AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Even if you have never heard of Bebe Rexha, you've likely heard the songs that she's written. She's written for the likes of Eminem...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE MONSTER")
EMINEM: (Rapping) I'm just relaying what the voice in my head's saying. Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just friends with the...
RIHANNA: (Singing) I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
CHANG: ...Selena Gomez...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIKE A CHAMPION")
SELENA GOMEZ: (Singing) Walk like a champion, talk like a champion.
CHANG: ...And Tinashe.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL HANDS ON DECK")
TINASHE: (Singing) All in the front, all in the back, just like that, like that, like that.
CHANG: Even though she found success while making music for other artists, Rexha struggled to get her own spotlight to shine as brightly.
BEBE REXHA: I play shows or have people that I meet, and they don't recognize my face. When I play them my songs, they're like, oh, my gosh, I know so much of your catalog.
CHANG: Rexha has been described as a pop chameleon, and that has never been more apparent than it is on her new album, "Dirty Blonde." It blends EDM, pop and country, just to name a few genres.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HYSTERIA")
REXHA: (Singing) Turn it up. Make it bounce. Hysteria in the crowd. Got the...
I think a lot of times, the limits that we build are in our heads. So for me, it's more of a freeing thing.
CHANG: Our colleague Juana Summers spoke with Rexha just before the album dropped.
JUANA SUMMERS, BYLINE: This album is so fun. As I was listening to it, I was thinking, like, this is the perfect soundtrack for a messy girl summer. Was that the kind of vibe that you were going for?
REXHA: Dang (laughter). Not really, but you know what? I'll take it.
SUMMERS: (Laughter).
REXHA: I think what's very free about this project is I allowed myself to do all the things without judging myself. And I'm, like, kind of doing everything. I wrote with Hit-Boy.
SUMMERS: Yeah.
REXHA: And I did a country song, and I played it for Billy Ray Cyrus recently.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DRINK AND A LITTLE LOVE")
REXHA: (Singing) Halfway through the door, and I can barely stand. Last thing I want to do is fight with my man.
And then I have the dance stuff that Chris Lake has worked on for me and DJ Snake. So I'm kind of, like, just touching all the parts, but, like, usually in the past, I would feel a little insecure about it because I'm like, oh, I should stick to one sound and one lane.
SUMMERS: One of the things that I think fans love about your music is that you play with pop, EDM, hip-hop, country. You don't seem to limit yourself.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DRINK AND A LITTLE LOVE")
REXHA: (Vocalizing).
SUMMERS: How did you get more confident in really blurring the lines and playing with so many genres?
REXHA: I honestly - OK, let me keep this simple. I get bored. I get really bored. I think this album has been more so about stripping back all the things that I've learned about a traditional pop artist, a traditional rollout, and kind of accepting that I want to go my own way 'cause if you told me I had to eat pizza every day - I mean, I love pizza.
SUMMERS: (Laughter).
REXHA: But for the rest of my life - I would be like, I can't do this.
SUMMERS: Oh, for sure. I want to ask you about the song "New Religion." It samples "Insomnia" from the group Faithless.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEW RELIGION")
REXHA: (Singing) I found the music, found the music, my new religion.
SUMMERS: What did that sample bring to this song, and why did you want to work it in?
REXHA: I started writing, and I knew that I wanted to write a song called "New Religion" because I was going through a tough time with the major label system, with relationships, with a lot of the areas of my life. And I wanted to write a song about, like, when you are having a hard time with faith 'cause you're like, why are all these things happening? Like, I'm - I don't feel like I'm being heard. Like, help me. So I kind of went back to finding a safe space within music.
And I know it sounds corny, but it's like, I was going out to a lot of clubs and dancing and just being in the mix in Europe 'cause I was never that girl growing up. And it just felt - I don't know, it always felt spiritual to me. Even though there might have been some drinks in my system, it was healing, in a sense.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEW RELIGION")
REXHA: (Singing) I found the music, found the music, my new religion.
And we had worked on a almost-finished dance album. And somewhere in between all of this, I started writing songs like "I Like You Better Than Me."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I LIKE YOU BETTER THAN ME")
REXHA: (Singing) I like you better than me. I wish that I could fit in those size 2 jeans.
