<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rina Sawayama appeared to suggest she was "sick and tired" of Matty Healy's "microaggressions."</li><li>During her set at Glastonbury, the singer also seemed to say she had "had enough" of Healy.</li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-4-keanu-reeves-rina-sawayama-looked-after-2023-3">Rina Sawayama</a> appeared to suggest she's "had enough" of The 1975 singer Matty Healy. The Japanese-British singer told her audience at the Glastonbury music festival in England on Saturday that she was "sick and tired" of "microaggressions" made by a certain individual.Though she did not name Healy, Sawayama gave plenty of clues that she was referring to The 1975's frontman.She went on to reference Healy's appearance on a podcast earlier this year, when <a href="https://www.insider.com/matty-healy-podcast-brutalized-women-taylor-swift-fans-2023-5">he discussed masturbating to porn of "brutalized" women</a> and laughed at derogatory comments about Asian people.Introducing the track "STFU!," Sawayama <a href="https://twitter.com/PopBase/status/1672720239619088384">told the crowd</a> she was dedicating the song to a "white man that watches 'Ghetto Gaggers' and mocks Asian people on a podcast."She added that he "owns my masters," in a reference to her recordings, before concluding: "I've had enough."Sawayama and Healy did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.Both artists are signed to Dirty Hit records. Healy was a director of the company from December 2018 until April 2023, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/24/ive-had-enough-pop-star-rina-sawayama-criticises-comments-by-labelmate-matty-healy">The Guardian</a> reported.After rumors emerged in May that Healy was dating Taylor Swift, comments he made on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwhy6Vyh1kM&amp;t=1615s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">"The Adam Friedland Show" in February</a> resurfaced.During the episode, <a href="https://www.insider.com/matty-healy-podcast-brutalized-women-taylor-swift-fans-2023-5">Healy spoke about having watched "Ghetto Gaggers,"</a> a porn site known for videos featuring the humiliation and brutalization of mostly Black women.Elsewhere on the episode Healy and the hosts made fun of the rapper Ice Spice and tried to guess her ethnicity. He later offered an apology to Ice Spice, <a href="https://twitter.com/coupdemain/status/1649380829511188480?s=20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">according to a fan video posted to Twitter</a>. <div type="image" title="Rina Sawayama performs at Glastonbury Festival 2023 on June 24, 2023 in Glastonbury, England." height="2935" width="4000" msid="101259215" hostid="261" sizebytes="1418026"></div>Clips of the BBC broadcast of Sawayama venting about Healy are being <a href="https://twitter.com/PopBase/status/1672720239619088384" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widely shared across social media</a>."Gagged him a bit," one user wrote in response to celebrity news account <a href="https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1672724804535812099" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pop Crave's tweet</a> of Sawayama's comments.Some have also drawn parallels between her comment about Healy owning her master recordings and <a href="https://www.insider.com/scooter-braun-said-he-bought-taylor-swift-instagram-reactions-tumblr-2019-7">Swift condemning Scooter Braun</a> for owning her older music after <a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/scooter-braun-acquires-big-machine-label-group-scott-borchetta/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he bought Big Machine Records</a> in 2019. "Taylor complaining about Scooter stealing her masters, just for her to date a man who does the exact same thing. That woman is so performative and literally stands for nothing," <a href="https://twitter.com/angelsintibet/status/1672719028601733120" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one Twitter user wrote</a> in a tweet.Swift and Healy, who were first linked in May when British tabloid <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/8030834/taylor-swift-dating-matty-healy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">The Sun</a> reported that the two singers were "madly in love," never publicly confirmed they were a couple.After 33 days of rife speculation, fueled by Healy's appearances at several Eras Tour shows, reports surfaced in early June that <a href="https://www.insider.com/taylor-swift-matty-healy-break-up-2023-6">they'd broken up</a>.

Rina Sawayama appeared to call out Matty Healy during her Glastonbury Festival performance: 'I've had enough'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rina Sawayama said that her "John Wick: Chapter 4" costar Keanu Reeves was supportive. </li><li>Sawayama said that Reeves "knew that it was my first movie and looked after me a lot."</li></ul>Rina Sawayama said that her <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-4-honor-lance-reddick-red-carpet-premiere-photos-2023-3">"John Wick: Chapter 4" costar</a>, franchise lead Keanu Reeves, made sure that she was doing alright on the set of the film. "John Wick: Chapter 4" represents Sawayama's film debut, though the actor has already made a name for herself in the music industry with genre-bending releases like her 2020 album "Sawayama" and 2022's "Hold The Girl."The Japanese-British artist <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/03/26/rina-sawayama-john-wick-4-akira-keanu-reeves/11528219002/">told USA Today</a> that Reeves "knew that it was my first movie and looked after me a lot.""I threw out my back during the first week and he made sure that everything was available for me to get better," Sawayama told USA Today. Sawayama plays Akira in <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-review-keanu-reeves-sequel-2023-3">"John Wick: Chapter 4,"</a> the concierge of the Osaka Continental who defends it alongside her father Shimazu (played by legendary Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada).<div type="image" title="Rina Sawayama as Akira in &quot;John Wick: Chapter 4.&quot;" height="1026" width="1368" msid="99041674" hostid="261" sizebytes="111194"></div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7bvJxF3ew">As Sawayama said on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,"</a> the film's director Chad Stahelski called her about starring in the film after he and Reeves watched two of her music videos: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO2c06p6m5w">"XS,"</a> in which <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-worst-songs-of-the-year-2020-12#xs-by-rina-sawayama-is-a-sarcastic-stroke-of-genius-4">Sawayama transforms into a malfunctioning, robotic home shopping host</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLXtc2OSrLQ">"Bad Friend,"</a> a black-and-white affair in which Sawayama plays a salaryman who gets into a bar fight. According to Sawayama, she had five weeks of training for the film and got back on track after throwing out her back. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-03-24/john-wick-4-action-stars-donnie-yen-hiroyuki-sanada-rina-sawayama">Stahelski told The Los Angeles Times</a> that "stress does not get to Rina," who quickly picked up her stunts. "What doing 'John Wick' taught me was that I could push my physical limits," Sawayama told USA Today. "I still tap into that mental strength when I'm tired and have to get up on stage or am feeling a little under the weather. I'm like, 'No, you did that stunt at 2 a.m. wearing a tight leather suit. If you can do that, you can do this!'"

