Canadian superstar Tate McRae wrapped up her “Think Later World Tour” on Nov. 21 and before the tour ended, she announced on Nov. 14 that she will be doing an arena tour starting in March that will accompany her third album “SO CLOSE TO WHAT” that is being released on Feb. 21. One could say McRae is on a roll, with a short break only for the holidays. But who is Tate McRae anyway?
McRae first rose to fame through a different performing art, dance. McRae has won two different Dancer of the Year Awards at arguably the most prestigious dance competition, The Dance Awards, where she was also featured on an episode of “Dance Moms.” Additionally, she became a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation at the age of thirteen. Due to all of these achievements she grew popularity in the dance industry while she occasionally hinted she could sing.
Like a lot of modern young singer songwriters, McRae first came to fame in the music industry by posting covers and original songs on YouTube. Her first major hit was her original “One Day” which she wrote at 14, and it propelled her into discovery. McRae then released her breakthrough song “You Broke Me First” in 2020 that earned her the number 17 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The single accompanied the EP “To Be Young and Sad” which furthered her reach into the industry.
Since then, McRae has released an additional EP, and two studio albums “I Used to Think I Could Fly” and “Think Later.” For the “Think Later” album she tapped into her Canadian side by sporting some goalie hockey pads and some even thought her song “messier” was alluding to hockey icon Mark Messier. The singles “greedy” and “exes” and their accompanying music videos helped earn McRae. “Greedy” was able to earn her the number three spot on the Hot 100 while “exes” peaked at number twelve.
In order to promote her upcoming album she has released two singles including “2 hands” and “It’s ok, I’m ok.” She has also found ground in the Formula 1 community as she started hinting at an F1 themed music video for “2 hands,” leading fans to speculate that McLaren driver Lando Norris would star in it. Ultimately, Norris did not end up driving the McLaren featured in the video but the theory earned McRae a spot in F1’s playlist “F1’s Tracks” where she was featured on the cover.
McRae’s true pop sound is not the only thing that has earned her a comparison to Britney Spears, her performance enhances her on stage persona. Due to McRae’s dance background, she is able to make her concerts true performances where she can easily switch from a sad ballad, to an upbeat track with multiple dance breaks. The popularity of her dancing has even been made into multiple trends where people across the internet are learning the dance breaks from her music videos and her shows. McRae has enhanced the Spears accusations through her headset mic and through her shamelessness.
Though the world has exited the prime pop age, artists like McRae are attempting to overturn the rejection of traditional pop with their new takes on old methods.
