That Reneé Rapp is a multi-talent goes without saying. Whether it’s playing the iconic Regina George in the Tony-nominated Broadway show ‘Mean Girls’, starring as Leighton in the renewed teen dramedy ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ or performing her own songs in sold-out venues – there is barely anything that the North Carolina-born superstar doesn’t excel in. Already at a young age she developed a passion for singing and acting. “The first song I ever wrote was when I was literally two or three, and I wrote a song about my mom being a germaphobe. And so all I’ve heard growing up was like “Don’t get sick. Somebody has a cough, don’t hold them, don’t hug them”. So I wrote a song, and I have a literal video of it, that says “if somebody has a cold or a fever, don’t hug them, don’t kiss them,” she chuckles, and let’s be honest, in lockdown 2020 this track would have made millions.

Only in November last year, she released her highly anticipated debut EP, ‘Everything to Everyone’, which gained her a nomination as Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist at the 34 GLAAD Media Awards and has tens of millions of streams on Spotify so far. “It was pretty much just like me being like, okay I need to buckle down. I need to write. I need to get enough songs and just give it all out and just see what happens. I don’t even know how many songs I recorded over the past months, it all sort of just came together and felt really good and really special.” Consisting of 7 songs, 9 in the recently released Deluxe version, the project boasts vulnerable, coming-of-age anthems that address themes of love, anxiety, confusion and self-discovery, and beautifully depict both Rapp’s impeccable pen game and powerful voice. It’s a gorgeous body of work with tracks that many can relate to. “The biggest stress on me, to be honest, is that this is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and I needed it to do well in order to prove something. Not only to everybody at my label, but to myself”, she reflects when I ask her how it felt to finally put her EP out there – and evidently, she succeeded as the streaming numbers go up and up each day.

Right after the release of ‘Everything to Everyone’, the artist went on to tour across North America, followed by select shows across the pond, including London. What was meant to be a more intimate show in the iconic Lafayette (the capacity is 600), quickly had to be upgraded to Heaven. But even then, her fans demanded more tickets which led to Rapp having to upgrade to the O2 Forum Kentish Town (with a capacity of 2300), which according to her, was the biggest venue she has ever performed her music in – and even that venue sold out in record time. “The people here are so f***ing cute. Everybody’s so cool. They’re very personable”, Rapp describes her British fans. And it’s true – when I attended her concert a day after the interview took place, I was indeed positively astounded by her fandom. Signs and posters were held up all over the venue, everyone was screaming when she entered and each fan was able to recite her songs front,-and backwards. Very rarely have I experienced such fangirling in a room – it made the atmosphere in the venue absolutely magical, and Rapp performed each song with such passion and dedication. It was definitely a night to remember, without a doubt. Funnily enough though, in one of her TikTok videos, Rapp mentioned that whenever she goes on stage, she fully blacks out. “I just go wing it. Because I don’t like vocal warm-ups. They stress me out. I don’t have any pre-show rituals. When I was on Broadway people asked me, what do you do? But I don’t know, I’m like, just give me five”, she laughs. She wings it pretty well though, that’s for sure. “When I was in Mean Girls, I was very sick, privately. I was not eating and had panic attacks during shows. I’m happily and safely medicated now though. Growing up, I was always very anti-Western medication because my parents were and because I grew up in North Carolina, it was a small-minded kind of thing. But I’m a kid who grew up on Social Media, and now I’m not anti-Western medicine anymore. Now that I am properly medicated, I function so much better when it comes to my performances”, Rapp tells me when we speak about stage fright.

Image Credit: Erica Hernandez

“The biggest stress on me, to be honest, is that this is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and I needed it to do well in order to prove something. Not only to everybody at my label, but to myself”

– RENEÉ RAPP

Image Credit: Erica Hernandez

The gateway to Rapp’s music career is her background in theatre. After her debut as Sandra in ‘Big Fish’, which gained her the award of Best Performance by an Actress at the Jimmy Awards in New York City, she went on to star as Wendla in Theatre Charlotte’s ‘Spiritual Awakening’. A variety of other shows followed before she was cast in her most iconic role: Regina George in “Mean Girls” on Broadway – a role, which she will revisit in the movie adaptation. As a Mean Girls fan, I just have to ask her about her favourite quote from the film/musical. “Hmmm, I think it’s “get in loser, we’re going shopping”, or “Regina cut holes in her tank top, so I cut holes in my tank top,” she snickers. Besides being on Broadway and other stages, Rapp is also one of the four leads in Mindy Kaling’s HBO hit series ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’, which has recently been renewed for a third season. “It’s just very chaotic and messy, they are four very different girls’ experiences. The show is getting into themes like sexualities, personal relationships, familial relationships, friendship relationships, personal relationships, and college. And how different that looks for everybody and how f-ed up that was for some people, and how exciting it is at times”, Rapp recaps for me, and to be honest, it sounds like something I’d grippingly binge-watch.

Despite how well her acting career is going, it’s always been more of a hobby for the singer. “It’s something that’s very fun. But I don’t like to put too much emotional energy into it because I don’t want to use it. So my creative energy can be spread all over the place. But I need to protect my energy with the TV and film spaces because they’re much more demanding and much scarier than music spaces are. And they’re much more brutal as well”, she admits and affirms that music is what she has always wanted to do. “I started acting so that I could do music because my parents wanted me to go to college and I didn’t want to go. And so I was like, alright I’m going to transfer to an art school. I’m going to major in musical theater. I’m going to get good in musical theater and hopefully win this competition in New York, get seen by agents and then get a job. And then I don’t have to go to college. And I ended up doing that, and then acting just became a thing!”

Image Credit: Erica Hernandez

In terms of what the future holds for Rapp, one thing is clear – it will be nothing but successful. The multi-talent is a major force to be reckoned with, and fans will be excited to hear that she is already working on a new project: “I am working toward an album and then hopefully do a tour at the end of the summer here”, she proclaims excitedly.

The Deluxe version of ‘Everything for Everyone‘ is out now. Stream it here, and watch her brand new music video for ‘Bruises‘ below.