Slayyyter isn’t really famous yet, but she could fool you. When the 22-year-old singer shows up at The FADER offices in New York wearing a pink tennis skirt accented with a shimmering rhinestone belt and a matching “S” choker, it’s like she’s stepped off the set of a music video. But really, the young pop star and current part time receptionist at a hair salon is in town from St. Louis, where she’s lived her whole life, and she’s accompanying her mom who’s on a business trip. Despite her small town situation, she’s producing some of the most exciting, big budget-sounding pop music I’ve heard in years, boosted with the sole help of a small unit of stan accounts and Internet misfits.
I first found out about her through “BFF,” a duet with her trusted collaborator and producer Ayesha Erotica. It sounds like Charli XCX on whippets — dark and fast electronic pop that belongs in gay clubs and nowhere really else. But she’s more than a Charli imitator. On “Ghost,” a whip-smart breakup song that hinges on a cute necklace metaphor, she sounds fresh and vulnerable. On “Dial Tone,” another collaboration with Ayesha and another mysterious internet person, called That Kid, she steals the show, singing with glee, “Call 1-800-Slayyyter for a good time / I could say some things that would blow your mind.”
Last month, she got an important cosign from Charli XCX herself, when the singer featured “BFF” on her monthly Spotify playlist called "THE MOTHERFUCKING FUTURE," reserved for artists and songs Charli feels are the future of pop music. With Slayyyter’s developed aesthetic and sound, it’s hard to disagree. She explained how she got started making pop and how stan accounts helped build her career.
How did you get into making music pop music?
I started making music in high school but it was so bad. It wasn't until last month. I hit up Ayesha Erotica, she's a producer and she's so good. I was like, “Do you want to make a song?” and she sent me the beat to "BFF." I've been making music for a while but that's all deleted now.
What kind of music were you making before?
’80s lo-fi pop that I mixed myself over beats that I didn't have permission to use. It was OK, it wasn't anything special. It was kind of boring. My favorite genre has always been pop. I've always wanted to make it and go full force with it.
I feel like pop music coming together organically is more of a rare thing than some other genres, which is why I was so excited to find your corner of the internet.
It's DIY pop, but it doesn't sound very DIY, which I owe to Ayesha. She's so good at mixing and things like that.
I did want to ask how you found out about Ayesha. She produces almost all of your songs.
Someone DM'ed me on Twitter and was like, “You look like Ayesha Erotica but blonde.” I looked her up and found her SoundCloud and was blown away. I was like, “How is she underground? She's amazing.” The first song I heard from her was "Hardcore Anal Banging" — I was like she's so incredible and funny. I found her Instagram and messaged her on a whim, not thinking she would respond. She's so mysterious. She's the main producer I like working with.
With how put together you are aesthetically and sonically, I was wondering if you were secretly signed to a label...
I have a really good artist from the U.K. His name is Josh, or glitchmood. He makes all my album art which looks so professional. But no, I record from my closet. People from labels have been reaching out lately, which is so weird. This is all really weird.
So your art person is in England, Ayesha is in L.A., you're in St Louis. How did you get connected to this network of people?
Through Twitter. I've been on Twitter for a really long time, building a little following. Nothing serious but I randomly was added to a group chat by a guy named Dustin I'm friends with. He makes music under graveyard guy. He added me to this groupchat and Josh was in it, and a bunch of Charli XCX fan accounts. I feel like a lot of my fans are just Charli XCX fan accounts [laughs]. It was a Charli account who told me about Ayesha and that kind of started everything. I owe stan accounts for getting on Charli's playlist. I didn't know half the accounts but so many people were recommending me. God bless the stans.
