Rebecca Black on moving on from Friday, dealing with online abuse and finally releasing her new ‘mature’ music

REBECCA BLACK had always wanted to be a star in the world of music.

And she got her wish – albeit in a roundabout way.

“The start I had wasn’t exactly what I had planned but it ended up really well,” admits the California based singer.

The start she’s alluding to is, of course, Friday – the viral YouTube video that completely changed her life at the age of just 13.

Branded by critics as ‘one of the worst songs ever’, the track and accompanying music video spread across the world like wildfire.

While it led to some incredible opportunities for Black, including starring in a Katy Perry video, having her song covered on Glee and attending a host of celebrity events as a special guest, it also opened the door to vitriol and abuse.

“It definitely put a lot of pressure on me at a very young age and I think that was the hardest thing to deal with,” Black, now 19, told the Sunday Post.

“I said a lot back then that it didn’t bother me and a lot of people couldn’t understand how I would’ve coped or dealt with all of the hate that I got… But I couldn’t cope or deal with the hate that I got.”

The view count reached a staggering 100 million within a couple of months, thanks in part to being featured on US TV and being talked about by Simon Cowell and Miley Cyrus among other stars.

But with the increased exposure, the comments strayed beyond simply criticising the song to insults about Black’s appearance, and even death threats and vile taunts urging her to kill herself.

“No matter what anyone says, hate from other people and getting constantly judged for everything from your looks and the way you speak to the way you sing is really tough – especially when you’re only just a teenager,” she says.

“I just pushed it away and as I’ve grown up, slowly I’ve been able to take the time to feel all of that and start to at least heal myself a little bit.”

The culmination of that healing process is releasing new music, and her first release for three years, The Great Divide, was well received when it debuted last August.

Now she’s back with newly released track Foolish, an upbeat electro pop take on falling in love when you’re nineteen.

“It is the most grown-up thing I’ve ever put out,” Black says, revealing that the ethos around the song and its accompanying video allows her to show how she’s grown as a person and also as an artist.

“The song itself is about falling in love,” she explains, “which is something I’m really new to right now and figuring out and trying to fight my way through!”

The video is far removed from the scenes in her debut of getting ready for school, pondering what seat to take in the car and, indeed, getting down on Friday.

“It’s a little bit of a risqué video!” she laughs.

“It was different for me but I’m in a very different spot now than I was even six months ago.

“It was a really late, long shoot but there was such great energy that even though we were up until five in the morning shooting you wouldn’t have even known.”

Black says the song is something she’s wanted to put out for a while, eagerly anticipating its release into the world.

She’s delighted with the response it’s had, with great support from fans and favourable reviews from music critics.

The new sound she has crafted brings together a host of influences, many of which stem from the music her parents listened to when she was growing up.

Her mother, born and raised in Mexico, brought a Latin influence, and also loved music from Michael Jackson and Gloria Estefan.

Her dad was more into alternative and rock music including the likes of The Eagles and Phil Collins.

“I grew up listening to a wide variety of stuff, exploring and finding even more of my own world, but I’d say those are definitely still very big influence for me today,” she says.

 

It’s now just over six years since Friday catapulted Black into the public eye and, over those six years, she says she’s done a lot of growing up.

That includes growing to love the song that altered her life forever.

“A lot of people have asked me about [Friday] and I’ve given a lot of different answers but right now I’m very at peace with everything that happened around it,” Black admits.

“I don’t know if I’d be in this interview if it weren’t for that song, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to go to the MTV Movie Awards last night if it weren’t for that song, so I have a lot of love for it, I do.”

While she admits to being ’a little bit nervous’ about getting back online in the aftermath of its release, she managed to flip the negative aspects of becoming a viral sensation into having a more positive effect.

“I ended up getting such an amazing support system from coming back to YouTube, being myself and sharing a bit more of my life than people had seen in music videos or videos every six months,” she says.

“I hoped that it would also help people out because I do have the experience to give advice, helping people dealing with bullying or whatever sort of hardship they’re going through.”

And that advice?

”The first thing you can do is be nice yourself,” she says.

“Allow yourself to feel everything, the good, the bad, the ugly feelings, everything because if you don’t, they’re just going to sit there under a rock until you decide to pick up that rock and one day you will and you have to deal with it.

“I think also just don’t be so hard on yourself and how you deal with it. It’s ok to be hurt by things and to feel sad, it’s just that picking yourself back up and allowing yourself to deal with it is what will help you.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTz248FBhqQ/?taken-by=msrebeccablack

 

It certainly seems that Black has gone from strength to strength since the days of being ‘that Friday girl’.

Following on from the release of Foolish is her debut EP, scheduled for the summer, something that she’s been waiting for a long time to release.

She says: “It’s my first thing I can share so I’m really excited and really nervous about it as well but it’s something I’ve been working towards since Friday, probably even before that and I didn’t even know it.”

Touring and performing live shows is another thing she’s excited about – and finally getting to meet her fans in person.

“I love getting out there and performing,” Black says.

“With the internet and social media there’s still nothing like a real connection in person with someone and, for me, being up there on stage I get to see the faces of the people that allow me to do what I do.

“To be able to meet them and share an experience with them in real life, that will never be beaten by a Tweet or an Instagram post.”

Foolish is available to download and stream now.