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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Keanu Reeves gave the stunt performers in "John Wick: Chapter 4" t-shirts at the end of the shoot. </li><li>The shirts bore the number of times each performer had died during the film. </li></ul>Keanu Reeves paid homage to the number of times that the stunt performers of <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-review-keanu-reeves-sequel-2023-3">"John Wick: Chapter 4"</a> had to die during filming with a custom gift.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/movies/john-wick-4-action-scene.html">The New York Times reported</a> that Reeves, who <a href="https://www.insider.com/keanu-reeves-john-wick-chapter-4-dialogue-380-words-2023-3">stars in the series as the titular John Wick</a>, made the film's stunt performers T-shirts that bore the number of ties that they had died over the course of the entire film. For some of them, the number was over 20. The franchise's stunts are notoriously demanding, and "John Wick: Chapter 4" was no exception. <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-4-keanu-reeves-director-hate-stunts-2023-3">Director Chad Stahelski told Insider's Eammon Jacobs that</a>, while Reeves is put through the wringer in many of the film's stunts, it's "done out of love." As The New York Times broke down one of the film's most demanding fight sequences, which takes place on a set of steps leading up to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris. That particular sequence involved over 35 stunt performers, according to the Times. Stunt coordinator Scott Rogers told the publication that, by his own estimate, one particular performer was taken out between five or six times during the steps sequence. "Outside of some bumps and bruises, there were no concussions," Rogers told The New York Times. Reeves is <a href="https://www.insider.com/keanu-reeves-greatest-person-ever-2019-8#the-actor-reportedly-posed-on-top-of-a-table-to-secure-his-role-in-toy-story-4-7">generally known for being a pretty cool guy</a>, and this is far from the first gift that he's given to stunt teams over the course of his film career. <a href="https://www.insider.com/keanu-reeves-john-wick-4-stunt-team-rolexes-wrap-gift-2021-10">Insider previously reported</a> that Reeves gifted members of his stunt team on "Chapter 4" Rolex watches engraved with messages of thanks.The actor's "Chapter 4" costar, singer Rina Sawayama, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=fb5c657ae5202dbe64c9ecec2c731c7dee7987ff0469a2feaedf3d10dcf6c375&amp;postID=6424807c930554743456ea4f&amp;site=in&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%2F%3Fid%3D35871X1550380%26isjs%3D1%26jv%3D15.3.0-stackpath%26sref%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.insider.com%252Fjohn-wick-4-keanu-reeves-rina-sawayama-looked-after-2023-3%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.usatoday.com%252Fstory%252Fentertainment%252Fmovies%252F2023%252F03%252F26%252Frina-sawayama-john-wick-4-akira-keanu-reeves%252F11528219002%252F%26xs%3D1%26xtz%3D240%26xuuid%3D7fd3f32dd6c7e6de39bb9955f4470f0b%26xcust%3Dxid%253Afr1680114122239ffe%26cci%3Dddb481cdba647f8953217c899696db39">told USA Today</a> that <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-4-keanu-reeves-rina-sawayama-looked-after-2023-3">Reeves "looked after me a lot" on set given that it was her first film</a>. Sawayama said that after she threw out her back on set, Reeves "made sure that everything was available for me to get better."

Keanu Reeves gifted 'John Wick 4' stunt performers t-shirts bearing the number of times they were killed in the movie

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-4-keanu-reeves-director-hate-stunts-2023-3">The latest "John Wick" film</a> sees the assassin shoot, stab, and punch his way across the world.</li><li>The script and dialogue are painful, but Keanu Reeves shines in its flawless action scenes.</li></ul>You'd think "John Wick" <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-4-keanu-reeves-director-hate-stunts-2023-3">director Chad Stahelski</a> would have run out of ways to keep the franchise's fight scenes feel fresh after <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-chapter-3-review-2019-5">three films</a> of <a href="https://www.insider.com/keanu-reeves-greatest-person-ever-2019-8">Keanu Reeves</a> throwing himself through glass walls, getting thrown off of balconies, and generally getting the living snot repeatedly beaten out of him. But you'd be mistaken. "John Wick: Chapter 4" sees the titular retired hitman try to finally free himself of the High Table, the organization that rules the criminal underworld, after being pulled back into the fray following the death of his wife and his puppy <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-to-know-about-john-wick-2019-5">in the first film</a>. He also has to contend with the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), who wants to take New York for himself.It's a very muddled script that throws the action from one side of the world to the other on a moment's notice, while 90% of the characters speak in ominous proverbs and metaphors to add some extra gravitas to the already over-the-top action.But let's be honest, no one's coming to watch a "John Wick" movie for Oscar-worthy dialogue and profound conversation.The audience is here to see Reeves battle hordes of goons with his signature gun-fu flair as an artist of death.<div type="image" title="Keanu Reeves as John Wick in &quot;John Wick: Chapter 4.&quot;" height="3300" width="4401" msid="98632324" hostid="261"></div>It says a lot that these stunts don't feel tiresome four films into the franchise, whether it's an uphill battle on the steps of Rue Foyatier in Paris, or a brutal nightclub brawl against Scott Adkins' hulking German gangster, Killa.Stahelski constantly aims to up the action from the previous film, and it's fair to say that he succeeds with "John Wick: Chapter 4." And he does so with slick visuals and unique camera shots that make these fight scenes pop right off of the screen — like one sequence involving a dragon's breath shotgun that has to be seen to be believed. One early standout sequence sees Akira (<a href="https://www.insider.com/best-worst-songs-of-the-year-2020-12">Rina Sawayama</a>) and her father Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) defend the Osaka Continental Hotel from the Marquis' forces, and it's a gorgeously neon-drenched affair. However, it's criminal that Sawayama and Sanada only get the spotlight for such a brief moment because it would've been great to see them have more prominent roles in the story. <div type="image" title="Rina Sawayama as Akira in &quot;John Wick: Chapter 4.&quot;" height="1026" width="1368" msid="98632326" hostid="261"></div>Thankfully, Reeves has an interesting dynamic with Donnie Yen's blind assassin, Caine, and the Tracker (Shamier Anderson). These two hitmen just about make up for Sawayama and Sanada's glaring omission after the opening act. Caine is a tortured assassin, much like Mr. Wick, and it's those similarities that will instantly win audiences over. Meanwhile, the Tracker wants to keep Wick alive as long as possible to up the price on his head so he can kill him himself. Bill Skarsgård's impeccably dressed villain is a particularly boring choice for the sequel, as he speaks a lot about being better than everybody else and wanting to kill Wick, while actually being pretty useless.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qEVUtrk8_B4" frameborder="0"></iframe>Underwhelming big bad aside, the main problem with "Chapter 4" is its runtime. The wild action sequences are bonkers and will have the audience's jaws on the floor, but the story is unnecessarily dragged out to accommodate some of the longer fights. It just needed to be more direct, rather than spending a lot of the runtime with Wick flitting around trying to convince people to side with him rather than the High Table.The franchise's slick charm has worn off a little. The first movie was tantalizingly mysterious because we only got a glimpse of the darker underworld, but the story has grown so big that it doesn't feel as special as it should.It's still a fun ride, but a tighter script and a shorter runtime would have elevated "John Wick: Chapter 4" further. "John Wick: Chapter 4" is in theaters now.

