Lil Tecca may be barely old enough to drink, but he has reams of experience under his belt. He's a more advanced rapper than he was even a year ago: he doesn't risk life and limb onstage, like when he leapt offstage without shoes and almost broke his feet.

At 21, he's still hurtling forward — personally and creatively. "When I was 16, I was put in a little bit of a box, in a way," he tells GRAMMY.com. "Like a Kidz Bop, Disney World kind of thing."

But his first two full-length projects, 2020's Virgo World and 2021's We Love You Tecca 2, put childish things to bed — and now, he's out with his most mature, cohesive album to date. In his word, it's "growner" than any of its predecessors.

Featuring guest appearances from Kodak Black ("Hvn on Earth") and Ken Carson ("Fell in Love"), TEC breezes through everything that makes Tecca, Tecca. The former single is a perfect example; he can effortlessly braid with a top-shelf MC while maintaining his individual voice and vibe.

"You're definitely going to feel a various amount of emotions throughout this project. There's hype songs; there's cocky songs; there's flexing; there's sad; there's insecure. There are songs where I'm trying to manifest my future."

Read on for an interview with Lil Tecca about his conception behind TEC; growing up listening to, then working with Kodak Black; and not getting in his own way creatively.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Tell me about your creative synergy with Kodak Black.

I think with the song "Hvn on Earth," we really just found a common place where we both fit in creatively. We didn't make [the song] at the same time. When I sent it to him, he told me he really liked the song.

When I first thought of him on the song, I was like, OK, maybe this is gonna be a cool record. I didn't really ever think of the creative synergy for real. I just thought of how good he would sound on a beat.

What is it about the qualities of his voice, or his artistry, that made him perfect?

Growing up listening to Kodak Black, I always noticed the bounce to his beats — that Florida-ish bounce.

I made the beat to this one. Not that it reminded me of it, but I kind of felt like his flow complemented it.

Since you grew up listening to Kodak Black, getting to collaborate with him must have been a huge moment.

Yeah, definitely. I definitely grew up listening to Kodak, around 15, 14. He was one of the first rappers [I listened to].

Creatively what was the seed that grew into TEC?

I was just working on my album; I didn't even have a name for it yet. It was a little bit after my 2022 tour. I was just so ready to drop something for this, around this time.

Honestly, creatively, I'm always working. But putting this project together kind of put a battery in my back. Because I gave it a demand; it was like a must-be-done thing.

Putting together the whole album, I was very focused on incorporating all my sounds into this one sound — not leaving anything behind. Just making sure everything grows with me as I grow, and sticking to my roots, for sure.

What was it about this moment that galvanized you to get something out there? I'm sure returning to live shows — the energy of those — contributed to that.

Yeah, 100 percent. I'm always trying to drop a project every single year. Being super busy in 2022 and not being able to drop one, I was like, I really wish I got to drop a project.

So, coming around 2023, I didn't give myself no choice.

For those who haven't seen you live before, what can they expect?

My shows are very, very active. I feel like my setlist is very diverse. There might be a few chill songs, like [my 2022 single] "Love Me" or "Want It Bad" off my new album. A lot of slow songs that might give the fans a break.

Because when it comes to the real hitting-hard songs — loud 808s, loud bass, everything — it's mosh pits; it's very active in the crowd.

I love my setlist. It even gives me time to breathe sometimes, when I need to breathe. So, it's definitely a trip, for real. It's not like you walk into the spot and you're just jumping. You walk in, you're singing, you're jumping — just having a good time.

From a performance standpoint, who in the rap world inspires you? Regarding those two qualities — diversity and energy.

I don't really look to anyone for motivation. I would say my fans motivate me the most.

I go off their energy a lot. Not that their energy is everything, because if I see people not jumping, I'm still going to rock out. But if I see them do going crazy, that's just another battery in the back for me to just go crazy.

But I definitely look back at my own film. I definitely be checking out Rolling Loud, seeing how the people who perform, like the headliners, do. But I'm really just learning from my own mistakes, for real.

Such as?

I've made so many mistakes to perform the way I do now.

I've had to jump off the stage with no shoes on and almost break my feet. I realized that you can't really just be jumping off the stage with no shoes like that. To see fans run up on me on stage, and my bodyguard tackle them right in front of me; I'm in the middle of singing my last song of the set.

Especially coming into this game, me and my whole team — we're our own OGs. We learned this the same way everyone else learned it; we had to make our own mistakes for all the people we get under our wing.

