Rebecca Black Fame was established long before she set out. But in February 2011, when 13-year-old Black’s video single “Friday” was released to YouTube, the immediate inevitability happened. When it racked up millions of views, the then-high school student was unprepared as she suddenly achieved a level of viral fame that never existed before and became the target of internet ridicule, which required It takes years to get rid of.
“It’s a very arduous process,” she explained over the phone from a Montreal cafe. In May, the 25-year-old singer kicked off her North American tour in support of her debut album, let her burn. It’s a milestone she sometimes doubts she’ll ever reach, but when it arrives, she’s finally ready to celebrate how far she’s come. “I really wanted to sum it up this time, not just accepting who I am, but setting fire to everything that got me here. It’s about now.”
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More than a decade after the song that changed her life, it’s not hard to see Blake as a phoenix reborn from the ashes. Everything from the title of the album to the poised expression on her cover as she is engulfed in flames feels like an act of defiance: the Rebecca Black one might overlook, the Rebecca Black who followed her like a shadow for years. Rebecca Black is no more.
But before delving into its symbolism let her burnit’s important to understand the tortuous, unconventional path Blake took before she was ready to ignite her past.
“Friday” was never an official foray into the music scene. Black first learned about ARK Music Factory — a now-defunct Los Angeles-based entertainment company that produced original songs and music videos for aspiring young artists — through a middle school classmate. It was supposed to be a fun experience, a way for Blake’s supportive parents to encourage their daughter’s love of acting.
[Photo by Sarah Pardini]
The song, one of two potential tracks ARK showed her, is a simple but fairly repetitive pop song about hanging out with friends.The music video was filmed at her father’s house and sat on YouTube for weeks until Tosh.0 A blog post reminds the general public of this. And so, before she could really develop her sound, start writing her own songs, or even get a chance to decide how serious she was about music, Black became synonymous with one of the most maligned songs on the internet.
As is often the case with young girls in the spotlight, the newfound attention makes her the target of intense bullying that no one, let alone a thirteen-year-old girl, wants to deal with. She turns inward to grapple with self-doubt, anxiety, and the trauma of being the butt of internet ridicule before she even started high school.
“My career was far away at the time, or at least it felt like that,” she recalls. “It’s been a lot of trying, failing and starting over.”
Slowly but surely, the next few years were a time of recovery. Always fascinated by acting, she describes herself as a “great theater kid” who enjoys building her own worlds, telling stories, and transforming herself on stage. “I found out that when I was a kid, ‘Friday’ was always an idea before,” she said. “Then things did change. I spent a lot of time banging my head against it because I found myself interested in it.”
At the time, she felt disconnected from what she once loved and misunderstood by the industry professionals she worked with. “I think if my journey was traveling the world after ‘Friday’ came out, rather than really dealing with anyone else, it would be a more direct path to healing,” she said. “The people I worked with led me in the wrong direction because they didn’t know how to deal with kids then and even after that didn’t know how to deal with young women in the industry.”
Eventually, Blake found collaborators who resonated with her — people who weren’t interested in her viral fame or retooling her image for their own benefit. Artists Micah Jasper, Ceci G and DCF Named Collaborators of Choice for Black’s 2021 EP, rebecca black here, and her debut. Finding them helped Blake start believing in herself again and revolutionized her songwriting. “I don’t care about making stuff that people like needs To understand,” she said. “Or to do something better than what I’ve done before. I’m just making music that I really, really like. It made so much more sense than anything I’ve ever done before. ”
[Photo by Sarah Pardini]
a palpable sense of freedom let her burn — the chorus of “Look At You,” the shamelessness of “Misery Loves Company” and the sex appeal of “Doe Eyed.” Blake’s performance is confident, reminding the audience that she’s in control, deftly shifting between synth-heavy rock, sickeningly sweet pop, and chaotic hyper-pop. Through it all, the goal is to let go of the uncertainty that had plagued her before.
“There have been times [in the past] I was so far away from that because I was convinced that the last person I should trust was myself,” she says. By thinking differently. Anything that feels unnatural is off the album. “
The album’s final track, “Performer,” has a decidedly different tone from its predecessors. “No one really understands me/my independence/come back to bite me?” she sings. “I’m a performer/That’s what I know how to do,” said Black, who said it felt right to end the album in such a reflective way, explaining that she wrote the song towards the end of the recording process. “While working on this album, I found a lot of confidence inside of me,” she said. “But after all these big, bombastic statements about myself, the truth is, a lot of the time I really feel disconnected from myself. I’m still dealing with this person I hope to be. In the right place in the back of the head.”
Black’s tour, which she describes as “a whole new show” from her UK tour earlier this year, is a continuation of the joy and vulnerability she displayed on the album. It’s a glimpse into the world she’s slowly building with music as she enters her own. “I’m always trying to challenge myself,” she said. “This show definitely has more stories, more camps, and more absurdity. As much as I love the beautiful light show, I also enjoy getting back into my role as a drama that likes to create stories Boy. This is by far the most invested work I’ve ever done.”
Now, after years of wondering if she’s ready to really reveal herself, it’s clear that the real Rebecca Black hasn’t just arrived, and she’s here to stay.
