation has completely missed out on, so I started to write a song about it and thatâs how I felt.Â
Youâre also Apple Musicâs Up Next Artist, which is super cool. Itâs such a big honour. You know, people like Jessie Reyez, who came out of Canada, have been featured. Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish. All of these people have been featured. And youâre the artist being featured in March. Talk to me about that and what that means to you.Â
Itâs crazy. I mean, Iâve been watching these documentaries forever. Iâve seen these, Iâve done my research. I knew them all from before. So, when I got this, like, when they said I was going to be the Up Next Artist, I was kind of like, âOh, shit, no way.â And I think itâs cool because Appleâs such an amazing brand that Iâd always dreamed of working with. And to be able to create a video with them and be able to work with them, talk with them, have meetings, and be able to just understand their process on things has been really cool. Itâs also has forced me to push my creativity a bit to work with them and collaborate.