To tell them, "Hey, listen, you shouldn't do that. We had to do that; we had to get the consequences of doing that."

Every artist, every MC, has a different dynamic with their fans. What's yours?

I feel like my fans are just like me. And even if they're not just like me, they think they just like me.

I feel like we relate. And that's, like, 50 — if not 60 — percent of the reason why they liked me. The music I make is just the soundtrack to how we relate to each other, and what we're both going through.

When I think of my fans, I definitely think of myself, and all the people that look up to me. When I win, they win. So, it's that window of seeing that it's possible: Look at this dude; he just like me. He going crazy. He doing what he wants to do. I could do what I want to do.

**Would you like to shout out any accompanists and producers on TEC?**

Taz Taylor and Rio Leyva. Shout out to BNYX too, but mainly, Taz Taylor and Rio Leyva.

Rio Leyva is the brain. He's the person in the background who's on the computer all day, figuring out all the lab stuff. Everyone else is also putting in work all the time — Census, Nash, Noah. All the guys at Internet Money.

They're all just working in and out, jus trying to figure out new sounds — new ways we could push the genre, push the sound we created, all that.

Taz Taylor was my partner in crime throughout this whole project, creatively-wise. I trust that man's ear — sometimes, when I don't trust my ear. That's one of them guys right there. If he wasn't part of this process, this album probably would have dropped in 2025.

Why's that? Do you tend to get a little self-doubting? Did he help nudge you up the hill?

I never get self-doubting. If anything, I'm overly confident. Like, I think anything I've touched turned to gold.

Because the way I see life is, like, if you weren't born, there's so many things that wouldn't exist. That's how I see my life, so I never take credit away from it. I look at it as great.

Sometimes, you need those people around you — to be like, "Hey, listen: you might think this is great, but this is the one right here."

And sometimes, you've got to go with your gut, like, "Hey listen: I know what you're thinking about it, but this is how I think about it." You've got to have a little balance around you.

*Lil Tecca. Photo: Cones*

And can you talk about the guests on TEC, other than Kodak?

Yeah, Ken Carson on "Fell in Love." He's been one of my friends for years now. So, to have that song on a project — that's really just another song that one of my friends and I made.

It really has no backstory. We just went in the studio, and one day, cooked it up.

What was it about "Fell in Love" that made the people need to hear it.

I feel like every song we make is good. But sometimes, we be making songs where it's like, OK, this one has my sound really efficiently. Because we make music for ourselves at the end of the day, too.

How would you describe the various moods contained on TEC?

Everything's on there. Especially if you're paying attention to the sonics, and the overall mood of the songs, you're definitely going to feel that I was going through a bunch of stuff during this process.

Perhaps that's why it's called TEC. It seems to be a consolidation of all your different sides.

Yes, literally that. I'm condensed into: Here it is. I'm not speaking around it.

And especially, my friends call me Tec in real life. Nobody calls me Tecca. Well, maybe someone will walk up to me on the street and call me Tecca. I never hear my government name, ever. So, that might make it a little more personal — to just call it TEC.

It seems like you've never self-inventorized on record like this.

When you just practice and care about the craft, you get better over time. Even if I thought I was good a year ago, looking back now, I'm way better now.

I'm way better at speaking about what I'm going through and actually translating it in a way to where it's inviting people into my world, instead of just blurting information at people. Like, "Yo, I'm sad right now!" "Yo, I'm happy! I just bought a Gucci bag!"

I'm presenting it in a different way, where it's like, OK, you're spending 30 minutes with me. Let's take a trip real quick. It's not just random.

What happened in your creative life that facilitated this?

I think, over time, you just pass this threshold in whatever you do. You don't even know when you hit that little threshold. It's like you could just have a convo, convo, convo. It's just a flow now. It just becomes a part of your being that it's a natural thing. You don't even realize you're doing it. You hop in a flow state.

I'm also coming from: you do it for so long, you realize you're still here. You realize, no matter who think you're not going to be here this time, you're still here, just do what you're going to do. You don't want to look at when you're 90 years old and all your grandkids around you, you won't be thinking about no Instagram comments.

So, that's how we're going to do it for real. I really passed that threshold from just not caring, not getting in the way of the creativity or the process at all.