In 'John Wick: Chapter 4,' Keanu Reeves shines, but the script is painful

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Director Chad Stahelski told Insider that Scott Adkins' villain is a huge Easter egg for action fans.</li><li>Adkins plays big boss Killa in "John Wick: Chapter 4," and goes up against Keanu Reeves.</li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-chapter-4-review-keanu-reeves-sequel-2023-3">"John Wick: Chapter 4"</a> pits <a href="https://www.insider.com/keanu-reeves-life-career-timeline-2019-6">Keanu Reeves</a>' titular hitman against armies of other assassins in a globetrotting adventure that also features a number of impressive faces along the way. Franchise newcomers Hiroyuki Sanada, Rina Sawayama, Donnie Yen, and Bill Skarsgård join the likes of <a href="https://www.insider.com/john-wick-4-honor-lance-reddick-red-carpet-premiere-photos-2023-3">the late Lance Reddick</a>, Ian McShane, and Laurence Fishburne."The Expendables" and "Day Shift" star Scott Adkins also has a pretty prominent role as German crime lord, Killa, in one of the film's most memorable sequences. The character required Adkins to wear a fat suit, facial prosthetics, and a big purple suit to pull off the intimidating look.Director Chad Stahelski told Insider that Killa is a reference to a movie that he loves — which coincidentally features "John Wick: Chapter 4" star Donnie Yen.Stahelski said: "I was always a big fan of the Donnie Yen/Sammo Hung movie, 'SPL,' and in it, Sammo Hung's got the big purple suit in the end fight scene." Stahelski also clarified that each film in the franchise is a love letter to a handful of classic filmmakers and movies that everyone involved in the "John Wick" franchise grew up watching."'John Wick' [movies] are all love letters from Keanu, myself, our stunt team, and our creative team to everybody out there from Wong Kar-wai to Sammo Hung, to Sergio Leone, Kurosawa, to Alain Delon and 'The Samurai,' to Spielberg, Tarantino… To all these people that we grew up loving," the director said. Stahelski also namechecked director Walter Hill, adding: "'The Warriors,' you know. I love these guys." Action movie fans will know that the 1979 movie follows a gang who have to travel from the Bronx back to southern Brooklyn after they're framed for murder, and they have to fend off attacks from a number of other gangs. That's definitely similar to Wick's predicament in "Chapter 3" and "Chapter 4." But when it comes to making the violence stand out from other movies, Stahelski said the team at his and coproducer David Leitch's action design production company "try to be creative" when choreographing longer scenes like the Killa fight.He said: "We have a full-time stunt team that in their downtime... like, I swear to you if you came to <a href="https://www.87eleven.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">87eleven</a> in LA. that's what my whole team is — they spend all day coming up with cool stuff. That's their job!""John Wick: Chapter 4" is in theaters now.

'John Wick: Chapter 4' director explains the inspiration behind Scott Adkins' hulking villain

<keyword id="10879" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Youtube" source="Orion">YouTube</keyword> has announced the new <keyword id="316990" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="foundry" source="Orion">Foundry</keyword> <keyword id="14587422" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Class-of-2022" source="Orion">class of 2022</keyword>, the company's global artist development programme that focuses on discovering and supporting talent around the world. <keyword id="10569922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Noor-chahal" source="Orion">Noor Chahal</keyword> and <keyword id="2103988" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kayan" source="Orion">Kayan</keyword>, both Indian artists, are among the 30 artists from various genres and continents chosen for the Foundry class of 2022. Foundry, founded in 2015, is YouTube's independent music incubator, supporting indie artists at all stages of their careers through annual artist development classes and ongoing release support campaigns. Foundry artists are next generation entertainers, recognized for their innovative approach to music and storytelling. To date Foundry programs have supported 250 independent artists, with alumni including Arlo Parks, beabadoobee, Clairo, Dave, Dua Lipa, ENNY, Eladio Carrion, girl in red, Gunna, Kenny Beats, LostStories, Natanael Cano, Omar Apollo, REI AMI, Rema, Rina Sawayama, ROSALIA, <keyword id="8799842" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="seedhe-maut" source="Orion">Seedhe Maut</keyword>, Snail Mail, Tems, Tenille Arts and many more talented musicians. Pawan Agarwal, Director, Music Partnerships (India &amp; South Asia), YouTube, "Helping discover and break new artists, while helping them navigate every stage of their career is one of YouTube Music's core goals. This is especially important for independent artists, who are navigating today's increasingly digital landscape to find stability, creative fulfillment, and a global community of fans. Foundry gives independent artists a springboard to success and we're excited to support such emerging artists and reduce barriers along their journey." The latest Foundry class includes a global collection of artists from the US, India, Korea, Japan, Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa. Featuring genres such as country, afropop, soul, latin urban and many more, the new class of musicians includes: . Amari' Noelle (US) . Ashley Cooke (US) . ART (DE) . AVUA (BR) . BabyTron (US) . BIBI (KR) . Black Sherif (SSA) . Bruses (MX) . Danielle Ponder (US) . French The Kid (UK) . Genesis Owusu (AUS) . HaruNemuri (JP) . Joeboy (SSA) . Jossman (CO) . Kader Diaby 4Real (FR) . Kaike (BR) . Kayan (IN) . Magdalena Bay (US) . Mehro (US) . Nemahsis (CAN) . Noor Chahal (IN) . Obongjayar (UK) . RIMON (NL) . Roxane Bruneau (CAN) . Skiifall (CAN) . Snow Tha Product (US) . <keyword id="14587421" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sudan-archives" source="Orion">Sudan Archives</keyword> (US) . Thuy (US) . TSHA (UK) . <keyword id="14587420" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="yoss-bones" source="Orion">Yoss Bones</keyword> (MX) Noor Chahal said, "Being an independent artist always comes with an essence of absolutely being true to your music as well as your audience. An artist's success cannot be measured by definite parameters, everyone has their own definition of success. I see Foundry helping my music reach new people and ensure that my potential does not go undiscovered or unacknowledged. Every independent artist needs a push like that and I am nothing but grateful to YouTube for this opportunity." Kayan said, "Freedom. To do what I want. It also challenges me in so many ways which teaches me a lot. I guess if you're happy doing what you're doing you're successful, having said that. It doesn't hurt if I can pay my bills, fund my own music, own all of it and still have the drive to want to do better. YouTube is a crucial platform for artists. To connect with my audience and fans and to have a place to share my work with them is super important. Also to understand my audience better and work with that kind of information is such a great strength to have. Foundry is the perfect program to help me really grow what I'm working for." Foundry is intended for independent artists with a vision for their own success, as well as to assist them in navigating the demands of today's music industry. YouTube offers partner strategy support, marketing promotion, and seed funding for content development, which can be used for anything from trying out new music to diversifying video creation formats. 2021 Foundry alumni Seedhe Maut shared, "We constantly strive to push our creative limits to the maximum, and our vision has always been about creating as well as experimenting with music that pushes our boundaries. Being selected as part of Foundry gave us the opportunity to expand our vision and share our music with a wider community. YouTube as a platform has been exponential in sharing our work and connecting with more people across the globe." SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/top-10-most-chosen-fmcg-brands-of-india-as-per-kantar-report/slidelist/93206746.cms">Parle, Amul and Britannia are the most chosen FMCG brands of India in 2021: Kantar report</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/explainer-why-is-americas-largest-crypto-exchange-coinbase-in-trouble/articleshow/93207659.cms">Explainer: Why is America's largest crypto exchange Coinbase in trouble?</a>

