Pia Mia is the epitome of post-internet pop star. She’s only released two official singles, but she’s already a celebrity—thanks, in part, to her public friendship with Kylie Jenner, and a video of her performing Drake’s Hold On, We’re Going Home at a Kardashian dinner party, in front of Champagne Papi himself. Rumour has it Drake wanted to sign her around that time, but she was already negotiating with another label.
Pia might have caught our attention via the Kardashian-Jenner Klan, but the 19 year old Guam native has held it because she’s a captivating figure in her own right. Outfitted in her signature red bandana and thigh high boots Pia looks hyper real, like a Barbie obsessed with 2pac. But when she opens her mouth, Pia’s just a young dorky girl, sharing bad impressions and in-jokes on Snapchat daily. There’s also her relationship with Nic Nac, a 34 year-old producer who’s been working with her for years. That’s the thing about Pia: she’s real enough to be relatable, but perfect enough to stay aspirational.
Ahead of her Australian stadium tour with Jason Derulo, Austin Mahone and T.I., i-D called up Pia to get the down low on the island girl who’s on the brink of going global. Here are the six things most crucial things you’ve gotta know about Pia.
1. Her music is all her: don’t try and take away credit from her.
“My music is all me. It’s everything I’m going through. All the lyrics are experiences of my own personal life, but I do always have a cowriter with me. I feel like I have so many emotions and so much to say that when I try to write the lyrics out by myself it doesn’t make too much sense. That’s where my journal comes in; a lot of the time I’ll just open my journal and let whoever I’m co-writing with read a page, or I’ll read an entry to them. The whole Gift EP was songs written from my journal, and Do It Again is also song that I came up with personally.”
2. Pia’s second single is a departure from everything she’s done in the past.
“Touch is definitely different from my first single, Do It Again, but there’s so many different types of music I like and so many different sides of me. Touch has a more pop vibe, but I’ve held on to the island feel. I’m always going to hold on to that, because Guam is home. Guam will always be home. My family is there, I’m born and raised it’ll always be a part of everything that I do.”
3. Without YouTube, she probably wouldn’t be here today.
“I was eight when I started singing, and being in Guam there weren’t that many opportunities. I was doing as much as I could, but to really take it to the next level you need other platforms. YouTube was really encouraging for me. Without YouTube, I don’t know if I would have ever continued and really taken myself seriously. There are a few videos I look at and I’m like “Oh my god, I’m being so weird, what am I doing.” But everyone has those awkward phases in their life. Everybody has a weird side, a silly side and a cool side to them. No-one is just cool all the time. I kind of like looking back at those videos, even if they make me a bit uncomfortable now [laughs].”
4. She and her family have sacrificed a lot, but they’re not about to stop.
“My family have been completely supportive since the day I told them I wanted to do this. I have my mom travelling with me everywhere. I’ve given up a lot: my whole family has. But I still feel like I have more work to do, you know what I mean? Everyone always tells me “take in this moment, don’t you see how far you’ve come” but I don’t think any of it has hit me yet. There’s so much more to do.“
5. Her signature thigh high boot and a red bandana look came about organically.
“I’ve been doing the bandana for like two years now I think, but that just came randomly. I can’t even remember the first time I wore a bandana. The bandana and the boots just stuck. I actually just found a new piece that I love, like this halter top that ties in the front. I’ll post an Instagram picture, so you can see!“
6. She’s trying to get an album out ASAP.
“We’ve been recording the album for like a year and half, so we have a tonne of songs! I’ve been dying to get an album out, I’m really trying to push to get it out as soon as possible. I’m really selling it to the label-it’s time for it to come out.”
Credits
Text Isabelle Hellyer