Who Is Lola Young? EYNTK About The Rising Star

 

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If you’re not aware of unapologetic rising artist Lola Young who gained significant attraction last year all over the internet from her hit song ‘Messy’, then you better stick around.

The 24 year old singer-songwriter was raised in Beckenham South London. Young has been in the public eye since she was eighteen years old back in 2019 when she released her debut album, Intro. Prior to the release, the young artist attended The BRIT School in London to help with her vocal training and was then signed with Island Records.

Although she gained most of her audience last year, Young is far from an overnight success. Back in 2021, Young performed a cover of ‘Together in Electric Dreams’ for the John Lewis Christmas advert and was also nominated for a Brit award for Rising Star.

Lola has been releasing music consecutively every few months since her first album and has had notable features such as Lil Yachty on her track ‘Charlie’ back in October of 2024. Most recently we’ve seen Young feature on Tyler the Creator’s album CHROMAKOPIA as backing vocals on his track ‘Like Him’ which has been the second most streamed song on his album.

Another song that brought attention to the rising star was Young’s ‘Don’t Hate Me’ which became a viral sound on TikTok back at the beginning of 2023 with celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Kylie Jenner seen lip-syncing to the song.

 

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Young’s work over the years all came to ahead in June of 2024 when she released her album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway. The album contains 11 songs and is a combination of pop rock, R&B and neo-soul which is a poetic autobiography of Young’s personal battles and life experiences.

It was Lola’s notorious track ‘Messy’ that gained the most attraction off the album with now over 140 million streams on Spotify alone. In an interview with Metal Magazine Young discussed how the song helped her come to terms with her ADHD and the difficulties it causes for her in relationships and day to day life:

“Messy is an ADHD anthem, it really showcases everything I felt during my last relationship, but also it is deeper than that, as it talks about how I feel about myself in general — being too messy one day and too clean another, struggling to find that balance in myself.”

The success of ‘Messy’ kickstarted Lola’s upcoming year as well as her tour which began in North America in August of 2024 and proceeds until February of this year. The star has also performed at many festivals since the release of her sophomore album such as Lollapalooza, All Things Go, Osheaga Music and Arts Festival, Bludfest and more.

 

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Although being recognised as a rising queer artist on social media, Young has never explicitly expressed her sexual identity. Her track ‘Messy’ along with the whole album has been widely appreciated by the queer community as many resonated with the feelings and frustrations expressed throughout the music.

Lola has been openly accepting of the queer community and has demonstrated her commitment to inclusivity throughout her career. We can see this in Young’s music video for her song ‘Woman’ back in 2021 which features diverse bodies, including individuals who identify as non-binary.

We all find Lola’s music refreshing as she is asking us to embrace our imperfections and love ourselves for them. In an interview with Rock Sound at Bludfest last year, Young expressed how she is working on new music which will soon be a new album. We can’t wait to hear what this rising star has for us next!

Words by Emma Gleeson