Diandra Interviews Baby Queen: LET HER REIGN

Sometimes, we think confidence is having no insecurities, but it is believing in yourself despite them. Confidence is about building and being assured that the best of you will always outweigh the worst, and even the worst can learn to be better. Baby Queen is confident. A Queen of Anti-Pop, in our interview, she discusses making pop songs with purpose on her new EP, Medicine, and creating a style that is fun, catchy, but unabashedly thoughtful.

Diandra: If Baby Queen was ruler of her own world. What would that world be called, and what would be 3 of its laws?

Baby Queen: The Baby Kingdom!!!!!!! Three rules are: be kind to other people, do whatever the f*ck you want as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else, and weed is legal.

Diandra: If you could turn any movie into a concept album, which would it be and why? Who would you cast?

Baby Queen: Oh my god!! I’ve literally been thinking about how to answer this question for an hour because I don’t think I’ve watched enough films in my life and I don’t want the thespian readers to think I’m a loser! Anything about unrequited love. Those are always the best songs because that’s the strongest emotion for me. Then, obviously, it would feature Lorde and Annie Clarke.

Diandra: If you could turn your favorite album into a movie, which would it be and why?

Baby Queen: I would turn Rumours by Fleetwood Mac into a tragic love story, and I would cast Jodie Comer as a young Stevie Nicks… obviously.

Diandra: Your music is often about identity: the ones we put on, suppress, or exalt. How has music given you a sense of self?

Baby Queen: I think music is such an integral part of who I am and definitely a big part of the picture I see of myself. Making music has been like a type of self-discovery for me: almost like therapy. I think to be able to write and be honest in your lyrics, there’s a certain personal journey you have to go on like, soul searching. I know myself because I’ve written about myself, and I can’t really hide when I write.

Diandra: What is your favorite childhood memory with music?

Baby Queen: Dancing to “Isn’t She Lovely” with my family, in my childhood home’s living room, when I was very young. My dad loved music. He used to make these mixtapes that would just play continuously, and I still find it kind of difficult to listen to some of his favourite songs because I haven’t been able to go home and visit him for 3 years now.

Diandra: Describe a moment when you knew music was your life or destiny.

Baby Queen:  When I was 14, My parents bought me a portable DVD player and the Taylor Swift Speak Now Live tour DVD. I remember I stayed up all night, that night, watching it secretly under the covers. There was absolutely no coming back from that.

Diandra: Your music describes the challenges of our social media world. What is the biggest pressure for you and how has 2020 either relieved or amplified it?

Baby Queen: My biggest insecurities have always been centered around my appearance. I’m really f*cking insecure, and I’ve had body dysmorphia for most of my life so social media is really dangerous because everybody looks perfect, which sets a really unachievable subconscious standard in the brain. This year, that’s felt just as hard to deal with as it’s
always felt, but I just think I get that feeling of insecurity more often because I’m posting content more often. It’s weird. I have to constantly believe that I’m only talking to the Baby Kingdom, on social media, because they don’t judge me. 

Diandra: What has music taught you to love about yourself versus love about others?

Baby Queen: I think, in this music, I’ve been so incredibly honest about parts of myself I’m not particularly proud of, and I thought nobody would relate to some of it, but they did.
Having people come back and say, “you’ve put my thoughts into words,” has been really
incredible for me because it’s helped me to be kinder to myself. In the same way, I’ve felt more connected to other people than I’ve ever felt before. I see parts of myself in them, and that makes it feel less like the world is against me and more like it’s with me. 

Diandra: What are the joys in your life that you define as your medicine?

Baby Queen: Music, writing, my friends and family, real conversations, laughing until you can’t breathe, PG tips!

Diandra: Described as “anti-pop.” What does Pop mean to you and why do you feel or think others see you as its contrast?

Baby Queen: Anti-pop, to me, has always been pop music for people that hate pop music. “Pop” really just means “popular” by definition, but I think, over the years, has come to be something that self-righteous listeners turn their noses up at. Just because something is popular, it doesn’t mean it’s sh*t or it shouldn’t be sh*t. What I’m trying to do is break out of the parameters of radio pop and make popular music something that is also important and significant. There has been too much laziness in pop song-writing, for too long, and I think people are really bored of that.

Diandra: What do you feel your upcoming album will elaborate more about you versus your EP?

Baby Queen: The ‘Medicine’ EP is very observational. It’s all about my opinions on subjects and what I think – almost like a statement of intent. The music coming out this year feels more personal. There are a lot of very private, lived experiences that I talk about in these songs. It’s more “what I feel” as opposed to “what I think.”

Diandra: Seen as reflective and honest, what is a truth about yourself your songs have revealed to you? Was it a specific song?

Baby Queen: I think there is so much self-reflection that goes into making music, especially when it is as deeply personal as these songs are to me. I’ve learnt a lot about how I view myself and how I view my position in the world by writing about it. I always know when I’m in love because the songs start coming, and by the time I’m on five love songs it’s like “shit!” If I’m depressed, it reflects in music, if I’m happy, it reflects is my music. It’s a very
confessional process.

Diandra: What is the kindest thing anyone has done for you and what song would you
dedicate to that instance?

Baby Queen: My aunt and uncle let me live with them, for years, when I first moved to London. I’ve lived in pretty much every room of their house at different times. If they hadn’t done that, I would never have survived in this city or been able to do this.  In a weird way, every song I’ve made is dedicated to that act of kindness. It’s not easy to have a reckless 19-year-old Baby Queen living in your home! They call me the cat: because I’m coming and going at all hours. I’m very grateful for them.

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