Reneé Rapp is putting her music career to the forefront.
The North Carolina artist announced earlier this year that she would be stepping away from acting to focus on the release of her debut album Snow Angel. Although some fans were shocked by this decision, the singer has been vocal about music always being the goal in her career. She has nothing but gratitude for her acting days though, giving a lot of credit to who she is from being a theater kid and is excited to see that so many up and coming pop artists come from the same background. Since then, Rapp has released two singles “Snow Angel” and “Talk Too Much,” dropped her album on August 18, and announced that she will be going on the ‘Snow Hard Feelings Tour’ across the U.S., Europe, and the UK.
An admirable trait that Reneé Rapp possesses is the way that she values her team and friends. She will take every moment she can to discuss their contributions and how they have impacted her life. The album, which is now available on streaming platforms, was produced and co-written by artist Alexander 23 who will also be joining the ‘Snow Hard Feelings Tour.’ At a press conference with °1824, Reneé Rapp highlighted that putting together any album is a process, especially when you’re collaborating with others, by discussing her experience with the track “Poison Poison”:
“…we wrote a couple of different versions of “Poison Poison” because the first version, Alexander who is my producer, partner, and best friend was like what the fuck is wrong with you. This actually isn’t good.You’re just listing facts about this woman. And I was like yeah I’m dragging her. And he was like no no no you’re actually not even dragging her. You’re not doing it in a beautifully eloquent way. You’re just saying this. You’re kinda being a hater. And I was like first of all…okay. Second of all, shut up. But he was super right. It was actually ass. So we rewrote “Poison Poison” a couple of times.”
Another key player on this project besides Alexander, was Reneé’s former co-star Alayah Channelle Scott who directed both of the music videos for “Snow Angel” and “Talk Too Much.” The singer raved about their relationship by saying:
“I am very spoiled especially with the women that are in my company and the non men that are in my company…She (Alayah Chanelle Scott) is not only best friend and greatest confidant but she also directs a lot of my music videos and has a really really big hand in my personal life and my music career. She comes to the studio with me and is on background vocals for Snow Angel and she is just incredible.”
Watch the video for “Snow Angel” below.
The album in many ways is a love letter from Reneé Rapp to herself, where she gets to reflect and understand who she is as a person. Her music is honest, real, and relatable especially if you are a young adult trying to navigate through your own identity. When asked if after the recording of the album Reneé has more answers about herself, she explained that she now knows she will always have new questions arise about who she is as a person. Rapp claims that she has never written a happy song which makes sense because change and self discovery often is uncomfortable. It is interesting to see the dichotomy between Reneé’s music and character; in person she is a sarcastic yet positive force which opposes the sad subject matter of her songwriting. That reinforces the idea that what we see on the outside is often misleading aka never judge a book by its cover.
During the press conference, Reneé noted that being vulnerable about her bisexuality in her music helps her to empower herself. She joked that after this album she has the confidence to ask at meetings who is straight and slightly judge them. The singer made it very clear though that she knows she is not the face of the queer community, but gets excited that she contributes to it through her craft.
To sum up the album sonically Reneé simply said “If I put every genre that I am obsessed with and that I idolize those artists in who have helped to create, and shaped that sound and then spit it back out through my ears this would be that.” Each song has its own personality yet collectively it comes together to paint a full picture of the complexities of Reneé Rapps mind. Snow Angel is a start to finish listen and will definitely be on most people’s playlists going into fall.
Listen to Snow Angel on your favorite streaming platform today and be sure to see Reneé this fall if she is coming to a city near you! More info here.
