Grammy nominated artist Bebe Rexha reached a new milestone in her career. Her fourth studio album, Dirty Blonde, marks the singer’s first release as an independent artist. Behind this release is a whole lot of history of Rexha’s time in the music industry that has led her to this point.
A Milestone
For those who don’t know, Bebe Rexha is credited as a writer on some of music’s greatest hits. She wrote “The Monster,” a collaboration between Eminem and Rihanna, “Stupid” by Tate McRae” and her collaboration with G-Eazy, “Me, Myself and I.” Despite all the success, Rexha has been vocal about her struggles within the music industry. Some of the struggles include her feeling constrained by major label systems like record deals and streaming and sales statistics. Now, as an independent artist, she has full control over her music. However, in the face of hardships Bebe has achieved much success as a song writer and collaborator on her journey to new creative freedom.
With all the hits she’s written for others, she’s struggled to get her own spotlight. She is beyond talented with the pen and is well versed in several genres. Dance music has always been her speciality, but she’s dabbled in multiple genres. In 2019, she earned a Grammy nomination for best Country Duo / Group Performance for her collaboration “Meant To Be” with Florida Georgia Line.
All the high and lows that have brought Rexha to her time as an independent artist heavily influence Dirty Blonde.
Down and Dirty
For her first release as an independent artist, Rexha kick started her new era in a way unlike anyone else has. When it came time to start teasing new music, the singer teased snippets of every song from Dirty Blonde on social media. After that, it was up to fans to decide which song would be the lead single.
“New Religion” won the vote to be the lead single. The high energy dance track samples “Faithless” by insomnia. This single set the stage for the rest of the record. The thirteen track project also comes in the form of a visual album. Each song has an accompanying video. Each visual is distinct in its own way and brings every song to life vividly. Just from the visuals alone, fans can see Rexha poured her heart and soul into her first, full length independent release.
From start to finish, Dirty Blonde takes listeners on a journey through high energy dance tracks. A rock inspired guitar riff opens the project on “Hysteria.” The song quickly erupts into a club ready beat with drum and bass inspired elements.
Rexha possesses the skill of creating tracks for the long nights on the dancefloor. She stands out as an artist for the emotional charge behind writing. Rexha sings about heartbreak on “Sad Girls” with David Guetta, the project’s closing track. She also gets vulnerable on “i like you better than me” when she sings about her insecurities from being compared to other female artists. The singer gets in touch with her Albanian roots on “Çike Çike.”
Dirty Blonde is arguably Rexha’s best album to date. For her first release in her career, this is just the beginning of the next chapter.
