Olivia Rodrigo launches a fiery barrage of pinpoint lyrical missiles at unnamed targets on her laceratingly catchy second album, GUTS. However ask the Grammy-winning 20-year-old singer to enter specifics about who she’s put a bullseye on in her lyrics and the singer who snarls “I wanna meet his mother/ Simply to inform her her son sucks” on the brand new album’s “Get Him Again!” will not be going there.
Corresponding to in a brand new Rolling Stone cowl story, during which interviewer Angie Martoccio makes an attempt to get a solution to a burning query about whether or not Olivia is at the moment feuding together with her musical inspiration Taylor Swift. “I don’t beef with anybody,” she stated in regards to the singer she stated she was “in awe” of regularly in an 2021 interview with Ryan Seacrest; the pair additionally exchanged letters, Swift gifted Rodrigo a hoop she wore whereas recording Crimson and the singer later gave Taylor (in addition to producer Jack Antonoff) co-writing credit on the Bitter songs “1 Step Ahead, 3 Steps Again” and “Deja Vu.”
“I’m very chill. I preserve to myself,” Rodrigo defined, regardless of heated rumors that the GUTS music “The Grudge” is a couple of Swift fallout. “I’ve my 4 associates and my mother, and that’s actually the one individuals I speak to, ever. There’s nothing to say. There’s so many Twitter conspiracy theories. I solely take a look at alien-conspiracy theories.”
Pressed additional on how the co-writing credit on her debut occurred — she additionally retroactively gave Paramore a co-write on “Good 4 U” — Rodrigo demurred. “It’s not one thing that I used to be tremendous concerned with,” she stated, making it unclear if her hand was compelled within the matter. “It was extra team-on-team. So, I wouldn’t be the very best particular person to ask.”
As for whether or not she may do the identical to a younger artist in the event that they have been clearly impressed by one in all her songs, or if she’d slough it off as Elvis Costello did when the clear similarities between his “Pump It Up” and her “Brutal” have been identified, Rodrigo stated she doesn’t suppose she would. “However who’s to say the place I’ll be in 20, 30 years,” she stated. “All that I can do is write my songs and give attention to what I can management.”
The profile additionally featured a co-sign from Katy Perry in regards to the intense stress to follow-up a debut album, with Perry recalling that she confronted related angst whereas recording 2010’s Teenage Dream. “You will have your complete life to make your first file, after which possibly two years to make your second — whereas going by an actual psychological change as nicely,” stated Perry, who added that she provided to be Rodrigo’s pop music mentor and sounding board. “Like, ‘Oh, my God, I should purchase my mother a automotive,’ and, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t must have the stress from my previous.’ However it’s a psychological jungle on the market.”
For the file, Olivia stated, although there’s a music on GUTS referred to as “Teenage Dream” — and she or he calls Perry’s album of the identical identify one in all her favourite sophomore collections — it was completely a coincidence. “We thought of altering the identify,” she stated. “If somebody seems to be up ‘Teenage Dream’ on Spotify, there’s no means in heck that my music’s going to drag up first.”
Rodrigo additionally famous that the aim on GUTS was to make a extra “playful” file than her debut, Bitter, which she stated was “positively a breakup file, a lot to my chagrin.”
One of many pop third rails Rodrigo would additionally not contact was the hypothesis that her breakthrough hit from that album, “Drivers License,” was impressed by a love triangle that allegedly concerned her, her ex, fellow Excessive College Musical: The Musical: The Collection co-star Joshua Bassett and one other Disney actress/singer, Sabrina Carpenter.
“I imply, that’s a tough one. I truly, genuinely didn’t learn the article you’re speaking about,” she stated of an story from 2022 during which Bassett stated he had a serious well being disaster on account of the backlash from strangers in regards to the alleged love triangle. “However, yeah, all that stuff was actually loopy. It’s all been dealt with privately… Dealt with isn’t the fitting phrase, however it’s simply not one thing I like speaking about publicly. I take all that stuff severely, however it occurs in privateness. I’m not going to place out a press release. That’s phony. We’re all simply individuals on the finish of the day. I take care of it on a person-to-person degree that folks on Twitter don’t see.”
