Reneé Rapp on hot girl walks, chapstick and late nights

Let’s be honest, it’s Reneé Rapp’s world and we’re just living in it. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter (and actor!) released her debut album Snow Angel on August 18 to global critical acclaim. In a similar vein to fellow internet-first pop stars Olivia Rodrigo and Addison Rae, Rapp’s music is caustically earnest and confessional. That probably explains why so many of her newly released songs translated seamlessly into TikTok videos. Surely, you’ve heard snippets from Rapp’s girlhood ballads Poison Poison and Pretty Girls sprinkled abundantly all over the clock app. But this attention isn’t new for the singer.

Growing up near Charlotte, North Carolina, music always played a huge role in Rapp’s life; the artist has previously said that it’s the closest thing that her family had to a religion. Back in 2018, Rapp won the prestigious Jimmy Award celebrating high-school musical talent, for her leading role as Sandra Bloom in Big Fish. Soon after, in 2019, the young creative was chosen to play the role of Regina George in the Mean Girls musical on Broadway. The show opened to such success that it’s currently being adapted to a Paramount+ film version of the musical.

Continuing her streak of big wins, in 2020, Rapp was cast as the wealthy, closeted lesbian Leighton Murray in Mindy Kaling’s HBO Max series The Sex Lives of College Girls - marking her first ever TV role. Despite the surmounting celebrity, on TikTok, the multi-hyphenate talks to her 1.5 million followers with a Gen Z brand of detached indifference. Many of these posts - filmed straight from bed, sprawled on the floor of her living room or out drinking with friends - help translate this coolness into a relatable and authentic expression.

This same openness echoes Rapp’s quickfire interview with woo. From hacks on balancing the many strands of her career to the music and wellness practice that makes her feel good, below the Snow Angel singer bares it all.

Reneé Rapp: A night owl who, like, really wants to be an early riser.

Reneé Rapp: Drink water, catch up on work that I’ve missed while I’ve been asleep and then hopefully go and work out.

Reneé Rapp: Working out is really important to me. I think getting endorphins going really helps my mental. I love going to pilates.

Reneé Rapp: Oh my god I love to walk.

Reneé Rapp: Just show up as yourself, I guess.

Reneé Rapp: There She Go by Justin Bieber. I fucking love that song.

Reneé Rapp: You know, I don’t really know. I kind of just like, go with it? My voice is something I just try to think about everyday and be really conscious of healthy singing and just, like, hope for the best really.

Reneé Rapp: Yeah! I mean, I wouldn’t call it stage fright as much as it is just anxiety for me. Like it’s not being afraid of performing in front of a crowd, it’s more so hoping that I do a good job and being anxious about, you know, how I look, how I feel, things like that. I cope with it honestly in different ways everyday pretty much. It depends on how I feel that day, depends on what show I just did, it depends on what mood I’m in, depends on what I’m wearing. It’s really, like, a never-ending thing.

Reneé Rapp: None that I can think of, no.

Reneé Rapp: I try to act how I feel day to day. You know, like, I just try to really be honest with myself, like it one day I hate music then fine I’m gonna operate from that space. I just try to, I don’t know, I guess keep it going and not beat myself up about one thing too terribly much.

Reneé Rapp: I don’t really have much to be honest, but if I have any downtime I’m usually with my friends.

Reneé Rapp: I can’t leave the house without lip gloss or Chapstick, that’s an imperative to me.

Reneé Rapp: Oh my god I absolutely believe in social media breaks, and I don’t even know what my screen time is. I’m so afraid to look at it because I know that it would really scare me.