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Rolling Loud, the leading rap festival brand in the world, has today (Feb. 5) announced its latest expansion with Rolling Loud Portugal, its first-ever edition in Europe. The three-day festival, taking place July 8-10 at Praia da Rocha Beach in Portimao, The Algarve, Portugal, is stacked with today's top artists and next-gen stars in rap, including headliners A$AP Rocky, Future and Wiz Khalifa. The all-star lineup also features rap giants like Lil Uzi Vert, Gucci Mane, Young Thug, Meek Mill and Rae Sremmurd as well as fast-rising newcomers like DaBaby, Roddy Ricch, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Tecca and Rico Nasty, among many others.

The inaugural Rolling Loud Portugal festival will also feature performances from European artists, including AJ Tracey, Giggs, D Block Europe, M Huncho, Haiyti and Kelvyn Colt, as well as local Portuguese rappers Piruka, Yuzi, sippinpurpp, Minguito, and Lon3r Johny.

Read: Tyler, The Creator Wins Best Rap Album For 'IGOR' | 2020 GRAMMYs 

Ahead of the Portugal edition, Rolling Loud will touch down in Miami, its original home, with a three-day festival, running May 8-10, featuring headliners A$AP Rocky, Coachella 2020 headliner Travis Scott and Post Malone.

Since debuting in 2015, Rolling Loud has become the premier festival destination for rap fans around the world. Founded by Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif, the event began as a one-day festival in Miami and quickly grew as an international brand. Last October, the festival launched its debut New York City edition, which featured performances from Travis Scott, Meek Mill, Wu-Tang Clan, A$AP Rocky and Lil Uzi Vert, among others. Prior to that, in January 2019, Rolling Loud launched its inaugural event in Australia with a heavy lineup featuring Future, Lil Uzi Vert, YG, Tyga, Playboi Carti and others.

Pre-sale passes for the inaugural Rolling Loud Portugal 2020 go on sale Thursday, Feb. 6, at 8 a.m. GMT. General admission and VIP tickets go on sale Friday, Feb. 7, at 8 a.m. GMT.

To view the full lineup and to purchase tickets for Rolling Loud Portugal 2020, visit the festival's official website.

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At the 2003 GRAMMYs, a 25-year-old John Mayer stood on stage at Madison Square Garden, his first golden gramophone in hand. "I just want to say this is very, very fast, and I promise to catch up," he said with a touch of incredulity.

In the two decades that have followed his first GRAMMY triumph, it's safe to say that Mayer, now 46, has caught up. Not only has the freewheeling guitarist and singer/songwriter won six more GRAMMYs — he has also demonstrated his versatility across eight studio albums and countless cross-genre collaborations, including his acclaimed role in The Grateful Dead offshoot, Dead & Company. But the true testaments to his artistic range lie simply within the music. 

Over the years, Mayer's dynamism has led him to work deftly and convincingly within a wide variety of genres, from jazz to pop to Americana. The result: an elastic and well-rounded repertoire that elevates 2003's "Bigger Than My Body" from hit single to self-fulfilling prophecy. 

From March 2023 to March 2024, Mayer took his protean catalog on the road for his Solo Tour, which saw him play sold-out arenas around the world, mostly acoustic, completely alone. The international effort harkened back to Mayer's early career days, when standing alone on stage, guitar in hand, was the rule rather than the exception. Just after his second Solo leg last November, Mayer added radio programming and curation to his resume via the launch of his Sirius XM channel, Life with John Mayer. Fittingly, XM bills the channel (No. 14) as one notably "defined not by genre, but by the time of day, as well as the day of the week."

Mayer's next venture sees him linking back up with Dead & Company, for a 24-show residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas from May 16 to July 13. In honor of his latest move, GRAMMY.com explores the scope of Mayer's musical genius by revisiting 10 essential songs that demonstrate the breadth of his range, from the very beginning of his discography.

"Your Body Is A Wonderland," Room For Squares (2001)

The second single from Mayer's debut album, "Your Body Is A Wonderland" became an almost instant radio favorite like its predecessor, "No Such Thing," earning Mayer his second consecutive No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Alternative Airplay chart. The song's hooky pop structure provided an affable introduction to Mayer's lyrical skill by way of smart, suggestive simile and metaphor ("One mile to every inch of/ Your skin like porcelain/ One pair of candy lips and/ Your bubblegum tongue") ahead of Room For Squares' release later that June. The breathy hit netted Mayer his first career GRAMMY Award, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, at the 45th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2003.

