#iloveOliviaRodrigo
It’s 2016. I’m at my father’s apartment scrolling on whatever streaming platform to find another movie to watch. “An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success” pops up and I press play. That was the day I was introduced to Olivia Rodrigo. From there, as the years passed, I consumed more media with Ms. Rodrigo featured, such as “Bizaardvark” and “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series”.
Fast forward to very early 2021, January 9th to be exact, I was sitting in my 8th grade history class. My best friend says to me “You know that Olivia Rodrigo girl? She released a song yesterday. I’ve been seeing it on TikTok.” Obviously, I knew who Ms. Rodrdigo was, so naturally the second I got home from school I turned on my TV, opened YouTube, and searched for “drivers license”. From that moment on I was OBBSESSED to say the least.
At the time that her debut album “SOUR” came out, I was very into the pop punk teenage angst type of music. So, imagine my great surprise listening to “brutal” and “good 4 u” for the first time. I was hooked immediately. I listened to the album in its entirety but couldn’t relate to any song on a deep level, being a naive 13-year-old at the time not knowing any kind of romantic hurt or anger.
A year later, I had “SOUR” on repeat, I would listen in the car, the shower, on the swings singing every song to my horrible shitty cheating boyfriend. At this point, I could relate to these songs. That's when my love for her music truly grew, because not only could I relate to the songs but because her music is authentic, and full of actual emotion.
Then, “GUTS” was released. An album, with 12 songs, in which I could relate to ALL of them on some sort of level, being a teenage girl in yet another shitty relationship. The song “pretty isn’t pretty” went triple platinum in my headphones. It came out during a period in my life when my self-confidence was at an all-time low. Knowing that someone I, and many other young girls, looked up to could feel the same exact way was a surreal feeling. She encapsulates emotions and feelings that not many feel comfortable sharing, and turns them into a tragically beautiful piece of art. It’s relatable, it’s raw, it's real.
When her most recent album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love", came out I was sitting at a table inside of a trailer. We were camping and I was with my best friend, the same one mentioned before from 8th grade history class, and a girl I was romantically involved with. My friend texted me “THE ALBUM IS OUT”, so I picked up my phone and pressed play. Hearing “less” was an emotional trainwreck to say the least. After letting the album sit with me and listening to it nonstop for days on end, I realized it really did change my life. I had gone through so much hurt, in the romantical sense, the previous year every song hit hard. From “stupid song”, being so infatuated by the image of someone, to “my way” and having a person come between my relationship with someone I loved dearly at the time, every song and every lyric hit close to home.
After hearing about Ms. Rodrgios’ “Daisy Chain Festival”, it sealed the deal. She had herself, and many other female artists play at a festival – where they had no monetary incentive, to help raise money for something she truly believes in. She, and everyone else who helped contribute, successfully raised $20 million dollars, all of which was split between 10 different nonprofit organizations which help support the rights, health and equity of women.
#ILoveOliviaRodrigo