Noor Chahal and Kayan, as part YouTube's Foundry class of 2022

<ul class="summary-list"><li>SOPHIE, a Grammy-nominated <keyword id="6356809" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="producer">producer</keyword> and DJ known for experimental pop and dance, has died at age 34. </li><li>She was a Grammy nominee who worked with Madonna, Charli XCX, and other artists during her career. </li><li>Artists across the music industry and the <keyword id="729067" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="LGBTQ">LGBTQ</keyword> community shared tributes on social media. </li></ul>SOPHIE, the Grammy-nominated DJ and producer known for her avant-garde pop sound, has died at the age of 34.The artist, born Sophie Xeon, died around 4 a.m. at her home in <a href="https://www.insider.com/greece-number-one-country-to-visit-2020">Athens, Greece</a>, on Saturday, The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/music-athens-vince-staples-sophie-accidents-26a542222e6c5430d87a9c51b033377a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a> reported. Music labels Transgressive and Future Classic confirmed the <keyword id="6355784" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="death">death</keyword> in a statement shared to Twitter, saying SOPHIE died after a "tragic accident" when she slipped and fell."Tragically our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible accident. True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell," the companies wrote in a tweet."She will always be here with us. The family thanks everyone for their love and support and request privacy at this devastating time," they said.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Transgressive (@transgressiveHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1355485915892703240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2021</a></blockquote>SOPHIE was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and began releasing music in 2013 with her <a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/14912-nothing-more-to-say-eeehhh/">debut single "Nothing More To Say."</a> She later released another single, "BIPP," and further attracted fans with a series of acclaimed singles on her 2015 compilation, Product.The first time SOPHIE <a href="https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/10/sophie-shares-video-for-its-okay-to-cry-her-first-new-solo-material-in-two-years-watch/">used her own image and vocals as for her October 2017 song, "It's Okay to Cry."</a> The next year she dropped her debut album, "Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Inside," <a href="https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/sophie/243547">which received a Grammy nomination</a> for best dance/electronic album.She's worked with several top artists, including <a href="https://www.insider.com/madonna-shares-video-son-dancing-michael-jackson-honor-george-floyd-2020-5">Madonna</a>, <a href="https://www.insider.com/an-artist-creates-3-d-makeup-looks-using-cgi-2020-1">Charli XCX</a>, rapper <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-new-songs-mariah-carey-vince-staples-2017-2">Vince Staples</a>, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/kim-petras-clarity-pop-music-publicly-embracing-transgender-identity-interview-2019-7">Kim Petras</a>.<h2>The music industry and members of the LGBTQ community paid tribute to the "visionary" on social media</h2><div type="image" title="SOPHIE pic 2" height="3648" width="4864" msid="80604728" hostid="261"></div>Tributes poured out from the music industry to honor SOPHIE, who was transgender, as a pioneering figure in the music industry.French singer Christine and the Queens described SOPHIE as "a stellar producer, a visionary, a reference.""She rebelled against the narrow, normative society by being an absolute triumph, both as an artist and as a woman," she wrote. "I can't believe she is gone. We need to honor and respect her memory and legacy. Cherish the pioneers."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Chris (@QueensChristine) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1355472218462048261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2021</a></blockquote>Munroe Bergdorf, the first transgender model for L'Oréal UK, shared photos of SOPHIE, who she called "an icon, a pioneer and a visionary bright light.""Thank you for sharing your talent with us," she wrote. "I hope we get to meet again one day. Rest in peace sister."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Munroe (@MunroeBergdorf) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1355473604834697219?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2021</a></blockquote>Oliver Sykes, best known as the lead singer of "Bring Me the Horizon," said in a tweet he was "devastated" by the <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news">news</keyword>."From the moment I discovered<a href="https://twitter.com/SOPHIEMSMSMSM" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> @SOPHIEMSMSMSM</a> , Sophie's work has been a profound source of inspiration &amp; reference to me," he wrote. "Incredibly stimulating, pure proof that any genre can still be pushed in untapped ways, it was impossible not to be stimulated by Sophie once acquainted."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Oliver Sykes (@olobersyko) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1355506109814091776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2021</a></blockquote>Record label Numbers tweeted that SOPHIE was a "true inspiration" and "the World has lost an icon of liberation. We are devastated. Our thoughts are with SOPHIE's family and friends at this time. Rest in peace."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Numbers. (@numbers) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1355485221853028358?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2021</a></blockquote>Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama called SOPHIE an "icon and a visionary.""The world and our community has lost a beautiful soul. what a privilege it was to share moments with u backstage at Pop 2 London," she wrote. "Thank u SOPHIE for everything."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—RINA SAWAYAMA (@rinasawayama) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1355496845749989377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2021</a></blockquote>Canadian artist Peaches shared a statement in which he championed SOPHIE as a "true game-changer.""You will always be remembered as a true game-changer, powerful presence, and an incredibly original producer!" Peaches wrote. "Your music and production brought me so much joy!"<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Peaches (@peaches) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1355504703312953347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2021</a></blockquote>Read More:<ul class="read-more-links"><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/movie-hollywood-stars-legends-who-died-in-2020">21 movie legends who died in 2020</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/larry-king-death-celebrities-politicians-reactions-2021-1">Celebrities, journalists, and political figures react to Larry King's death and the loss of an American TV legend</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/bernie-sanders-mittens-crochet-doll-original-on-ebay-2021-1">The viral 'Bernie's Mittens' crochet doll is now on eBay, and bids are already over $15,000</a></li></ul>