In recent years, Mayer — who penned the song when he was 21 — has chronicled his tenuous relationship with "Your Body is a Wonderland" in his infamous mid-concert banter, playfully critiquing the song's lack of "nuance." Following a perspective shift, Mayer has come to embrace his self-proclaimed "time capsule"; it was a staple of his set lists for his Solo Tour.

"Who Did You Think I Was," TRY! - Live in Concert (2005)

The product of pure synergy and serendipity, the John Mayer Trio assembled after what was intended to be a one-time stint on the NBC telethon, "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope," in 2005. The benefit appearance lit the creative fuse between Mayer, bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan — who, over the years, have also played alongside the singer on his headline tours.

The John Mayer Trio propelled its eponymous artist from pop territory to a bluesy brand of rock 'n' roll that then demonstrated his talent as a live guitarist to its greatest degree yet. The Trio's first and only release, TRY! - Live in Concert, was recorded at their September 22, 2005 concert at the House of Blues in Chicago. 

Mayer acknowledges his abrupt sonic gear shift on TRY! opener, "Who Did You Think I Was." "Got a brand new blues that I can't explain," he quips, then later asks, "Am I the one who plays the quiet songs/ Or is he the one who turns the ladies on?"

"Gravity," Continuum (2006)

Though "Waiting On the World to Change" was the biggest commercial hit from 2006's Continuum, "Gravity" remains the pièce de résistance of Mayer's magnum opus. Its status as such is routinely reaffirmed by the crowds at Mayer's concerts, whose calls for a live performance of his quintessential soul ballad can compete even with Mayer's mid-show remarks.

The blues-tinged slow burn marries Mayer's inimitable vocal tone with his guitar muscle on a record that strides far beyond the pop and soft rock of his preceding studio albums. Though Continuum builds on the blues direction Mayer ignited with TRY!, it does so with greater depth and technique, translating to a concept album, sonically, that evinces both his breakaway from the genres that launched his career and his skill as a blues guitarist — and "Gravity" is a prime example. 

"I'm very proud of the song," Mayer mused on his Sirius XM station. "It's one of those ones that's gonna go with me through the rest of my life, and I'm happy it's in the sidecar going along with me." 

"Daughters," Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles (2008)

"Daughters" wasn't Mayer's first choice of a single for his sophomore LP, 2003's Heavier Things, but at Columbia Records' behest — "We really want it to go, we think it can be a hit," Mayer recalled of their thoughts — the soft-rock-meets-acoustic effort joined the album rollout. Columbia's suspicions were correct; "Daughters" topped Billboard's Adult Pop Airplay in 2004 — his only No. 1 entry on the chart to date.

But "Daughters" didn't just enjoy heavy radio rotation — it also secured Mayer his first and only GRAMMY win in a General Field Category. The Heavier Things descendant took the title of Song Of The Year at the 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2005, helping Mayer evade music's dreaded "sophomore slump."

While the studio version may be the GRAMMY-winning chart-topper, Mayer's live rendition of "Daughters" during his December 8, 2007 performance at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater for Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles compellingly demonstrated the power of the song — and his acoustic chops.

"Edge of Desire," Battle Studies (2009)

Come 2009, what critics almost unanimously proclaimed to be Mayer's biggest musical success had become his Achilles heel; everyone wanted another Continuum. But as they were to learn, Mayer never repeats himself. Thus came Battle Studies.

Born from a dismantling and transformative breakup, his fourth studio album arguably only becomes fully accessible to listeners after this rite of passage. Mired in introspection and pop rock, Battle Studies broadly engages with elements of pop with a sophistication that distinguishes it from Mayer's earlier traverses in pop and pop-inflected terrain. 

His artistry hits a new apex on "Edge of Desire," a visceral and tightly woven song that remains one of the strongest examples of his mastery of prosody — the agreement between music and lyrics that results in a resonant and memorable listening experience. 

"Born and Raised," Born & Raised (2012)

On the title track of his fifth studio album, Mayer distills growing up (and growing older) into a plaintive reflection on the involuntary, inevitable, and, in the moment, imperceptible phenomenon. He grapples with this vertigo of the soul on a record that, 12 years later, remains among his most barefaced lyrically.

The tinny texture of a harmonica, heard first in the intro, permeates the song, serving as its single most overt indicator of the larger stylistic shift that Born & Raised embodies. The 12-song set embraces elements of Americana, country and folk amid simpler-than-usual chord progressions for Mayer, whose restraint elevates the affective power of the album's lyricism. 

