These days, it’s hard to be a pop star without getting compared to somebody else. Log on to X and you’ll see people talking about “pop mothers” or treating the various eras of superstars like they’re high school graduating classes. Recently, there was even a chart floating around that categorized different generations of pop women as the three main characters from The Powerpuff Girls. We’re seemingly stuck in a period of pop juxtaposition and perhaps no one knows this better than Tate McRae, who has been seeing the analogies roll in since day one.
“Comparisons are so funny,” she tells Harper’s Bazaar a week before the arrival of her third studio album, So Close to What. “Because even if you’re not intentionally doing something, the comparisons just always come in. I remember this when I was 15, too. I got compared to so many artists. You can never come out and just be your own person... You’re like, oh wow, that’s such an honor. You even like [it], but then also you’re trying to pave your own way as well, right?”
In the early days of her career, McRae’s atmospheric and melancholic tracks like “You Broke Me First” had her likened to Billie Eilish. Now, the Canadian-born singer’s more hip-hop leaning pop and dance-centric performances often get her referred to as the “new Britney.” (Meaning Spears, obviously.) Of course, there are moments where she leans into it, like at the 2024 VMAs. There, she wore a lacy black Roberto Cavalli ensemble that strongly resembled the Dolce & Gabbana look worn by Spears to the same ceremony in 2001. “For sure, the VMAs look was an homage to Britney, a million percent,” McRae says. “I just thought she looked so stunning in that dress.” (McRae also names “Toxic” and “I’m a Slave 4 U” as her two favorite Spears tracks.)
But no matter how much the world tries to look at her work through the lens of other artists, McRae refuses to be put in a box. And even in an industry that is currently stuffed with stellar rising pop stars—like Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Olivia Rodrigo—McRae earns her rightful spot amongst them with So Close to What, her most focused collection of pop hits yet.
“I was way more sensual in my writing, more flirty in my writing, more sassy in my writing,” she tells Bazaar about making her latest LP. “I think it was a bit of a natural progression. I didn’t really realize that I was being bolder in my lyricism in that way.”
She might not have realized it at first, but this is easily McRae’s most mature album, lyrically and musically. If we’re making comparisons, it doesn’t feel like a Britney or a Bangerz in the sense that it’s a young woman trying to prove to the world that she’s all grown up. At 21, McRae is certainly discovering those things all on her own, but her journey with sexuality and romance comes through quite naturally—and also quite humorously.
Humor turns out to be one of McRae’s greatest strengths, whether she’s telling a man to cut the sentimentality and simply touch her on “2 Hands,” or she’s pulling out gasp-inducing couplets like: “I’m losin’ my mind ’cause giving you head’s / The only time you think I got depth” in “Purple Lace Bra,” a song she considers a personal favorite.
“I was getting comments from my mom being like, ‘Oh, that’s a really ballsy lyric.’ And I’d be like, ‘Oh, you’re right—that is a ballsy lyric,” McRae says with a laugh.
Not only are her lyrics sharper and riskier, but her videos have become more commanding. Those who have been following McRae since her debut know that she understands the power of a good visual (just check out the gorgeous “Feel Like Shit” if you need proof), but this time around, she’s amped things up.
The So Close to What rollout began with the cheeky “It’s OK I’m OK” visual, which saw McRae giving a playful spin on Hollywood life. But her personal peak has easily been the fashion-filled “Sports Car” visual which McRae calls her “first truly pop pop video” and which saw her switching between 12 different archival and couture looks styled by Brett Alan Nelson, which included the likes of Versace, The Blonds, Sam Macer, and more. “I just have very specific memories of watching pop star music videos and then falling in love with the song even more,” McRae says. “In my opinion, music videos—if executed well—can elevate a song so much.”
Needless to say, what elevates McRae’s music videos to a higher level is her dancing, and it’s the area where she stands most singular amongst her peers. It’s rare to see anyone else jittering around in white pumps like McRae does in “Revolving Door” or going viral for their sky-high splits during concerts. McRae has a technicality that’s stunning to watch, and it’s something she wants to continue to push to the forefront of her work.
“People don’t even realize how much of a dancer I was,” she notes. “I went to a ballet school, I was studying prima ballerinas and modern contemporary art for so many years, and Fosse and all the old musicals.”
McRae also notes that dance is what drives her songwriting most directly now, and it’s picturing how she’ll perform her songs on stage that often inspires what she writes. “I am a sad-girl ballad-writer at heart,” she admits. “[But] what I’ve been forcing myself to do is write over beats or write over things that the dancer side of me would be triggered to feel, so I can have fun performing it on tour, because those are my favorite[s]. Those are the records that really come to life and my dancers just eat up, and it just feels like a totally different energy.”
She also notes that dancing has influenced how she’s approached her fashion up to this point. “As a dancer, you want to be able to do everything, so the comfortability part of it is so important,” she notes. “Which is why I end up going more sporty a lot of the time because I’m just like, ‘Screw the fashion, let me dance!’” But, that all might be changing soon. “I definitely do want to try leaning into the fashion a little more for this tour,” she adds.
Ever the workaholic, McRae is set to hit the road again starting next month for the Miss Possessive Tour, less than a year after wrapping her Think Later World Tour. And armed with a fresh arsenal of addictive new songs, a fiercer devotion to fashion, and a dedication to bringing her dance center stage, McRae is here to prove that maybe one day, the comparisons will be made to her instead.
“I feel like I have so much to share with the world that hasn’t been seen yet, from at least just me and my [dancing] past,” she says. “It just needs to be the right moment.” Suffice it to say, the world will be paying attention.