Grammy-nominated producer SOPHIE has died at the age of 34

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A 2-liter water bottle is flooding UK <keyword id="11894125" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tiktok" source="Orion">TikTok</keyword> as multiple retailers advertise it for £0.99 ($1.29).</li><li>The bottle's aesthetic is perfect for the app, but retailers are unlikely to make a profit from it.</li></ul>British TikTok users browsing their feeds in the past few months will have struggled to avoid videos promoting an inordinately low-priced plastic drinking bottle.In the UK, TikTok has been flooded with <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@k4tyl33/video/7059776334117096709?_d=secCgwIARCbDRjEFSACKAESPgo8HWxN5GcLihj%2Bw9iw6LOw8DI3J8oYWVq9pgTORMUJMKx4e7bV7ZlxzJwYdqVA0fE%2BlerdAiv5VLt6lyK7GgA%3D&amp;language=en&amp;preview_pb=0&amp;sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAA4X0MSMvGODq2rYlHlS22XDfT2YhOdI8661q2kex3UMq9lBI3Z0G0BN6JgStlH-vS&amp;share_app_id=1233&amp;share_item_id=7059776334117096709&amp;share_link_id=3638e37f-2c89-4e4a-8f72-307aec2a81d2&amp;source=h5_m&amp;timestamp=1644087847&amp;u_code=d36jhbj4g90469&amp;user_id=6624752087136092166&amp;utm_campaign=client_share&amp;utm_medium=android&amp;utm_source=copy&amp;_r=1">advertisements</a><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@whatdoyoumean1425/video/7055945410463993093?language=en&amp;preview_pb=0&amp;sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAA4X0MSMvGODq2rYlHlS22XDfT2YhOdI8661q2kex3UMq9lBI3Z0G0BN6JgStlH-vS&amp;share_app_id=1233&amp;share_link_id=3d30dfc0-0b40-4cad-a4c2-5e9ab4a59c79&amp;timestamp=1644087332&amp;u_code=d36jhbj4g90469&amp;user_id=6624752087136092166&amp;utm_campaign=client_share&amp;utm_medium=android&amp;utm_source=copy&amp;source=h5_m&amp;_r=1"> for the 2-liter rainbow-colored water bottles</a>. They are sold by multiple sellers on the app and feature inspirational messages encouraging users to drink more water, as the bottle is the US equivalent of just over <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256#:~:text=You've%20probably%20heard%20the,a%20day%20might%20be%20enough.">eight cups per day</a>.Watch any of the videos for a few seconds, and a small box appears in the bottom left of the screen. Clicking it takes users to a checkout page, where they can buy the water bottle — with free shipping — for the low price of £0.99 (or around $1.29).<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@whatdoyoumean1425/video/7055945410463993093" data-video-id="7055945410463993093" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@whatdoyoumean1425" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@whatdoyoumean1425">@whatdoyoumean1425</a> <a title="ad" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ad">#ad</a> supersize water cup 0.99 free shipping <a title="tiktok" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktok">#tiktok</a> <a title="goodthing" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/goodthing">#goodthing</a> <a title="share" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/share">#share</a> <a title="help" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/help">#help</a> <a title="uk" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/uk">#uk</a> <a title="foryou" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foryou">#foryou</a> <a title="ad" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ad">#ad</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ Beg For You (feat. Rina Sawayama) - Charli XCX" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Beg-For-You-feat-Rina-Sawayama-7054888818105436162">♬ Beg For You (feat. Rina Sawayama) - Charli XCX</a> </section> </blockquote> It's not just adverts for the bottles that have dominated the app. Everyday users who have bought them are <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@athome_withdevon/video/7060434711247604998?">posting</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@simmie.kaur/video/7071268678435687685">videos</a> showing off their new purchase. Other similar items that have become commonly advertised include <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lozzij/video/7075378816100748549?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1">£0.99 sunset lamps</a>, and £0.99<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@user07000002939/video/7059783353628675333?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1"> air diffusers</a>, but it's the giant water bottles that have captured the zeitgeist. One video <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@katiehopkinsx/video/7054498089549188357?">posted in January</a> and <a href="https://www.bustle.com/wellness/how-to-buy-tiktok-99p-water-bottle">credited</a> in part with popularizing the item has been viewed over 16 million times, and videos including the hashtag #99pwaterbottle have received over 40 million views to date. YouTube users have uploaded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBtTPC5Qz8M&amp;ab_channel=tulip">unboxing</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV1MGgPAflg&amp;ab_channel=GabbyThomson">review</a> videos, and news outlets have published <a href="https://thetab.com/uk/2022/02/08/everyone-on-tiktok-is-buying-this-99p-water-bottle-and-this-is-how-to-get-yours-239403">explainers</a> on how to get one.TikTok users may assume the bottle's explosion in popularity is a coincidence, but <keyword id="11893588" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="retail" source="Orion">retail</keyword> experts and sellers suggest it's likely down to TikTok's campaign to push its new retail platform, which may encourage sellers to market this particular product, even if it means making a loss.<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@katiehopkinsx/video/7054498089549188357" data-video-id="7054498089549188357" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@katiehopkinsx" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@katiehopkinsx">@katiehopkinsx</a> I didn’t order this for a video but it’s the best 99p I’ve spent so I’ve linked it for you <a title="tiktokshop" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokshop">#tiktokshop</a> <a title="waterbottle" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/waterbottle">#waterbottle</a> <a title="99pwaterbottle" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/99pwaterbottle">#99pwaterbottle</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ Flowers (Say My Name) - ArrDee" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Flowers-Say-My-Name-7020835055857567746">♬ Flowers (Say My Name) - ArrDee</a> </section> </blockquote> <h2><keyword id="13604607" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tiktok-shop" source="Orion">TikTok Shop</keyword> could be incentivizing sellers to make a loss on the bottle</h2>TikTok Shop is the company's e-commerce platform and is open to any users who want to sell products through the app. People are able to sell whatever products they want, within guidelines set by TikTok, but many appear to have hit on the water bottle as a low-cost way to grab attention. It's not clear how so many different retailers have access to the same product, but it has become an extremely popular item.Yumeng Zou, one of two employees who work at TikTok Shop<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@amazingfriday_uk"> amazingfriday_UK</a>, told Insider they're selling "almost 2,000 or 3,000 bottles every day."Despite the business name, amazingfriday_UK has nothing to do with the United Kingdom — the three people who make up the e-commerce business are all based in Shenzhen, China, a former fishing village that is now the world's manufacturing hub, exporting<a href="https://www.metropolis.org/sites/default/files/resources/the_story_of_shenzhen_2nd_edition_sep_2019_0.pdf"> $224 billion worth of items</a> around the globe in 2019, according to a report by the United Nations.The company, which Zou described as a startup, began selling products in late February 2022 on TikTok.Zou declined to answer questions about whether amazingfriday_UK is making any profit on the TikTok-famous water bottles, but said that the company can sell it at a low price "because we can ship our products directly to customers, and don't have a middleman, and don't need a warehouse abroad."