"Born and Raised - Reprise," with which Born & Raised draws to a close, is evidence of Mayer's well-demonstrated dexterity. In its sanguine, folk spirit, the album finale juxtaposes "Born and Raised" both musically and lyrically. "It's nice to say, 'Now I'm born and raised,'" Mayer sings as the last grains of sand in Born & Raised's hourglass fall.

"Wildfire," Paradise Valley (2014)

Even before Paradise Valley hit shelves and digital streaming platforms, the cowboy hat that Mayer dons in the album artwork intimated that the hybrid of Americana, country, and folk he embraced on Born & Raised wasn't going anywhere — at least not for another album. The sunbaked project was a gutsy sidestep even further away from his successful commercial formula, and finds him expanding his stylistic fingerprint across 11 tracks that run the gamut of American roots music.

"Wildfire," the breezy toe-tapper with which Paradise Valley opens, grooves with Jerry Garcia influence. It is therefore unsurprising that many interpret "We can dance with dead/ You can rest your head on my shoulder/ If you want to get older with me," to be a lyrical nod to the Dead. Perhaps uncoincidentally, Mayer's invitation to become a member of Dead & Company came one year after the release of Paradise Valley.

"Shakedown Street," Live at Madison Square Garden (2017)

There is perhaps no better example of Mayer's dynamism than his integration in Dead & Company. The Grateful Dead offshoot, formed in 2015, intersperses Mayer among three surviving members of the band — Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann — as well as two more newcomers, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti. Mayer's off-the-cuff guitar solos and vocal support at Dead & Co's concerts are the keys that have unlocked a new plane of musicianship for Mayer, the solo artist.

This is evident on "Shakedown Street," a staple of The Grateful Dead's – and now, Dead & Company's – set lists. The languid, relaxed number gives Mayer the space to improvise guitar solos and use his vocals in a looser style than how he sings his own productions, all while feeding off the energy of his fellow band members. In addition to being one of The Dead's best-known songs, "Shakedown Street" is also the name of the makeshift bazaar where "Deadheads" socialize and sell wares ranging from grilled cheeses to drink coasters emblazoned with The Grateful Dead logo outside Dead & Company concerts. 

Mayer's long, strange trip with (and within) the jam band has cross-pollinated his and The Grateful Dead's respective fandoms, attracting scores of Dead & Co listeners to his own headline shows, and vice versa. The takeaway: Mayer's involvement with Dead & Company offers a new, comparatively more rugged and improvisational lens through which to view his artistry.

"You're Gonna Live Forever in Me," The Search for Everything (2017)

"You're Gonna Live Forever in Me" evokes the sense of walking in, unexpected and undetected, to one of Mayer's writing sessions, watching him sing the freshly-penned piano ballad. This is owed to the song's abstract lyricism, the sentiment of which is deeply personal and universally accessible — a juxtaposition that's not often easy to achieve in songwriting. (Take, for example, "A great big bang and dinosaurs/ Fiery raining meteors/ It all ends unfortunately/ But you're gonna live forever in me.") But the studio version of "You're Gonna Live Forever in Me" also happens to be the original vocal take, adding to the feeling that Mayer is fully engrossed in a moment of poignant reflection mediated by music.

"I sat at the piano for hours teaching myself how the song might go. I sang it that night, and that was it…I couldn't sing the vocals again if I tried," Mayer recalled in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone. 

Mayer's lilted, Randy Newman-esque singing on the track finds him unintentionally but impactfully adopting a vocal technique distinctive from anything he's ever done before.

"Wild Blue," Sob Rock (2021)

Buoyed by a honeyed hook and slick production from No I.D., "New Light" was the unequivocal commercial standout of Sob Rock, a soft-grooving pastiche of '80s influence. Though the catchy pop-informed number finds Mayer stylistically diversifying by working with "The Godfather of Chicago Hip-Hop" (whose credits include Kanye West, JAY-Z, and Common, to name just a few), a look beyond the Sob Rock frontrunner reveals evidence of more sonic experimentation on the album.

Cue "Wild Blue." In its hushed, double-tracked vocals, the song plays like a love letter to JJ Cale. Mayer's whispery vocal emulation of the rock musician yields another new, but still polished, strain of John Mayer sound. 

With hints of the '70s embedded within its taut production, "Wild Blue" is a beatific semi-departure from its parent album's '80s DNA. Together, they evince Mayer's ability to work not only across genres but also across sounds from different decades in music — further proof that his artistic range is both broad and timeless.

