Ep 6: How Jazz Singer Laufey Captured Gen Z's Hearts

[00:00:00] Over the course of the past year, the 25-year-old singer LeBae has become the most listened to jazz singer alive today. Between the start of 2022 and the end of 2023, he went from having under a million monthly listeners to 26 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

[00:00:16] Mostly thanks to her millions of Ken Z fans. For 2023 album, also won a Grammy Award, reached number one on Billboard's Has of Emperors, and had the biggest jazz album debut in Spotify history. LeBae has far surpassed what any Rackanel economic analyst would estimate to be the

[00:00:34] market for her music. Largely thanks to Taroginius, all-encompassing marketing's strategy. In my opinion, LeBae is a phoblaser and one of the first truly modern artists of the TikTok egg. Here recognizes that to be an artist today means creating great art across countless

[00:00:51] channels, not just writing good music, not even just making good TikToks either. He's infoxated and captured the hearts of Kitein girls who increasingly look to TikTok rather than to their popular classmates to find their favorite artists.

[00:01:06] And LeBae proved that if you can yet people to fall in love with you for your personal and online, you can be at them to listen to work for any music that you make. Let's dive in to how cute this.

[00:01:17] LeBae spent most of her life studying classical music. Both her grandparents were music professors, Hermalm is a professional violinist and LeBae started playing piano at age four in secondary school instead of choosing a more practical career path like her sister did. LeBae doubled now on studying classical music.

[00:01:35] First at an Icelandic conservatory, then at the prestigious Berkeley College of Music. But it's clear that, in choosing the music path, LeBae was it blindly or ideologically following the passion. Outside of class, LeBae started booking hours-long meetings with people from the music

[00:01:50] industry, asking each of them to quote, tell her everything they knew about the music industry. And she started posting politically on TikTok starting in spring, 2020, when she was still in school and to talk with still relatively early.

[00:02:04] He accumulated a modest following, mostly gas fans who loved her voice and more intriguing by the glimpses in her life as a half-kind use were all in Iceland. Then suddenly, her listener-graph went exponential. In 2022, LeBae six doubled her listener-hout, hitting 6 million monthly listeners by the end of December.

[00:02:23] How? Her twin sister started cyberbullying her. Playfully. Here's a simple. Exhibit A. Very unsladdering venue of LeBae sleeping, caffeine. Quote, when you tell your twin sister to stop talking to that crusty eye and she goes ahead and rakes us on about him. Exhibit B.

[00:02:41] A video of LeBae eating a fully brown banana, caffeine quote, attention. LeBae likes her bananas, rotten. Exhibit C. Another video of LeBae sleeping, caffeine. A tension. LeBae knows out on staying in ten minutes and he is sleeping. LeBae's video seems simple and silly but they're actually genius.

[00:03:00] Unia is healing the fanbase that teasing and playfully bullying LeBae is a lovely way for them. And turns out, when her twin sister roasts her, other people want to join in too. Here's an example of a TikTok where LeBae is fake crying, can't fan calling her

[00:03:15] angry because that's what her name often gets unaccurated to. 1.3 million people have liked the video and there are countless comments calling her other nicknames like lobotomy, thlavatory, et cetera. Because LeBae frequently reposts or interacts with this kind of fan content, her fans

[00:03:31] are incentivized to make more videos about her. Knowing there is a big chance that she'll respond and boost their own like and follow our accounts. And of course, in all these videos what's playing in the background, LeBae's music, which starts going viral on TikTok.

[00:03:46] In other TikToks, LeBae and Dania avoid revealing intimate secrets about themselves but they present themselves in an extremely brawly way. In a different hand-to-hearing, unflattering videos and silly childhood stories about each other, LeBae makes a point of going off script at every single one's shirt.

[00:04:04] And speaking directly to the audience and her natural, slightly upward style. These little speeches are always recorded by adoring fans and posted onto TikTok where they go viral. One particularly viral funserv moment happened when LeBae skipped one stake and Yumi

[00:04:20] made a TikTok admitting for pretending to admit that he had fanited a banana peel on the stage floor to make LeBae flip on purpose as revenge for the time when LeBae locked her in a school locker when they were teenage years.

[00:04:33] One player of this is actually true, but the fans ate it up on TikTok. These kinds of stunts create a sort of cinematic universe around their sisterhood. Such that as a viewer, it's easy to feel like your friends are even a third sibling

[00:04:46] to them, even though you actually don't know that much about them. One TikTok that really illustrated this for me was of a fan's text converse again with her mom, where she says, Mom, can I go see the LeBae and Yumi a concert?

[00:05:00] From mom replies, oh, are those the two girls you're always talking about? The fact that these teen girls are constantly talking to their moms about LeBae and Yumi as though they're like friends or classmates is insane to me.

[00:05:13] But from mom replies, okay sure, I'll buy you a concert ticket if LeBae likes your video on TikTok because I know that will never happen. But along with home, he posts the screenshot on TikTok.

