Olivia, Get Behind Me!
As a spicy Pisces, born on February 20th, 2003, Olivia Rodrigo grew up knowing she wanted to be a performer, admiring musicians, even crediting artists like Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Alanis Morissette as some of her biggest inspirations. Her career began when she started acting. One of her first major roles was Grace, an American Girl Doll. She went on to be the lead on the Disney shows Bizaardvark in 2016 and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series in 2019.
Image Courtesy: Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram / alltheendings via twitter
In January 2021, she released her first solo single, "drivers license," which immediately picked up waves because of its catchy tune and juicy drama. Later that year, she released her debut album, Sour, and it skyrocketed to the top of the charts, winning her three Grammys in 2022 at just 19 years old.
On Friday, September 8th, 2023, Olivia Rodrigo released her sophomore album, GUTS, and lives were changed. If you were born between the years of 2001 and 2004, this album was made for you and your dramatic teenage angst.
Image Courtesy: Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram
Where Sour is melancholic, GUTS, her potential continuation, is enraged. Our favorite anti-pop girl made her thoughts crystal clear. Following two more public breakups, which include producer Adam Faze and DJ Zack Bia. Being in the public eye with two closely followed relationships meant fans and followers knew about her day-to-day, including when the news broke. In GUTS, we feel her anger towards a number of things: ex-boyfriends, prettier girls, being homeschooled, and society. The new album addresses behaviors that many would consider concerning, but in her defense, she's just a girl.
The following people are who we consider suspects in hurting Rodrigo.
Adam Faze, 26, was with Olivia from July 2021 - January 2022. While Faze is not the most well-known person, he runs a production company named 'Must B Nice' with Jamie Nolan. Per the internet, many disapproved of their relationship, as she was freshly 18 when she dated the then 24-year-old. Fans aren't sure which songs are about Faze, but many speculate that he was referenced in several.
Zack Bia, 27, was with Olivia from January 2022 - August 2022. Zack Bia is a DJ but is most well known for his former relationship with Madison Beer and being considered her “toxic ex.” However, he is close friends with Drake and has hosted parties for artists like The Weeknd and Kendall Jenner. This relationship, in particular, caused a lot of controversy, as when the news broke about the two being seen together, followers quickly remembered what he did to Beer. Beer and Bia dated intermittently for about two years before calling it quits. In Beer's song "Selfish," rumored to be about Bia, tells fans how "I bet you thought you gave me real love / But we spent it all in nightclubs / All you ever wanna do is lie / Why you always such a Gemini?" His birthday being on June 9th, Beer fans knew who the song was about. In July of this year, Beer posted a now-deleted tweet saying, "Thank [you] miss Olivia <3" under Pop Crave's tweet explaining the increase in downloads for "Selfish" since the release of "vampire." As the lyrics in "vampire" match up with the occurrences in Rodrigo and Bia's relationship, it is obvious what the song is about. Her lyrics read: "Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise/ I loved you truly/ You gotta laugh at the stupidity."
Both breakups were messy, and we hope that "get him back!" is about someone else we don't know about. Although, Rodrigo seems to share a detail a lot of us have: liking the wrong guy.
Image Courtesy: Taylor Swift’s Instagram
When Rodrigo's debut album came out in 2021, there was a lot of buzz– particularly surrounding how similar her songs "deja vu" and "1 step forward, 3 steps back" sounded like songs by Taylor Swift.
Olivia initially credited both Taylor Swift and producer Jack Antanoff for "1 step forward, 3 steps back" because the song interpolates Swift's 2017 song "New Year's Day." After that, fans began accusing Olivia of copying Taylor's song, "Cruel Summer," during the bridge of "deja vu," which now has Taylor Swift, Jack Antanoff, and St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) credited.
On that same album, Olivia's single "good 4 u" was accused of copying Paramore's "Misery Business." Instead of having to manage an extensive court case with Hayley Williams and her team, Rodrigo gave the writers credit for that song as well.
Singer/Songwriter Elvis Costello was also on the topic of conversation as Rodrigo was accused of copying one of his guitar riffs for the opener on Sour "brutal."
"This is fine by me," Costello tweeted. "It's how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand-new toy. That's what I did."
With the release of her sophomore album, people are quick to make more accusations. "all-american bitch," the first song on the album, is being compared to Miley Cyrus' "Start All Over" and "get him back!" sounds like One Direction's "Midnight Memories" and Cage The Elephant's "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked."
To me, all this talk smells like jealousy as Olivia Rodrigo has created a sound that is nowhere similar to any music that is currently out. She is giving us all the early 2000s angsty pop-punk vibe we have been dying for.
Image Courtesy: Brianna Capozzi for Interview Magazine / @briannalcapozzi
Feminine rage is one of those concepts that is hard to grasp when you're not a woman, and GUTS displays it perfectly. Its prevalence only continues to increase as there are so many things to be upset about as a woman in today's society. Not to mention, toxic positivity counteracts the notion of allowing women to feel things authentically. People on social media advise that holding grudges and feeling negatively towards someone. With one side of the population telling you to not hold grudges and the other telling you to hit him with his car, this new album tells us it's okay to feel angry. We hear this loud and clear with "all-american bitch," "ballad of a homeschooled girl," and "lacy." Each song in the album covers feelings of anxiety, sadness, vengefulness, and envy towards someone or something.
Olivia seems to be the only person in the mainstream truthfully telling us her feelings and turning them into tales of caution for anyone in a similar situation. Her honesty is refreshing, and it's what makes this album a great one.
Being an Olivia Rodrigo stan is as easy as it gets when you're fed fun tunes with catchy bridges and relatable lyrics. Olivia represents those forever teenage girls who just wanna feel all the feels. All we need now are those tour dates!
Strike Out,
Emily Fiorini-Casamayouret & Morgann Rhule
Boca Raton