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No one is arguing that “Bridgerton” is realistic or even particularly historically accurate — in fact, leaning into anachronisms is the point. Entering its third season, which premieres on May 16, the pulpy Netflix show based on a series of romance novels by Julia Quinn — often classified as “bodice rippers” — mixes modern life ideas with Regency-era social rules.

From Lady Whistledown's tantalizing gossip columns to the complex romances of the Bridgerton siblings, the series grips viewers with its blend of historical drama and contemporary flair. One key note in that chord is classical music. Instead of using current tracks like some historical-contemporary-hybrids (most famously “A Knight’s Tale" in 2001), “Bridgerton” has mastered the art of the classical cover. 

Paired with original compositions by Kris Bowers, an Oscar winner and GRAMMY nominee — including one for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media for "Bridgerton" — the tone of the show is that of a heightened, classic world. Bowers, along with music supervisor Justin Kamps collaborates with the Vitamin String Quartet and other artists to create a full circle sonic landscape. They make the classical music in “Bridgerton” pop by re-recording, rearranging, and reimagining contemporary pop songs as classic pieces. 

Over three seasons, as well as with the spin off, “Queen Charlotte,” the team has included a mix of the newest songs as well as nostalgic favorites. This season features GAYLE’s “abcdefu,” which was released in 2022 as well as a cover of Pitbull, Ne-Yo, and Afrojack’s “Give Me Everything,” which was released in 2011, which can appease the full gamut of millennial and Gen Z viewers.  

Regency traditions 

The Regency period in which the show is based, spanned from 1811 to 1820, and was known as an era of elegance and refinement in British history.  In the first chunk of the 1800s, pop music included pieces by Beethoven, Liszt, Haydn, and Mendlesson (famous for the “Wedding March”). Waltzes were all the rage, and this “new” music was considered much more emotional and passionate than previous offerings. The romance of being swept away in a dance increased the thrill, and string quartets were highly popular. 

As seen throughout the series (and much like today), society placed a significant emphasis on social gatherings and music played a central role in these events. Balls, soirées, and intimate musical evenings were common, the perfect backdrop for orchestrating romance. 

In “Bridgerton," the show's modern portrayal of the Regency period occasionally features or references music from the time period, such as Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” which was written a century before the events in the show but was and is still a popular piece of classical music. The show frequently uses arrangements of classical songs in a slightly modern way, but most often, it underscores scenes with either classically arranged covers of pop songs or original music by Bowers. 

Contemporary music covers

Choosing between a cover or original music is a nuanced decision for the music team. The music team considers “whether or not, there's something that can, lyrically, even though we don't hear lyrics, speak to a moment really well,” said Bowers. Absent a cover by an outside band, Bowers arranges pop hits to suit the tone of the scene. He said, “when you're saying something with a song, you're making commentary on what's happening.” 

When they do outsource tracks, more often than not, these covers come from Los Angeles-based Vitamin String Quartet. VSQ is the new Mendlesson in that they have been the predominant wedding-march artist for nearly a decade, known for producing string renditions of highly eclectic mix of artists including Cardi B, Lana Del Rey, Björk, and Sigur Rós. 

They contributed four covers in season one, including Billie Elish's “bad guy” and Ariana Grande's “Thank U, Next,” about which Leo Flynn, VSQ Brand Manager at CMH Label Group said, “Talk about a great track changing the temperature of a room.” In season two, VSQ’s cover of Robyn's “Dancing on My Own” played under a dance scene. 

When we spoke to James Curtiss, Director of A&R at CMH, the song placements for season three were still a mystery. Curtiss shared, “When we finished that Taylor [Swift] record, we sent it right over to the people at ‘Bridgerton.’” 

[Spoiler alert:] Since then, we have learned Swift's “Snow on the Beach” will be featured in season three. This isn't the first time Swift's music has been featured in the show: Duomo’s cover of “Wildest Dreams” played under the honeymoon scenes in season one. 

Composer Bowers added his favorite cover of the season is in episode eight, the finale, but what title that is will be a surprise. The surprise of an “unexpected cover” as Bowers calls it is that when you “hear a song that you know, and have this strong indelible connection with it that is represented in this style that you typically don't feel like is for you. People get excited by having this music that they really love be elevated to this other level.” He said the familiarity makes “you feel connected to this time period, these characters, and these people in a different way.” 

Flynn said, “There’s something about the past that’s inherently romantic,” and the use of VSQ songs “unites something from the past with what’s going on now.” Because classical music “feels very idealized and formal,” he said, “there’s all this history and mystique built into it.” 