<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@amazingfriday_uk/video/7085302856366050566" data-video-id="7085302856366050566" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@amazingfriday_uk" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@amazingfriday_uk">@amazingfriday_uk</a> Everyone must have this<a title="waterbottle" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/waterbottle">#waterbottle</a> <a title="99p" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/99p">#99p</a> <a title="tiktokshoppartner" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokshoppartner">#tiktokshoppartner</a> <a title="shopontiktok" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/shopontiktok">#shopontiktok</a> <a title="fyp" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp">#fyp</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ Give it to me like - Official Sound Studio" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Give-it-to-me-like-6765436950024292354">♬ Give it to me like - Official Sound Studio</a> </section> </blockquote> E-commerce expert Dan Barker told Insider that there could be more at play, suggesting it's linked to the latest push by the short-form video sharing app to promote TikTok Shop. Insider has<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-retailers-cash-prizes-shop-affiliate-trends-2022-1?r=US&amp;IR=T"> previously reported</a> that TikTok is offering users huge cash prizes to launch a shop through its app. "This allows those sellers to bump up tiers earning incentives, and achieve the chance to win cash prizes up to five figures having hit particular targets," Barker explained. "It may be that some of these sellers are therefore using a very low-cost product with an offer to ratchet up orders for a scheme like that."A number of comments on videos advertising the bottle say that for users who have bought from TikTok shop before, the price of the bottle increased to £4.99 ($6.50), suggesting the goal is to onboard new customers.Barker said many e-commerce sites make a minimal profit — and sometimes even a loss — on customers' first orders."It's fairly common for companies to calculate a 'cost per newly acquired customer,' assuming they'll make the actual profit on later orders from those same customers," he said. <h2>The bottle itself was the perfect product for TikTok sellers to get behind</h2>Barker believes that for new retailers on the platform, the product is a deliberate choice, as a plastic bottle of that size could be hard to sell under other circumstances. He speculated that the stock could be "hanging around in warehouses," making it worth selling for such a low price.The pastel colors and inspirational messaging to drink more water throughout the day also feed into an aesthetic that has dominated TikTok for the past years. Florence Adepoju, founder of cosmetics brand MDMflow and head of retail partnerships at Gen Z marketing agency Fanbytes, <a href="https://thingtesting.com/stories/dive-tiktok-aesthetic">told product reviews publication Thingtesting</a> in 2020 that some of the most popular products on the platform include "holographics, bright, bold shimmers, and glitters," in contrast to Instagram's more "clean" esthetic.<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@athome_withdevon/video/7060434711247604998" data-video-id="7060434711247604998" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@athome_withdevon" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@athome_withdevon">@athome_withdevon</a> Water bottle for 99p!! @tiktokshop_uk @tiktok_uk <a title="tiktokshop" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokshop">#tiktokshop</a><a title="foryou" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foryou">#foryou</a><a title="fypシ" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp%E3%82%B7">#fypシ</a><a title="closeyourrings" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/closeyourrings">#CloseYourRings</a><a title="trending" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/trending">#trending</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ Flowers (Say My Name) - ArrDee" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Flowers-Say-My-Name-7020835055857567746">♬ Flowers (Say My Name) - ArrDee</a> </section> </blockquote> Patrick Nommensen, part of TikTok's e-commerce operations in the UK, told Insider that the £0.99 water bottle has been sold on the platform for some time, but it came onto the app's radar in November 2021. "We noticed quite quickly that TikTok videos of the £0.99 water bottle were attracting a great deal of attention," Nommensen said. He said that TikTok is "all about discovery and new trends," adding that it's "not unusual" for popular products to go viral on the platform in this way. Though TikTok declined to share sales figures, the bottle had become one of the top sellers on the platform by February 2022, according to Nommensen, with "impressive" sales for the merchants on the platform. He confirmed that TikTok is taking "a small commission in line with industry standards from each sale made through the platform."<h2>The strategy appears to be working, as the bottles continue to drive users to TikTok Shop</h2>Two of the biggest TikTok Shops that stock the water bottle have sold over 500,000 units between them, with other smaller retailers selling thousands, according to the figures shown on their product pages.One of the users who bought the water bottle was 25-year-old Eve from the UK, who declined to give her surname. Her friend, co-worker, and fellow TikTok user Mimi Horne had bought a bottle for herself,<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mimihorne01/video/7063941050833947910?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1"> posting about it on TikTok</a>.<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@mimihorne01/video/7063941050833947910" data-video-id="7063941050833947910" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@mimihorne01" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mimihorne01">@mimihorne01</a> Get yours now! <a title="water" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/water">#water</a> <a title="trending" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/trending">#trending</a> <a title="fyp" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp">#fyp</a> <a title="tiktok" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktok">#tiktok</a> <a title="shopping" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/shopping">#shopping</a> <a title="tiktokshop" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/tiktokshop">#tiktokshop</a> <a title="getyours" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/getyours">#getyours</a> <a title="linkbelow" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/linkbelow">#linkbelow</a> <a target="_blank" title="♬ Heat Waves - Glass Animals" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Heat-Waves-6844921356623022081">♬ Heat Waves - Glass Animals</a> </section> </blockquote> "I asked her where she got it," Eve told Insider. "She then said she had the affiliate code where I can get it for £0.99 with free shipping, and it's such a cute bottle that I had to get it."Eve ordered it in late February, and it arrived on March 11."It's great," said Eve. "I think what makes it great is the size of it with the price, compared to others that are 'professional' sports bottles for a lot more money."She said she'd also be tempted to buy other £0.99 products from TikTok, such as the sunset lamps and air diffusers — but only if they have free shipping, too.<a href="https://www.insider.com/culture">For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.</a>

