By Sylvia Eastman
Tate McRae, a Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer, has slowly but surely been taking over pop music since she first started posting original songs on her YouTube channel eight years ago. She quickly grew a large following from this “Create with Tate” series, along with the dance competition clips she would post. She has since released various singles, EPs, and three albums—I Used to Think I Could Fly, Think Later, and So Close to What, which most recently dropped on Feb. 21.
So Close to What consists of 15 tracks plus one bonus track. The album starts off strong with the upbeat, dance-ready song “Miss Possessive,” which is the perfect segue into the second track, the TikTok-trending “Revolving Door.” The album also features two up-and-coming artists: Flo Milli and McRae’s boyfriend, The Kid LAROI.
Fans are intrigued by the meaning behind “I Know Love,” featuring The Kid LAROI, due to the increasing popularity of his and McRae’s public relationship. Their music video for the song was shot through a computer photo booth that constantly switched through various filters. The couple seemed very happy to be collaborating, regardless of the fact that they hadn’t sung in front of each other much before.
McRae finishes So Close to What with “Nostalgia,” a more somber song in which she expresses what it was like growing up with her parents and brother and how she feels like time is constantly escaping her. Still being so young at 21, McRae channels these feelings of growing up to connect with her Gen Z audience. She encapsulates the nostalgic (hence the song title) feeling of growing up and watching time fly, yet she is still able to maintain a confident, free-spirited image that her generation looks up to.
The three singles McRae released prior to the album were “It’s OK, I’m OK,” “2 Hands,” and “Sports Car,” all of which brought significant attention to the album. So, it’s no surprise that the success of these three songs led to the success of the entire album, which recently reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Tate McRae fans are hooked on So Close to What. They are constantly on the edge of their seats waiting for new content, so it’s no exaggeration to say that she has this generation in the palm of her hand. She is simply taking the world by storm—and doing so effortlessly.
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