TikTok superstar tries to launch a music career
The series is revealing in its depiction of the realities of teenage celebrity on social media, where decisions are seemingly made amidst fear of inciting negative backlash from even part of your multimillionaire audience, and doubt about self that stems from (quantifiable) knowing that the eyes of the world – or, at least, the online world – follow your every move.
Siblings Dixie D’Amelio, left, and Charli D’Amelio, pictured at this year’s MTV Awards, both rank in the top ten most followed on TikTok.Credit:Evan Agostini / Invision / AP
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One scene shows Charli describes the past few years as a “never-ending anxiety attack,” another shows the mental anguish she endures when she meets a rogue paparazzi while shopping for clothes. Pool parties at home with their friends are far from carefree, turning into therapy sessions where young TikTokers discuss their ever-growing mental health issues.
Why did the family – including parents Marc and Heidi, who are the executive producers of the show – choose to focus on this side of their world?
âI mean, even in a YouTube video, you can try to show yourself off as much as you can, but that’s not really possible unless the cameras are still there,â says Dixie of the team behind them. followed from January through July this year for the series. “By having the cameras always handy, we were really able to show our true personalities and feelings towards things.”
Those feelings seem to be, don’t be fooled by the sunny illusion of celebrity found in a one-minute social media post. Another scene, where Dixie bursts into tears over the hateful comments that greeted her first video online for Vogue, anticipated part of the reaction to his latest endeavor: to embark on a career in pop music.
Although she signed with Hitco from LA Reid (the famous producer led the careers of R&B icons TLC and Usher) and her first handful of singles have already won over 500 million streams, she has faced the resistance from online detractors who don’t particularly like his attempt to move beyond social media fame.
D’Amelio says she always tries to overcome the obvious preconceptions that coming from social media fame her music career is not genuine or undeserved.
âI feel like I’m going to handle this for a long time. But at the end of the day, I’ve always made music, I’ve always loved music, I just haven’t shown it online, âshe says. âMusic has always been a part of my life and I love that and I love sharing creativity with people, so I really don’t care, to be honest. I just wanna do what I love and do it. share with people who love me.
With its catchy chorus and the deep, distinctive voice of D’Amelio – monotony is always interesting in a pop world forever infatuated with showy trills – his new single The real thing At least highlights her personality more than any single she has released to date.
âThat’s the scary part, that most people usually don’t have an audience when they start music watching their journey of self-discovery,â she laughs. âI feel like what I tried to do is I don’t want to impose it on anyone. I probably have a new audience who hate my [TikTok] videos but love my music so everything is different. And now I’m pretty used to comments so I don’t really mind.
âI don’t know,â she adds. âWe have literally been here for maybe 100 years? Everyone should just relax and have a good time. I can’t worry about this stuff anymore.
His invitation to this year’s Met Gala received the same attitude of ‘stay in your box’, as online commentators and fashion keepers scoffed at the extent to which online influencers have been growing. most accepted in the trendiest party in the industry.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot in the last few months not to worry about the little things that I shouldn’t,” D’Amelio said of such criticism. âI don’t want to waste my time worrying anymore, like, oh what if that person is mad at me for being in this event or doing this thing. I feel like I should just enjoy the moment.
âI just want to do what I love and share it with the people who love meâ: Dixie D’Amelio.
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For the record, at the Met Gala, she sat at the table at the Valentino fashion house, opposite R&B star Normani and flanked by singer Giveon and living EGOT, Whoopi Goldberg.
âI just thought it was crazy, like, ‘This is the weirdest group of people ever, but I’m so happy to be a part of it,’â D’Amelio laughs. âI was very nervous and I felt like Giveon was too, so we were like, ‘Uh, do you know anyone? I just sat at the table in silence, trying to figure it all out. “
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