An oversized inspirational water bottle that costs $1.29 is being sold all over TikTok. Insiders explain why it's gone so viral.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Olivia O'Brien spoke to Insider about her new single "Bitch Back," a collaboration with FLETCHER.</li><li>The song is a celebration of single girls and female friendship, inspired by a true story.</li></ul>When Olivia O'Brien answered my call on a Wednesday afternoon in July, she was holed up in her bedroom, hiding from her roommate's COVID with her 6-year-old dog Dexter whining at her feet.This scene might sound out of step with O'Brien's <a href="https://www.instagram.com/oliviaobrien/">1.4 million Instagram followers</a> and her arsenal of glossy pop songs, but she's actually the first to admit that things aren't usually as glamorous as they appear.When O'Brien was only a freshman in high school, she posted a cover of a Gnash song on SoundCloud, which miraculously made its way to him. After they connected, she sent him an original song that he asked to produce and include on his next EP. The next thing she knew, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiQIc7fG9pA">"I Hate U, I Love U"</a> was a top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100."It just randomly blew up," O'Brien said. "It was the first song I ever put out. So then I was like, 'Oh, OK. I guess I do music now.'"The transition to Hollywood "wasn't that bad," O'Brien added. "I really was ready to leave Napa. No one was very nice to me, especially after I started doing music."Now 22, with a debut album and hundreds of millions of <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/1QRj3hoop9Mv5VvHQkwPEp?si=TfoMYokWRWaQXff7bm3LbA">Spotify streams</a> under her belt, O'Brien continues to take everything in stride. Her new single "Bitch Back," featuring FLETCHER, is an ode to being untethered, carefree, and maybe a little reckless — especially with her newly single best friend riding shotgun.She opened up to Insider about dealing with breakups, writing songs for "my girlies and my gays," and learning to separate beauty from self-worth.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QFdJZ5i6_bk" frameborder="0"></iframe>Tell me about how you came to work with FLETCHER.Fletcher's A&amp;R at Capital is one of my best friends, Carter. So I've known her through him for a while.I remember one time we were at a party and we were all drunk and it was at my friend <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bazzi/">Bazzi's</a> house. He has a piano right underneath the stairs, and me and Carter and FLETCHER and like a couple other people were sitting there and we were just like drunk, playing piano and singing together. And it was just so funny.That's like my core memory that I have with her. How did that friendship turn into a song?I had this song that I originally wrote myself, and it was just for me. And then I was like, I just really think this song would be cool with a female feature because it's about having your friend come back from a relationship and being single and going out. I just figured FLETCHER would be the perfect feature. We have similar fan bases. I really like her as a person. I'm obsessed with her music. I think she's super talented and it just made sense. So I asked her if she would be down. She came to the studio and we rewrote the second verse for her. Well, she mainly wrote it, but we had to fit it into the song, right? So it ended up being her version of what I originally wrote, which I think is really cool.Do you remember any of the original lyrics that got cut or reworked?Originally it was, "Remember the time we double-dated brothers, started arguing if one was hotter than the other." And then FLETCHER's version is, "Remember the time we double-dated twins, I was fucking her and you were fucking him." So we reworked it into being more like her.But the melodies, I believe, are mainly the same. We just flipped all the lyrics around. <div type="image" title="olivia obrien fletcher bitch back press photo" height="2000" width="2668" msid="93374216" hostid="261" sizebytes="346216"></div>One line that stands out to me is, "Because he sucks and now we can admit that." I feel like that happens so often in friendships — when you're torn between being honest and not wanting to overstep a boundary. Have you come across that in your own life?Definitely. I just went through a breakup a couple months ago and once you break up with someone, everyone comes out of the woodwork, like, "Wow, I can't believe you dated him. He sucks," blah, blah, blah. It's like, where were you when I was in this relationship? You know? I actually wrote the song for my friend Kelsey after her breakup. And it's funny because I did really like her boyfriend, but obviously when they broke up, we realized they weren't right for each other at that time. So I'm going to be on my friend's side and be like, "Yeah, he sucks." So it kind of depends on the situation, but you know, that's just what happens when you or your friend go through a breakup. You're there to support each other. Especially if you're the one that gets broken up with, or if your ex did something bad. My ex-boyfriend literally cheated on me. So obviously my friends were ready to be like, "He fucking sucks. We hate him." When someone's in a relationship, you don't want to overstep. Especially if they seem like they're happy, you don't want to impede on their happiness. You don't want to tell someone that the person they love isn't right for them. It's hard for them to hear that. And they're probably not going to listen to you until the relationship is over.Another lyric I love is the specific reference to drunken shenanigans in Ibiza. Is that based on a real experience?Yeah. I just basically tried to include all the things that me and Kelsey did before she was in a relationship so that I could say, "Don't worry, we're just going to be doing more of that stuff. More of our stupid things that we used to do when you were single."I also want to circle back to that lyric you mentioned earlier about double-dating twins. The reworked version subverts the heteronormative image of two girls with two guys. Did you and FLETCHER discuss giving this song a queer element ahead of time?Not really. I mean, I obviously know that for FLETCHER, that's one of her main things. She's very prominent with her queerness in her music and she's a queer icon. So I knew that was the direction that we would probably go in. And I think it gives the song just that little extra thing that it needed.[Editor's note: O'Brien came out as bisexual on <a href="https://twitter.com/oliviagobrien/status/1550642535726465024?s=20&amp;t=0StDSCQcHU76KSneW0njHg">Twitter</a> two weeks after this interview was conducted.]<div type="image" title="olivia obrien fletcher bitch back press photo" height="4000" width="2668" msid="93374219" hostid="261" sizebytes="901608"></div>While you two were in the studio, where did you imagine people listening to the song? What's the ideal environment for it to be played?When I think of it, I think of best friends in a car jamming out. Maybe one of their friends is sad from a breakup and the other friends are like, "Let's fucking rage. Let's go have a good night." And they put it on and it just brightens the mood, or they're pregaming to go out. Something like that.I just hope that it brings people a little bit of happiness and bad-bitch energy.I'm sure this will land on a ton of "bad bitch" playlists. Do you have one of those yourself?Oh, definitely. I have a bajillion of them. I mean, they're all for different moods and stuff, but yeah, I definitely do. I think I have a playlist that's called, "If you're going to call me a bitch make sure you put bad in front of it," or something stupid like that.If you were going to build a playlist around "Bitch Back," what other songs might be on it?Ooh, that's a great question. Hold on. I'm going through my Spotify right now.I would say, "How to Be a Heartbreaker" by MARINA. "Sex With Me" by Rihanna. Some <a href="https://www.insider.com/megan-thee-stallion-interview-tinder-pyot-challenge-2020-12">Megan</a>, any Megan, honestly. "Better Than Me" by Doja Cat. "Bad Girls" by MIA. "Motivation" by Normani. I mean, a classic — you know the song "Boss Ass Bitch" by PTAF?Of course. This is shaping up to be <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5R9wqElXvraCn0i4JrL7Oz?si=fb7c1e8601834910">a great playlist</a>."Disco Tits" by Tove Lo. "I Don't Want It At All" by Kim Petras. "Rules" by Doja Cat. "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado. "Backstabber" by Kesha. "Hot-n-Fun" by N.E.R.D. and Nelly Furtado. "Bubble Pop Electric" by Gwen Stefani. "What You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani. "The Night is Still Young" by Nicki Minaj. "XS" by Rina Sawayama. "Candy" by Foxy Brown. There's lots.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vKNcuTWzTVw" frameborder="0"></iframe>The vibes are immaculate. I love that you said "Disco Tits" because I feel like that's such an underrated Tove Lo song.I fucking love that song. It's almost like, you know how certain movies don't necessarily do amazing when they first come out, but then they kind of become cult classics over the years? I feel like people are starting to realize that "Disco Tits" is like that. It's literally her best song and everyone's finally coming to admit it.Absolutely. It's like how "Bubblegum Bitch" by MARINA blew up on TikTok recently, but the original fans always knew it was a hit.Of course! I was the biggest MARINA fan in high school. Oh my god, she was everything to me. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYx6PDkqLxs">"Teen Idle,"</a> like, shaped me as a person.Similar to MARINA, female camaraderie and empowerment are really important themes in your music. When you sit down to write a song, do you begin with that intention or does it come through naturally?It kind of depends on what I'm feeling that day. Sometimes I'm writing… not necessarily love songs, but I'll be writing songs about boys, and I still sneak in a "men suck, women are awesome" lyric. [Laughs]. Pretty much all of my songs are like that. I think that's just my energy all the time. I wouldn't say that I am a man-hater. I have lots of guy friends and whatever, but at the end of the day, my loyalty lies with my girlies. My girlies and my gays. That's just my personality. And because I write all my own songs, it kind of comes out, no matter what I'm writing about.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—olivia o'brien (@oliviagobrien) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1534105183050797056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></blockquote>You wrote a thread on Twitter recently about women being objectified by men and you described "the way we look" as "unimportant." I thought that was a really interesting word choice, especially since social media plays such a huge role in pop culture and the music industry in particular. Could you elaborate a bit more on what you meant by appearance is "unimportant" in this context?Being a young woman in Hollywood, I've always felt like I notice the most insanely tiny minuscule flaws in myself and it causes huge insecurity. Things I feel like I should edit out of photos.Like when I was 16, I had my nose done because I was constantly bullied from like sixth grade, when my nose hump first developed, I think I was like 9 or 10. And that was the No. 1 thing that I wanted to change about myself. It was an insecurity. I looked in the mirror every single day. Even when I was just walking around, I was like, "Oh my god, everyone's looking in my nose. It's so big and it's so horrible." And it sucks that a child has to think about that.That is just the standard that society puts on women. I am very pro-plastic surgery — I've gotten things done, I'm very open and honest about that — if it is going to improve your quality of life and make you feel better about yourself.But it sucks that society has gotten to the point where we make women feel like we need to get something done because it's just so stupid at the end of the day. And I'm a victim of it, or whatever you want to call it.But living in LA for so long, I've realized that literally fucking anyone is pretty. Anyone can be pretty. Congratulations on your face. Congratulations on your body. That's awesome for you, but that's not what makes someone a good person. If you think being hot is the only thing you need to make someone like you or fall in love with you or to be popular... I would never, ever, ever choose a friend or idolize someone just based on only the way that they look.I know so many people that are absolutely stunning and gorgeous and they have the most horrible… they're just mean, mean, mean people. Not all of them. But I've just come to realize that looks are so not what you should value someone for.I wish I had the power to change society and make people see the world differently. But I've also noticed how often men are just like… that's all they care about, it seems to me. Like whenever I post anything on the internet, it's like, "Oh, she's mid. She's this. She's that."People have the most insane standards for women because of the internet because we have this access to see all these pretty people, all the time. Girls are constantly comparing themselves, we fail to remember the things about us that truly make us special and important.And it is not the way that you look.This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.Listen to Olivia O'Brien's "Bitch Back" playlist on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5R9wqElXvraCn0i4JrL7Oz?si=fb7c1e8601834910">Insider's Spotify</a>.

