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What better way to celebrate a new Spotify feature than with a house party hosted by Reneé Rapp?
That's right, the newest Spotify update comes with some good news: you no longer need to fight over the aux cord. Spotify's just-launched Jam combines some of the streaming platform’s personalization technology and popular features like Collaborative Playlists and Blend for the ultimate listening experience with your besties. Subscribers can now invite friends to a shared queue where they can add their own songs for a real-time listening session for all to enjoy. Everyone in the Jam can add their own songs, see who added songs, and the host is able to change the order of the tracks or remove songs if they don’t fit the ~vibe~.
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In honor of the launch, Spotify threw a house party in Beverly Hills on September 26. Alongside host Rapp, several celebs were in attendance including social media stars Jake Shane (aka @octopusslover8 on TikTok) and Chris Olsen, Rapp's Mean Girls: The Musical co-star Auli’i Cravalho, and more. The party also featured an intimate acoustic set by Rapp, who released her debut studio album, Snow Angel, in August.
Before taking the stage, Teen Vogue caught up with Rapp to chat about her new album, what music she’s currently listening to, and more.
Teen Vogue: It’s so great to see you again! Which artists will you be sharing with your friends on Jam?
Reneé Rapp: I would do all of my favorites. I would do some deep cut Jazmine Sullivan stuff, obviously Frank Ocean, because it just has to be there... Chappell Roan, Kacey Musgraves. I would do some André 3000, maybe Erykah Badu. Also, I don't know how to pronounce it, but Hiatus Kaiyote, I love [them] so much.
TV: I’ve recently gotten into Hiatus Kaiyote.
RR: Obsessed. I've been obsessed with them since I was in high school.
TV: Really?
RR: Oh my God, I'm the world's biggest fan. Because I think “Molasses” is one of the coolest songs ever written, so yeah.
TV: I love that. Now, if you could make a playlist of your life to share with your friends on Jam, what would be the top two songs that you would include?
RR: I would include “Breadwinner” by Kacey Musgraves and “He Loves My Driveway” by Kesha.
TV: Oh my God, I love Kesha.
RR: I love Kesha so much. She was my everything growing up. She's just so… not “wild” in the sense that she's wild… she was so wild and free-spirited and hot, and seemed sure of herself, but was also really vulnerable and outspoken. And also was just the sickest. She was a version of a woman in pop music that I love.
TV: Congratulations on Snow Angel. It's such a beautiful album. One of the things that really stuck out to me was your vulnerability. I admire you sharing your story through your music, and I think there are a lot of people out there that can relate. Can you share what the process was like creating the album?
RR: There were parts of it that were interesting. It was [done] January to June, maybe more so May, but mixing and everything through June. It honestly was me and Alexander [Glantz] and some of our friends who would funnel in and out of his house. [We] camped out in the back house, writing every single day, pretty much every day.
TV: How long were your sessions?
RR: Our sessions would go from me having a panic attack and me only doing six hours of work to us doing 13, 14 [hours]. It would get crazy, but we did it.
TV: What sparks your creativity when it comes to songwriting, and how do you find inspiration behind your songs?
RR: It's whatever I'm feeling on that day. I feel very hard, I think a lot of songwriters probably do. But I go through a lot in my head in a 24-hour period, even when I'm asleep. I have really, really intense dreams pretty much every night that I can recount everything that happened in the morning — and usually they're anxiety-ridden dreams, so they're not very comforting. So I'm usually pretty sleepy, but I can literally take things from that. I have a song on my deluxe that is about something I dreamt about… So it can come from anything, but it only comes from my most intense feelings, the ones that really hit the forefront. Because I feel so much, it's going to be a top 10 [feelings] kind of thing.
TV: I’m sure that must feel therapeutic.
RR: It is the only thing in my life that feels therapeutic, even more than therapy.
TV: Your bestie [and former Sex Lives of College Girls co-star] Alyah Chanelle Scott directed your music video for “Snow Angel." What was it like working with her in that capacity?
RR: It was the best. She has said to me for years now, "Yeah, dude, I don't know if I'm an actor really. I feel like I'm more of a director." And I was always like, "That's so insane to me, because you're such a good actor." I was like, "That sounds absurd." But I remember for [my song] “In The Kitchen," which was last year, I ran a treatment by her for the video.
I was like, "Hey, do you have any advice on this? You get it. You have such a great, thoughtful, creative way of looking at things." She has a very specific lens. And she basically was like, "Oh, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." And I was like, "Okay, well, if you don't have anything." And she was like, "Well… I do have something." And then the next day she made me a Pinterest board and was like, "Okay, so I think it should be something like this." So then I was like, "Oh, you just get the whole thing. You should just creative direct it." This was a year ago. So when we went into this album cycle, I felt like there was only one person who was going to direct it.
TV: She understood the vision.
RR: Yeah, exactly. And I also trust her and I really believe in her. I think that she will live on to do some of the craziest direction and production and acting stuff in the business. So selfishly, I'm like, of course I want her around — she just happens to be my best friend.
TV: I think it's so important, too, especially in this type of work, to have somebody that just understands where you’re coming from.
RR: Yes. It's nice when you can have your friends with you on set, but you can also have younger women that know how it feels to be on set in environments that don't feel safe. So she can start setting a tone from the top down.
TV: What do you hope that fans take away from your album?
RR: I would hope that at least one song feels timeless and it feels like it can fit somebody no matter the age or who they are or where they're at in their life. That's a big hope of mine, because I think artists that are timeless are iconic.
