You’ve likely watched singer-songwriter and actress Grace VanderWaal grow up, but you haven’t yet seen her like this: in pure, playful, unabashed pop girl form.
At 21, VanderWaal has already had the musical experimentation of an older artist. She began, of course, as a preteen America’s Got Talent ukelele ingénue, and then started her solo career with anthemic inspirational pop and generally folkier energy. Around 2019, R&B, dance pop, and electronic influences emerged as the songwriting continued to sharpen.
In 2021, she took a darker pop-rock pivot, shaving her head and releasing the punky “Don’t Assume What You Don’t Know.” She then paced at about one song a year, slowly revealing glimpses of her psyche (the raw piano ballad “Lion’s Den”) and how she reckons with the public perception of her that began as a kid. Meanwhile, she has continued to act, following 2020’s Stargirl with a featured role in the Francis Ford Coppola film Megalopolis.
Now, Grace VanderWaal is on the cusp of new era, with a handful of 2024 songs leading us to the playful “Babydoll,” which sees her team up with It girl Aliyah’s Interlude on both the song and its raucously fun music video, directed by Sophie Hur. “Babydoll is my diva pop princess anthem and I knew no one could be a better duo than Aliyah,” VanderWaal tells Teen Vogue. In the music video, the pair Frolic around city streets in big coats and high heeled boots — VanderWaal says it’s her alter ego — running the town with ribbons and rings on their fingers and “burning the place down” if they have to.
