BETTY WHO IS THE NEXT BIG! THING [IN PRINT]
PHOTOGRAPHER: IRVIN RIVERA, PRODUCER: LOUISE BARRETTO, FASHION STYLING: CELINE ASHFORD, MAKEUP: CHRISTOPHER MILES, HAIR STYLIST: RICKY ASHFORD AT THE ONLY AGENCY, PHOTO ASSISTANT: MIKE LIU, GRAPHICS DESIGNER: PHIL LIMPRASERTWONG
Betty Who has an infectious smile and her music always makes me want to get up and dance. By that I mean not in a small and contained way, but with big and wild movements, she makes me want to jump around and sing along. Betty Who is bottled up joy, every song feels like an adventure about to begin, especially her version of "I Love You Always Forever," which has over 74 million streams on Spotify and was featured in the Netflix original To All the Boys I Loved Before: Always and Forever.
Betty Who is an entertainer, an artist, a musician, and a writer, she is one of those creatives who is truly impossible to box in with one label or another, which I believe makes her one of the leading voices of the next generation. In addition to being on tour, she recently released a funk cover of Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” and just released an upbeat version of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Yes, Betty Who is really doing the most for us.
When I first listened to Betty Who, what I loved (and what made me immediately send some of her songs to my close friends and demand they listen) was how much space Who takes up. She is a queer artist whose latest album BIG! is aptly titled. She refuses to shrink in a society that usually demands silence and obedience from women, from queer folk, from anyone who doesn’t conform to societal standards that are determined by the white cis-hetero patriarchy. As a disabled queer woman myself, having someone like Betty Who to look up to makes all the difference. Her music is loud, funky, and completely her. She has not only made space for herself and her voice with her music, but for all of us as well. Betty Who is so young and has already done so much, that I can’t help but be excited to see what else she will do.
In our conversation for A Book Of, I wanted to create a space for Betty Who to introduce herself as a person, as well as an artist. We discuss her beginnings, her style (which is deliciously non-conforming), and of course, we talk all about her music. Read on to learn more about Betty Who and what she has to say.
Where did you go to school? Did it have a strong influence on where you are today?
I went to Berklee college of music and it definitely set me on the path I’m on now. I’m really grateful for the arts education I had, from Interlochen Arts Academy for high school as well as Berklee. To spend my formative years surrounded by hundreds of other passionate, talented young people who wanted something exciting out of their lives was so inspiring and something I wouldn’t trade for the world.
You are a very prolific piano player which shows in your music, what is your favorite song to play on the piano and why?
In college, I learned how to play "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille and that is, without fail, the song I play when I sit down at a piano. Anywhere in the world. Any time.
For young artists who look up to you today, what is one thing you wish you had known when you were just beginning your musical journey?
I wish I’d known how awesome I already was. I look back at the beginning of my career and I was so busy being consumed by my lack of success that I never stopped to realize how successful I already was. My self-perception was so off and I think it held me back a lot. I was so busy wishing I had more that I was ungrateful for what I already had.
Are there any non-musician artists who have inspired your creativity and had a major impact on your life? What would you tell those people (person) if you could?
I’m really inspired by deep thinkers - humans who are constantly trying to find a way forward and share their knowledge with the world. Someone like Brené Brown. Her research on shame and the ability to get to the heart of what makes us all human has taught me so much.
Which of Brené Brown's works inspires you the most? I personally love Atlas of the Heart!
Atlas Of the Heart, was amazing! I’ve loved her since her Ted Talk went viral. I’ve sent books of hers to so many people, especially women, in my life. I think everyone can learn something from her.
If you were a book, what book would you be and why? This can be a real book or a made-up book title that you think encapsulates who you are at this moment.
I would be some totally dense and fabulous page in Women Who Run With the Wolves.
