Bebe Rexha recently spoke with iHeartRadio’s EJ about her upcoming music, her approach to songwriting, and her focus on protecting her peace.
The Staten Island-raised singer-songwriter discussed multiple aspects of her current work, including leaving her old label in 2025 and starting her new projects independently.
“I think, as a human, we have to kind of follow our gut. But sometimes when you’re in a situation, you don’t notice that you need to leave,” she shared. “It hits a wall at some point where it’s like, what else do I have to lose? I got to make a change, or I’m gonna be in this situation forever. And I wasn’t happy.”
Although the artist said she is now “happier than ever,” she still had her concerns about leaving Warner Records, which she had been with since 2013.
“I think there’s good things about the major label system and then there’s bad things, and then there’s, good things about independent and bad things about independent,” she said. “I would say bad, tougher situations that you’re going to be at because you’re going independent, so you don’t have such a massive machine behind you, so you really have to bet on yourself.”
The former Tottenville High School student also shared how she handles the toxicity of the entertainment industry, while still maintaining her well-being.
“I always just think about what’s in front of me, and what’s ahead and what I love. I always put the passion first more so than anything. I really just loved writing music, so I keep trying to go back to that,” Rexha said. “And then when it comes to energy with friends and stuff like that, I feel like, you just know when somebody’s — if it’s not a two-way street.”
These concerns about the industry inform her work, including an unreleased song titled “False Gods,” which she created with Maxim, the lead vocalist of electronic music band The Prodigy.
“We were talking about how the industry could be. We are constantly, like celebrities, for example, like we beat them when they’re alive and when they’re dead, we cry and we’re tweeting about it,” she said. “But then also, like politicians or people in general, gatekeepers, how false all of this really is when it comes down to it, and how there’s a weird love-hate relationship with it.”
Rexha’s fourth studio album, “Dirty Blonde,” is set to be released on June 12.