Flynn also mentioned that “Bridgerton” fuses past and present on a “major storytelling scale” between the historically-inspired stories themselves, the “visual feast” of the show, and the music. Curtiss added that the “romantic nature of the string quartet” juxtaposed with pop songs helps viewers tie the feeling of going to a bar or club to the experience of hearing “the popular bangers of the day,” as he called Beethoven et al., at a ball in the Regency era. 

Original compositions

When the music needs to set a specific tone without taking the audience out of the action to try and name that tune, “Bridgerton” often uses original compositions by Bowers. Bowers said, “Looking at pop music for those things like rhythm and tempo and all that stuff also helps in moments where we want to have the score feel a little bit more modern and not as traditional.” He continued, “I’ll put something in the violas and the celli that have this kind of guitar and bass feeling to them even though we’re looking at it orchestrationally from a classical perspective.” He explained that “borrowing the rhythms or the way that parts interlock from pop music” makes it feel like a modern classical sound. 

Each character and couple has their own theme. Bowers explained that it was enjoyable to create themes that could fit both heartbreaking and celebratory moments. “The melodies are still the same even if the harmonic tone is changed,” he said.

Instrumental Pop In Visual Media

The “Bridgerton” style of using instrumentalized versions of pop songs is not unique. Famously, “Promising Young Woman” used a haunting version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” adapted by Anthony Willis, and “Westworld’s” Ramin Djawadi used adaptations of Radiohead among others. “Wednesday” featured a stirring string version of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black.” The popularity of Vitamin String Quartet and other classical cover bands has not waned and, if anything, is becoming more of a mainstream staple.

As season three approaches, the unveiling of the time-spanning, romantic soundtrack is highly anticipated. Four episodes air May 16 and the second half of the season airs June 13, with original compositions by Kris Bowers and additional music by various artists, including Vitamin String Quartet, who will be taking over Pandora’s Classical Goes Pop in anticipation of their fall, “Bridgerton”-music-filled tour. 

Overall, to find the tone of the whole series, Bowers said, “Season three actually has a lot more lightness to it. (Showrunners) Shonda (Rhimes) and Jess (Brownell) really want to have a lot of fun this season so there's a little bit more of a playful, youthful quality to the music.” Whatever tunes make it into the season, they are sure to be a feast for the ears. 

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"Your story is like that of a superhero. Literally, there needs to be a Marvel movie about her."

So gushed moderator Jamie Dominguez, the national director of industry relations at the Mechanical Licensing Collective, onstage at the acoustically designed National Sawdust space in Brooklyn. To a small crowd hiding out from the spring drizzle, Dominguez extolled the remarkable journey of Japanese hip-hop artist Awich. Hailing from Okinawa, Japan, Awich may just be a flesh-and-blood woman, but her sheer fortitude and tenacity are Stan Lee-scaled.

Born Akiko Urasaki — her stage name is short for "Asian wish child" — Awich was a natural fit for  the GRAMMY Museum-sponsored "A New York Evening With…" interview and performance series. Introducing Awich and Dominguez, Lynne Sheridan, Vice President of Public Programming and Artist Relations for the GRAMMY Museum, called her "the queen of Japanese hip-hop" and "the living embodiment of all that makes the genre so culturally vital."

"As she reaches global stardom on the strength of her music’s emotional potency and limitless originality," Sheridan continued, "Awich now moves forward with her mission of uplifting her community while fearlessly speaking her truth." With that, Awich and Dominguez hit the ground running, with a tip of Dominguez’s hat to the timeliness of the event: "Happy AANHPI month."

They started at the beginning: Awich is from Okinawa, a small island far from the Japanese mainland. To hear Dominguez tell it, Brooklyn is actually full of Okinawans. "I figured," Awich replied, "because Okinawans are everywhere."

The importance of Okinawa’s innate mysticism and turbulent history to Awich’s art cannot be overstated. As Awich explained, Okinawa was once the Ryukyu Kingdom, colonized by China, then Japan, before becoming an American territory after World War II. Her parents grew up during the latter period, which lasted until The United States returned Okinawa to Japan in the early 1970s.

"When they gave it back," everything changed," Awich said. "We drove on the other side of the road, the currency was different. It was always chaos, but Okinawan people always found a way to live through these complex changes." Because Okinawans, she says, are a resilient, hospitable people, "We value each other as brothers and sisters."