And I said, OK, I can't believe that I was able to be vulnerable 'ause for a long time, I was very shut off. And I started writing more vulnerable songs.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I LIKE YOU BETTER THAN ME")
REXHA: (Singing) What's it like inside your brain? I bet another perfect day.
SUMMERS: Earlier this year, you split with Warner Records and partnered with Empire. I wonder what that's meant for your creative process and whether there are things that you can do now with Empire that you couldn't before.
REXHA: Well, being with Empire now, I finally feel like I'm understood, I'm celebrated. And that does something too. Like, as a person, you - I finally feel understood, you know, not misunderstood. And when you have somebody that believes in you like that and such a transparent team, you feel more confident. It's been really fun just, like, all the visuals and stuff.
SUMMERS: Yeah.
REXHA: And, like, it's nice because, like, I'm working on my tour now, and, like, I just feel like I can try different things and have more fun.
SUMMERS: Can we talk about the visuals? - because "Dirty Blonde" is a visual album. What goes into that choice? What kind of aesthetic are you going for?
REXHA: If you look at "Cike Cike"...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CIKE CIKE")
REXHA: (Singing in Albanian).
My thing is, like, I felt - started feeling very inspired by, like, classic beauties, like Marilyn, the way Madonna did it. But then, like, mixing it with edge. And I was like, what would Marilyn Monroe be like if she was born in Brooklyn, like me, raised in Staten Island around all the Italian girls, was Albanian...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CIKE CIKE")
REXHA: Take my number, 347, you know the vibe.
...Liked having fun, was a little bit more street and on the edge (ph), and that's kind of been my approach.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CIKE CIKE")
REXHA: If you show me yours, I'll show you mine. (Singing in Albanian).
I always feel like I didn't fit the mold in terms of, like, both my parents are from Albania. My dad's an immigrant. Like, my dad was like - when I was growing up in New York, everybody had these nice backyards, and my dad was growing 'cause he grew up as a - with a farmer dad growing tomatoes in the backyard in New York City. And I'm like, oh, my God, we had, like, you know - it was just - so for me, I think, being able to incorporate that Albanian was really important for me.
SUMMERS: I can't talk to you without asking you about the song "Sad Girls," which you've described as an anthem for anyone who's ever been on a dance floor with a broken heart and refused to let it win.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAD GIRLS")
REXHA: (Singing) And it kills me watching you taking her home. But sad girls don't leave till the last song.
SUMMERS: Very relatable, first of all. Tell us about the song. Was there an experience that sparked it?
REXHA: Yeah. A lot of these songs were about my heartbreak. It's about getting broken up with, you know? Yeah, I was never, like, a party girl. And then I started - like, to be honest with you - partying, like, in my 30s now 'cause I wanted that experience. I want to go where the people go. I want to feel the energy. I want to get sweaty. I want to get sticky. I want to hear...
SUMMERS: Yeah.
REXHA: ...What you're listening to. I want to be in the culture. And what - I think what I liked about it was I felt like I could express myself. And then I felt like I could spend 4 hours just, like, shutting my brain off, listening to music, dancing with strangers. Like, I...
SUMMERS: It's the best, it's the best.
REXHA: Like, I remember meeting a couple 'cause I like - there was a guy, and I was like, oh my God, you're so cute, and he was like, sorry, babes, I'm gay. And I was like, oh, this makes sense. Let's dance. So, like, I would make all these friends on the dance floor that I never have seen before and then never spoke to again after we were - we had the best night of our lives, you know?
And I think for "Sad Girls," it was kind of like, I was still going through my breakup internally. And going out in these places and just being in the mix, I feel like I was in the culture, and it was a - it's a very different environment. I guess "Sad Girls" is like, you don't want the night to end. You're feeling good. The music shuts your brain off. And you don't want to go back to reality, as sad as that sounds, but I think it's also very human.
SUMMERS: We've been speaking with Bebe Rexha. Her new album is "Dirty Blonde." Thank you so much.
REXHA: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAD GIRLS")
REXHA: (Singing) I could have sworn I saw you here. But when I looked away, you disappeared. Maybe it's the flashing lights, or I just miss you too much tonight. And I'm not ready... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