Olivia O'Brien on working with 'queer icon' FLETCHER and battling Hollywood's 'insane' beauty standards

<ul class="summary-list"><li>When "Friday" went mega-viral in March 2011, 13-year-old <keyword id="595138" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rebecca-Black">Rebecca Black</keyword> was relentlessly ridiculed for the heavily auto-tuned tween tribute to the weekend. </li><li>It remains one of the most disliked videos in <keyword id="10879" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="YouTube">YouTube</keyword> history. </li><li>Unlike many of the videos that went viral in the 2010s, however, "Friday" has aged like a fine wine.</li><li>Today, it's widely considered one of the decade's "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/lists/the-50-most-important-music-moments-of-the-decade-912772/friday-friday-912826/">most important music moments</a>." </li><li>Having already lived a full internet life, Black is now in her early twenties and ready for a brave, new era as a queer pop contender. </li></ul>Rebecca Black is ready for her moment, or rather, her second.Hoop earrings swinging to the beat, lip gloss shimmering, a glass of white wine close at hand, her<a href="https://www.papermag.com/rebecca-black-friday-club-quarantine-2645739824.html?rebelltitem=9#rebelltitem9"> late-night DJ set</a> for <a href="https://www.instagram.com/clubquarantine/">Club Quarantine</a> felt like a first look at the confident <a href="https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/amplify/134495/rebecca-black-on-coming-out-as-queer-and-finding-her-own-sound/">queer icon</a> she's become in the nine years since "<a href="https://youtu.be/kfVsfOSbJY0">Friday</a>." When she played the infamous single, in between tracks by Yaegi, Slayyyter, and Rina Sawayama, the virtual dance party's chatbox exploded with comments. "This song was ahead of its time," one fan declared. "We love a camp queen," another announced. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—club quarantine (@reachclubq) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1250635337820446721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2020</a></blockquote><h2>In 2011, at the universally awkward age of 13, Black accidentally became the poster child for internet stardom when "Friday," the cringe pop hit that defined a decade, went viral.</h2>With her mother's support, Black paid $4,000 to record the song and video through a vanity record label named ARK Music Factory as a fun, resume-building experience. Back then, Black was an eighth-grade honors student with big, theatre kid dreams, a zit on her right cheek, and a life-sized<a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2011/03/27/ocs-rebecca-black-talks-about-friday/"> Justin Bieber cut-out</a> in her bedroom at home, who'd get on stage at lunchtime to<a href="https://youtu.be/HXcx2hDK0kg?t=201"> sing and do cartwheels</a>. She was already dealing with the same kind of "<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/what-i-learned-being-target-internet-hate-age-13-ncna811601">low-grade bullying"</a> most teens face, but after "Friday," it intensified to the point of abuse. Eventually, she was forced to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rebecca-black-drop-out-school-bullying-2011-8">drop out.</a> "Gosh, I forget that I was so young when I started," she said, reflecting. "Because I mean, I feel like I'm a 45, I don't know, million-year-old woman at this point. I'm 22, and I have to be reminded of that all the time. And that's okay. It comes with whatever age it comes with. Everybody has a different timeline for their lives, of when they're going to start figuring things out."<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/49038592198197248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2011</a></blockquote>The all-encompassing phenomenon of "Friday" had a lot to do with how and when it went viral. The song and video instantly became internet canon, propelled by a snarky shout-out on the Tosh.0 blog and a tweet from comedian Michael J. Nelson. (It seems archaic now, but back then, we still needed people like Daniel Tosh and<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsXW-9bShL1alCcFW1wKmTgVB4dKxD6Fp"> Ray William Johnson</a> to help us discover "funny" content online).Critics, at the time,<a href="https://www.adweek.com/digital/rebecca-black/"> wondered</a> whether Black would embrace the "ironic adoration" or fizzle out, eventually joining a "pantheon of ironic music stars" and "so-bad-it's-good Internet memes, like 7-year-old rapper<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZVV3gvE4AgMattyB"> Matty B</a> or American Idol's<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J44_mKeQQASanjaya%20Malakar"> Sanjaya</a>." Lady Gaga, forever ahead of her time, countered by calling Black "a genius." And in the years since Friday's release, pop <keyword id="24504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="culture">culture</keyword> seems to have caught up to that point of view. After losing a legal battle with Black over the rights to "Friday," label owner Patrice Wilson tried to replicate the success of Friday with other tween muses. He only came close once, in the case of the painfully racist "<a href="https://youtu.be/wWLhrHVySgA">Chinese Food</a>" by 11-year-old Alison Gold. But hundreds of "Friday" soundalikes are still floating around on YouTube, including "<a href="https://youtu.be/ZSBq8geuJk0">It's Thanksgiving</a>" by 11-year -old Nicole Westbrook and "<a href="https://youtu.be/HvHeiPDa4rs">My Reflection</a>" by an artist listed simply as "Sabrina." In comparison, "Friday" is Beethoven's ninth symphony.<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" style="background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:800; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); data.width~800;"><div style="padding:8px;"><div style="background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:62.4537037037% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBdnoHQJEXP" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">pride month ️‍ my first, as an openly queer person. i am privileged to be able to wave my flag freely, to have been welcomed into a community with such open arms. but i only have that experience due to the work done by voices before my time. Black trans voices and Black trans lives are integral to the pride and strength as a community we have today. the first pride was a protest started by a Black trans woman, “no pride for some of us without liberation for ALL of us.” it’s imperative we stand in solidarity and continue to resist the unjust system, to fight for and stand with those who are being oppressed. happy pride, keep the work up </a> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Rebecca Black (@msrebeccablack) on Jun 15, 2020 at 9:41am PDT<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2020-06-15T16:41:06+00:00">Jun 15, 2020 at 9:41am PDT</time></div></blockquote><h2>Black could have logged off forever and allowed herself to be branded the "Friday girl." But to her credit, she didn't.</h2>In 2013, she caught the YouTube vlogger wave as it was cresting, and quickly befriended popular fellow creators like Alexa Losey and Dave Days, with whom she released a spiritual sequel to "Friday," fittingly titled "Saturday.""I found myself on the internet so much more than I ever did in high school. For me, this was my high school — FaceTiming my friends for eight hours and sometimes doing, like, FaceTime sleepovers where we both go to sleep and then wake up and like, we've been on FaceTime the whole time. Because we all lived halfway across the country from each other or sometimes halfway across the world."Although Black suffered unrelenting criticism and cruelty on the internet in early adolescence, she later found comfort, community, and ultimately, redemption there, too. Now, she knows how to play into the "Friday thing" without letting it solely define her."I think that it's really cool to own those things and I wish I could have known that a few years ago, when I felt like all I was doing was trying to run away. And the faster that I ran, the faster it just caught up with me," she said. <h2>"What I've learned is, it's my story, and I can do what I want with it."</h2>For years, Black made "a conscious decision not to come out." But <a href="https://www.insider.com/rebecca-black-queer-coming-out-dating-straight-2020-4">when she finally did,</a> on the heels of a breakup with a long-term partner, it felt like a homecoming of sorts — she's been a <a href="https://la.rupaulsdragcon.com/">DragCon</a> regular and a vocal <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/WifG8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">advocate</a> for LGBT rights for years. Her journey to self-discovery has been more circuitous than others. But "<a href="https://youtu.be/vDUM9Pcwvgs">the new queen of gay bops is here,</a>" just in time to celebrate Pride month as an openly queer person for the very first time. "For me, it took time to identify those things within myself — coming to terms with my queerness, coming to terms with being Hispanic, and coming from a Mexican immigrant mom, and like, obviously, all of the 'Friday' stuff.""I don't know if I could have really planned how that would all work itself out," she said. "I'm still figuring things out as I go. So, as long as people feel like they can connect with me or whatever I'm creating on some level, then awesome...I feel like I know where I fit."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/rebecca-black-queer-coming-out-dating-straight-2020-4">'Friday' singer Rebecca Black comes out as queer: 'Some days I feel a little more on the gay side'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/rebecca-black-on-viral-fame-mental-health-and-music-friday-2020-2">Rebecca Black on the 'bizarre and overwhelming' viral fame of 'Friday,' the painful aftermath, and how she learned things do get better</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/friday-singer-rebecca-black-shares-advice-13-year-old-self-2020-2">'Friday' singer Rebecca Black shared the advice she'd give her 13-year-old self alongside a photo that shows how much she's changed</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/biggest-viral-moments-videos-memes-from-the-2010s">60 viral moments that delighted us, disappointed us, and defined the 2010s</a></li></ul>

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