Slayyyter has come a long way from recording songs in her bedroom closet in St. Louis. Now 29, the pop provocateur is preparing to release her highly anticipated third studio album — her first major-label project under Columbia’s RECORDS imprint.
With explosive recent singles like “BEAT UP CHANEL$,” “CANNIBALISM!” and “CRANK,” it’s clear the upcoming album will be bold, chaotic, and unapologetically experimental.
For Slayyyter, the biggest shift in this new era is the collaborative environment that comes with joining a major label.
“The biggest difference is it’s not just me anymore,” she tells PEOPLE. “There are other people to discuss your music with, consider things with and think about ideas with. And that’s been really amazing.”
Despite the industry support, her creative process hasn’t lost its intimate spark. She admits she wasn’t sure anyone — not even her fans — would connect with the new sound.
The track “CRANK,” a gritty, NSFW anthem referencing Dazed and Confused, made her especially anxious.
“I felt like this is a little too aggressive. I don’t know if people are going to like this. It’s not very pop,” she says.
But Columbia believed in the music immediately — enough to sign her — and the fans have been responding with overwhelming enthusiasm.
“Seeing the response to everything has been really wild,” Slayyyter says. “Sometimes an artist’s intuition really is best.”
As she crafted the new album, she considered returning to the dance-pop style that defined earlier work like her last album, Starf—er. But her instincts pushed her toward something rawer and more daring.
“It just wasn’t in my heart at the time,” she admits. “I didn’t feel inspired doing that.”
This new direction has been especially embraced by queer audiences — a community that has long fueled Slayyyter’s rise.
When she performed several new tracks last month at Grindr’s Pleasure Ball in New York City, the crowd’s energy confirmed exactly where her music belongs.
“That is the space where my music lives and thrives,” she says. “I feel grateful to always perform in those spaces.”
As she steps confidently into this new chapter with major-label support, a refined artistic vision, and a fearless sound, Slayyyter is proving once again that trusting her instincts is the key to her evolution.
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