Awich speaking at National Sawdust during her "A New York Evening With..." appearance in 2024. Photo: Rob Kim/Getty Images

Awich’s father was born on the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; in the post-war era, it was rough going for Awich’s family, to put it lightly. One particularly jarring story involved a U.S. military jet crashing into a schoolhouse while her mom was in attendance.

In 1986, Awich was born in an Okinawa steeped in American influence. As a teenager, she became obsessed with Tupac Shakur; listening to the hip-hop icon helped her learn English. "In Japanese, it's like there's a different, poetic, more indirect way of expressing. It's beautiful in its own way, but I felt like English is so simple, to the point and quick." Which describes the quintessentially American hip-hop idiom to a T.

"What he was saying and what he was doing, what his passion was, what his message was, his poetry book, his interviews, his speeches at the community center, his lyrics, his struggles, that's all I wanted to know," Awich says of Tupac. "And I just would study him all day, all night."

While she later learned to sing — and sing tremendously — rap proved to be her ideal creative vehicle. "I was already a poet in my own head before I met rap music, she said. "So when I [became acquainted with] rap music, I felt like, 'Oh, you don't have to sing to be a musician? I can do this!" 

The story rolled on: at 19, Awich moved to the U.S., against her parents’ wishes. "They gave up because I was a stubborn young lady," the rapper said impishly. She opted to put down roots, not in the "overwhelming" New York or LA, but in Atlanta, partly to "watch the city grow."

She met her future husband on a fluke, walking to school; he convinced her to play hooky. "I sometimes hitchhiked to school, because it was just so far away," Awich said. "I was looking in his eyes; I'm like, All right, I don't think he's a serial killer. And then I got into the car and we started talking."

It was through him that Awich learned about the Five-Percent Nation, an Afro-American Nationalist movement that deeply informed hip-hop legends like the Wu-Tang Clan. "It really teaches the Black, brown and yellow to be the original people of the earth… It was really fascinating to me." One thing led to another, and they fell in love and wed.

Awich’s husband was complicated and troubled, and unfortunately, involved in the criminal world — and, as such, in and out of jail. Just as they found out Awich was pregnant, he was incarcerated. Three days before their daughter, Toyomi Jah’mira, was born, he was released. 

Tragically, not long after, her husband was murdered in a street beef — the brutal culmination of violent events that included gunfire directed at their home. Of course, Awich was devastated. She turned to education as an outlet, earning a social degree in Georgia, and then two bachelor degrees at the University of Indianapolis. Then, she and Toyomi moved back to Okinawa.

"So you were a wife, a mother, and widow, all before the age of 24," Dominguez remarked. Awich answered in the affirmative.

Awich felt unmoored back in Okinawa. "It was a rollercoaster of emotion every day. One day I feel so sad and depressed, and the next day I feel like I could change the world," she related. "And the thing that kept me going was writing. I kept on writing journals, the things that I accustomed to do ever since I was a child. And I just kept on writing, writing, talking to myself."

After two years and a long talk with herself, Awich redoubled her commitment to music. And the conversation led to her creative process. Namely, writing and singing in three different languages — Okinawan, Japanese, and English. "The goal is for me to kind of just express or just catch what comes out in my mind," Awich said. "Each language has its own personality."

Awich talked about the meaning behind her latest album, The Union — "If you don’t know who you are, you won’t allow people to be who they are, and the unification of people coming together will never be achieved," she said.

She also discussed the hurdles of being an Asian woman in rap ("I always think that if I was a guy, I would've been way more famous"), and her appreciation of the Black culture that birthed her artform of choice. "I identify with the struggle," she said. "Hip-hop, the music, the culture, it represents the basic human struggle, and that's why it touches the people all around the world."

After a brief audience Q&A (mostly adulation from fans, and the revelation that she’s Team Kendrick in the Kendrick-Drake beef), Toyomi took the stage. ("Thank you for coming for my mom," the teenager sweetly, and sheepishly, offered.)

Following a projected video for Awich's song "Ashes" — about she and her daughter spreading her husband’s ashes in the sea — she then launched into a brief yet head-spinning performance of her trilingual bangers: “Queendom,” “Rasen in Okinawa,” “The Union,” and “Gila Gila.”

And with that, the globally rising star took her leave. "You’re about to take off into outer space, and it’s going to be beautiful," Dominguez said near the end. And, well — that’s what real-life superheroes do: transcend trauma, heartbreak and destruction, and take to the stars.

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