Bebe Rexha (Nate Guenther)
Despite her four top-10 hits and five entries in the Spotify Billions club, these days Bebe Rexha seems to be synonymous with the concept of the Khia Asylum. It’s a term used to describe a female pop star who seems to be underperforming. But thanks to the success of her album Dirty Blonde and its singles “New Religion” and “Sad Girl,” she seems to have escaped — though she’s hesitant to confirm that.
Asked by Paper magazine if she feels as though she’s “broken out” of the metaphorical asylum, Bebe says, “I’m the type of person who just likes to create music. I’m such a Virgo – I’m trying to celebrate that the album went number one on the dance chart, but I’m the type of person who is like, ‘Oh my god, I could still write better songs. I could do more.’ More, more, more.”
She continues, “Every day, I don’t wake up being like, ‘Did I break out of The Khia Asylum?’ I’m doing my thing. Once I hit a stride, I’ll know and it will feel good, but I still feel like I’m in the building stages of what I’m trying to build.”
That being said, she posted her Paper cover image on Instagram and captioned it, “I never wanna hear the words Khia Asylum again.”
Bebe is far from alone in the Asylum, though: Until recently, Charli XCX and Zara Larsson were right there with her.
“It’s extremely inspiring,” Bebe says of their success. She notes, “People always want to count women out, say ‘They’ve already had their chance.’ … What I’ve seen with Charli and Zara is they’re work horses. They never stopped. To see them do what they’re doing is f****** awesome.”
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