Lyn Lapid’s life is a fantasy.
We catch the 21-year-old singer-songwriter as she wraps up official artist portraits at Head In The Clouds, dressed to impress. She radiates peak festival cool girl in that y2k, emo-inspired Gen Z kind of way: a sleek black cutout bodysuit tucks into an oxblood micro mini. Accessories of choice? Matching black arm warmers and Naked Wolfe Sin platforms, sure to elevate her line of sight among a GA crowd: a common plight for Filipinas like Lapid. The oversized frames perched on her face just so are a staple in her TikTok covers, too. As she makes her way over, she and two equally stylish pals are all giggles, pausing to snap a few souvenir selfies like any festival goers would. To see an internet sensation like Lyn Lapid in real life is to be reminded that she’s just like us.
Yet her hit ‘Producer Man’ wound up on a Spotify playlist curated by BTS’ Jungkook, her cover of ‘Your Power’ by Billie Eilish got the stamp of approval from Eilish herself. And despite mountains of monumental cosigns, Lapid’s demeanor today still oozes the sincerity of an introverted girl strumming a ukulele in an LED-lit bedroom. “It’s crazy that I even get to do this for a living,” she beams. “I’ve always had a passion for music growing up, but never thought of it as a career before. To be able to do this, and play shows and festivals is a dream come true.”
There’s something fairytale-like about Lapid’s story, to think that young, creative girls can manifest just about anything. In just two years, Lapid has gone from Head In The Clouds attendee to performer on both coasts (“East Coast is better,” she quipped during her Sunday set). “When I first attended, I remember watching mxmtoon at Head In The Clouds LA and being like, ‘I’m gonna play on that stage one day.’ And I did the year after that, and now I’m here in New York,” she smiles. “Having festivals like these that are centered around Asian representation to shout out a bunch of Asian artists that I probably would not have found if it wasn’t for Head In The Clouds, it’s just so cool that I get to be a part of that.”
There’s no strict formula to manifestation, but if there were, she could write the modern-day handbook. She went from opening for K-Pop and R&B mainstay Eric Nam in 2022 to supplying vocals on his newest single, ‘Wish I Didn’t Care.’ “His team asked if I wanna be on a song with him, and I was like ‘Of course, I would love to!’” And it’s now come full circle: “I recently did a performance with him at his encore show. That was a lot of fun.”
After going to HITC LA solely for mxmtoon, Lapid’s latest release ‘back from the dead’ evolved into a collaboration with the Chinese-American singer-songwriter. “[My team] sent her a bunch of demos and she loved ‘back from the dead.’ She wrote her verse on it. She sounds great on it and it’s so cool that I get to collab with her.”
While these features are classic cases of “I’ll have my people call your people” and have starkly different energies, both suit Lapid synergistically. The Nam collaboration shows a thematic maturity and maximizes the soulful end of her range. Meanwhile, on ‘back from the dead,’ Lapid and mxmtoon sing of an ex-flame rearing their ugly head, feebly attempting to disrupt your peace after you’ve long moved on. mxmtoon’s distinct delivery sits comfortably framed by Lapid’s effortless crooning. Spacey layers paint a dreamy landscape, echoing the surreal nature of the ex’s return. The tune is easy and breezy, leading the inevitable summer resurgence of windows-down indie pop.
“Honestly, I wrote that song ‘back from the dead’ just out of nowhere,” she says. She’s somewhat of a songwriting machine, in a sense, having it down to a science. “I usually start with a topic that I wanna write about and then I come up with chords after that,” she divulges. “Then I sing a random melody over those chords and I put words to that.”
Her classical training background translates seamlessly into the pop sphere, impacting how she writes instrumentals. She explains, “I definitely don’t remember any specific music theory, I’m not green in that space. But it definitely helps with coming up with chords to write over.”
It’s a good thing she’s nailed down that process, because after spending all of last year “booked and busy,” she’s showing no signs of slowing down. “I’m actually working on my debut album, which is super exciting,” she gushes. “I don’t have any confirmed news about that yet, but I’ve just been doing writing sessions all throughout this first half of the year, so stay tuned for that.”
“I’m just always working and it’s pretty exhausting,” she admits. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
"back from the dead" is out now. Lyn Lapid can be found on Instagram here and on all major streaming platforms.
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