[00:05:23] The fans swarmed to hand LeBae and Yumi in the comments and LeBae likes the video. So presumably, the girl gets to go to the concert. Of course, this inspires other girls to post their own TikToks related to LeBae because they might get recognized by LeBae too.

[00:05:38] Thus again, feeding LeBae's virality. But the absolute keystone to their success in LeBae and Yumi has been the way that Yumi and LeBae portray themselves as introverted and nerdy in a way that's relatable when charming.

[00:05:51] A simple example is this TikTok, where Yumi is bringing tomato soup, caffeine, full nobody in this park knows I'm having my soup with a side of the gut-wrapping thing, rock mononoff, kelas and aana in G-minus, Opis 19, third movement, that full ballroom.

[00:06:06] Or another TikTok where she self-identifies as chasing economic validation. Well, this is really relatable to nerds but the real game changer, the thing that really won her, the hearts of chai teen girls worldwide, was LeBae's song, letter to LeBae 13 year old self.

[00:06:23] The idea of reporting from the concert, where if you played with a song. I missed out a couple of things that I thought were kind of like my downfalls, 13 year old. That was kind of awkward and I had like really curly hair.

[00:06:37] I was Chinese in like a very Icelandic community and it felt I felt so different and all like and it turns out that those things aren't actually the reasons that make me unique. Even used to hear the audience screaming, me too. That's me after every sentence.

[00:06:57] And here's an excerpt from The Actual Song. But there's a happy ending to her story, which is key. In one video, someone goes up and interviews random attendees after the concert and every single one of them admitted to crying during this particular song.

[00:07:58] And way the song highlights LeBae's brand of being different and unique and shy, is particularly smart because it ductal is perfectly with her genre of music. LeBae often says that another reason she felt string and socially isolated as a teen

[00:08:13] was because of her passion for classical and jazz music. Every day after school, she would just go home and practice fellow for hours and listen to her dad's jazz records. So to see LeBae succeed in pursuing this weird non-conventional musical packing of hers,

[00:08:28] to see the many things that made her deeply unwell at 13 become the same things that would launch her green career. To see a classical and trained whiz-a-hune here, the stage with pop stars is quite literally

[00:08:39] the stuff of fantasies, to people who identify with LeBae at 13, who have weird interests that they feel so feeling ostracized for. This song, letter to LeBae 13, neurodself alone, has inspired at least two major TikTok kids, one where people posted pictures of their an actual hair, panna.

[00:09:05] Another one where people cared their biggest dreams, a reference to. LeBae has really leaned into this introverted, sensitive brand and cultivated awful community of shy fans with activities specifically designed to appeal to them. Of course, he is essentially reimagining the concert experience for her audience.

[00:09:28] A racing woman of her concerts has a little book exchange outside where you exchange books with other fans. And once the concert starts, it feels much more like a night at the symphony than a pop concert.

[00:09:40] Unlike Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo, who dance around in sparkling mini skirts against neon backdrops, Lady wears a lovely gowns and symbol sunglasses on stage. A company by a collection of musical instruments, he invites Unia on stage to accompany her all the violin.

[00:09:58] They often continue their Lenovo's Zidlenshinate again in this on stage. In this video, Unia is playing the bridge to one of Lady's songs and Lady Bendsdown, examined Unia's shoes and realizes, and Lena has famously invited the Hikolo Philharmonic

[00:10:13] Orchestra to perform a solo polisa, a major music festival that's known for being a wild party. And what is a brand-portner to you, Svisly Meadyling? With her almost 6 million TikTok followers and a brand-new award, he might expect her to partner with some pretty big brands. But no.

[00:10:31] Instead, she's partnered with a variety of small independent bookstores to sell her favorite books, and with the independent coffee shop Maman to sell a Lady Lavender latte. To celebrate the launch of her latest album, Lady invited fans around the world to

[00:10:45] join a very Lady Day with an ordinary full of Lady's favorite activities on September 10, 2023. Around the world, on that day, fans started their day by addressing in their most football Lady Cor outfit. Think, blouses, loafers, bows in your hair, things that Lady frequently wears.

[00:11:04] By the way, I think this shirt is kind of Lady Thor, or it's the most Lady Thor thing by own. Then they headed to a coffee shop and then to a local farmer's market or flower gardening, while streaming her song, California and me.

[00:11:17] Then, we're letters to the 13 year old selves in a local bookstore. It's a person may filled with activities that Lady herself blubs and then are tailored to infreverent and sensitive people. And these activities continue online in her official Discord server.

[00:11:32] Every month for the Lady Book Club, her fans all read a book selected by Lady and discuss it in the Discord server. In honor of Lady Song, beautiful strainers, there is a channel in the Discord where people close to few meets to strangers they found beautiful.

[00:11:46] So, guys, quote to the beautiful strainer in the suit, I saw that Lady Concert in Manila. You're a very handsome and cute, you look like someone I can get along with. Basically, Lady is reimagining what it means to be a star for this particular audience

[00:12:00] by doubling down on the personal qualities, awkward mannerisms, and musical styles that is distinguished her as a lonely teenager. As her record label, Manager said, quote, A year a lot of artists talk about other artists and ask, what's the blueprint? Lady doesn't really do that.

