Enter the World of Snow Angel: A Conversation with Reneé Rapp
Written by Diana Solis
Graphic by Rebekah Witt
For Reneé Rapp, music has always been the end goal. With her new debut album Snow Angel making its way up on the charts, this album is meant to invigorate an entirely new sonic palette for Rapp. From the TV screen to the stage, Rapp effortlessly guides her listeners into what is going on in her mind. With Snow Angel traversing through rhythms of R&B and pop, her music is everything she wants it to be, “If I put every genre I’m obsessed with and that I idolize the artists in and spit it out of my ears, this would be that.” Without a doubt, Snow Angel has taken Rapp’s ambitions and amplified her position as the rising pop star of the year. To put it at best, “This is Renee’s world,” as said by a fellow peer.
At a recent °1824 press conference that I got to attend, Rapp got to explore with journalists what was going on in her mind, hours before the release of her debut album. Little did she know, this album would earn her the title of the biggest solo debut album for a female artist in 2023. However, to Rapp, this isn’t completed without one key mindset: delusion. “Delusion has helped me,” she stated. “I don’t mean delusional in a sense that it isn’t going to happen at all. I say delusion as in, no matter how much I doubt myself in something, I am going to fucking do it.” With this determined mindset, Rapp has most definitely set sail into potentially one of the most successful actress-to-musician careers, one of which she has been fortunate enough to work alongside her greatest confidant, Alyah Chanelle Scott. Rapp mentioned how she and Scott originally struggled with creating the concept for the music video “Talk Too Much,” which Scott directed. Even days before the shoot, they found themselves scouting locations and exploring different narratives.
But no matter the milestones or the success, there’s a lot more story-building that Rapp wants to continue moving forward. Being a theater kid, she has come to understand how to create a world of both bittersweetness, but also vulnerable and tough realizations. To her, as she sat there finishing her first album, she found herself realizing that she would always have more questions about herself. As she explores themes of tenderness and openness, Rapp acknowledges the struggles of what it feels like to be all alone in this world. When asked about the development and writing of Snow Angel, she mentioned an anecdote of having very blatant and direct lyrics when writing “Poison Poison” with her collaborator Alexander 23. It took a hard no from Alexander for her to reconsider the raw and authentic lyrics she was writing, in order to make it stronger than it was lyrically and sonically. Rapp even sought to connect her songs with astrological signs, with her Capricorn sun shining in “Poison Poison” and her Pieces moon with “I Wish.”
Rapp was an absolute wonder. Getting to explore her stories and thoughts in this press conference was fascinating, from both a journalist's to a listener's perspective. Reneé Rapp sets off soon on her Snow Hard Feelings Tour, alongside Alexander 23 and Towa Bird in the U.S. this fall, in support of her debut album Snow Angel, now released through Interscope.