[00:12:16] He always knew that what he was doing was one of one and something that hasn't been done before. And contrary to popular belief, it's not just teen girls who resonate with this. A lot of Lady's fanbase is actually male.

[00:12:30] Lady herself disclosed this in a recent kick-ock and anecdotally in the course of my own research, I came across a blunt post by a menolaged man who's a software engineer and a father. This man expressed his love for Lady's music, shared that he had participated in a very

[00:12:46] lady-day on September 10th, and published his letter that he wrote his 13-year-old self. And what he advised is teenage self to stay nerdy. Lady seems to have tapped into the universal psychies of chyanards and fixed them or us all in perlistening to her music.

[00:13:04] I think it's interesting to contrast Lady and her social-famide attitude with that of Mitspe, and in the music end of who, Lady's collaborated with a few times. Mitske really seems like a moody artist out of heart.

[00:13:17] And she's been very unspoken about hating being in the public spotlight, wanting to delete her social media accounts, even thinking about leaving the music industry entirely because she can't put up with all her fans projecting their own feelings on her work.

[00:13:30] Lady only on the other hand, fully leans into this social media personality. He recognizes that in today's age as an artist you are a product, you are a commodity to be bought and adored by your fans.

[00:13:42] And instead of feeling overwhelmed or wishing constantly a territory from that to focus on her art, Lady centers her art and her music around her social media presence. The starkest example of this, to me, is her song's second best. This song was actually born out of a TikTok.

[00:13:59] Somebody made this TikTok last summer that was like, if Leyve Wright's a song about being someone's second choice, like, I'll die or something like that, which I hope they didn't. Because I did write the song. But I was like, oh, challenge accepted.

[00:14:13] So is Lady selling out by writing music based on what the fans won't be here? I can't imagine Mitske doing that. Does that mean Mitske is more archaicyably pure, more dedicated to her craft? I say it no.

[00:14:26] In my view, the difference is that Mitske merely makes literal music. He pours her heart and soul into her somber lyrics, and he ms her songs as preface outlets for her angst and feelings. Leyve to me is an artist in a much more expansive sense of the term.

[00:14:41] Remember that Lady spent most of her life studying classical music and music theory, whereas it was more to create a statistically beautiful, complex work of art, than 10 is a fairly directly expressed, your role in emotions.

[00:14:54] Which is not the same that it can't be deeply emotional in its own way, but the boys aren't usually more about holistic melodic expression. Now, I'm not an expert in classical music or art, but it is indistinguishably the case that artists throughout history have recognized

[00:15:09] that stage performance is an inter-repart of artistry. For heaps, planning and presentation of this ad is a key part of being a good chess. For classical musicians, the renowned pianist, Franz Litz, while the way back in the 1800s, was known for his passionate expressive stage presence.

[00:15:26] He would be playing the piano, but his facial expressions and his body language would be so compelling that it would hugely amplify the emotions that were already present in whatever piano piece he was playing. So if stage presence has long been a four part of artistry,

[00:15:41] while TikTok is the modern-day stage. And I do think that the way that Leyve presents herself on TikTok is a form of art. Even the outfits that Leyve and Vinio were on TikTok every day are art.

[00:15:52] I find it very impressive that Leyve and Unia have such a distinct sense of personal style, but their fans have started emulating them and dressing in Leyve Corps outfits. In my view, the reason that Leyve has been able to sustain for so many years,

[00:16:06] this grueling schedule of non-stop daily TikToks and writing new music, and going on for, and amaginating all these very-laby days and concert experiences and book clubs and discord experiences, all seemingly without burning out is because all of these things to hurt

[00:16:23] are part of her art. My takeaway from on this is that Leyve is a mono for the true modern-day artist. So if you media have his expanded and changed so rapidly in the past few years

[00:16:34] and it's only going to continue those AI develops further. And it's really round in the ways the cultural activities have it. It's brought in the ways that we connect with each other. It's created a phonetic class of relationships, and that it's now very common to have

[00:16:48] parasocial relationships where you feel like you have a friendly relationship with a social meaninge having you who you actually don't know in real life. To be a rising artist and today's age requires I think doing something like Leyve, where you acknowledge that the definition

[00:17:03] of state presence has broadened. That being an artist no longer means just focusing on one medium. It means creating great art across all these channels that integrate with each other. That this new social media landscape has also presented great opportunities

[00:17:18] to get people to fall in love with you as a person, so strongly that you can even get 13 your own thing to listen to guys just because you wrote it. I think what's heartening about on this

[00:17:28] is that Leyve manages to establish this deep, multi-faceted bond with her audience without really spilling intimate secrets about herself. She's not selling her soul or completely her privacy. She's able to do this just like being raw and bringing in union if she has

[00:17:44] an amazing chemistry with. Whether you're an aspiring artist or otherwise, I hope this was inspirational and informative and I'll see you next time.