{"id":10911,"date":"2026-02-12T17:03:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/?p=1236178202"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:03:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:03:34","slug":"with-a-new-album-label-deal-bebe-rexha-can-finally-be-myself-purely-and-maybe-even-break-free-from-the-khia-asylum-at-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarmiento24h.com\/?p=10911","title":{"rendered":"With a New Album & Label Deal, Bebe Rexha Can Finally \u2018Be Myself Purely\u2019 \u2014 And Maybe Even Break Free From the \u2018Khia Asylum\u2019 At\u00a0Last"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Trending on Billboard <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe fun thing about being independent is you get to change the rules,\u201d says Bebe Rexha<\/a> on a car ride back from the airport, having just landed in her native New York.<\/p>\n

As the Brooklyn-born pop singer-songwriter barrels down the streets of her home city, she\u2019s also moving toward one of the biggest moments in her career. After years penning hits for other stars such as Rihanna, Eminem and Selena Gomez before embarking on her own path as a soloist \u2014 but never feeling like she could fully be herself within the major label machine \u2014 Rexha left Warner Records and signed a new partnership deal <\/a>with EMPIRE earlier this year. And in just two days, she\u2019ll formally launch her next era by dropping what she calls a \u201csupercut\u201d of Dirty Blonde<\/em>, her upcoming visual album and her first full-length since going independent, on Thursday (Feb. 12). <\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing right now is I\u2019ve just been more motivated than ever,\u201d she says. \u201cI just feel like it\u2019s a rebirth, you know? It\u2019s the resurrection.\u201d <\/p>\n

As Rexha tells Billboard<\/em> over the phone, the idea behind the supercut \u2014 which pieces together 20-second snippets of all 13 pulsing, EDM-infused tracks on the project and their accompanying music videos like a movie trailer \u2014 was to \u201ccater to how fans consider music today.\u201d The format allows listeners to pick out which songs they\u2019re most excited for ahead of time, and, should they choose, become a part of the rollout by clipping, remixing or editing the preview footage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to give every song its chance,\u201d she says, noting that, essentially, every track on the Dirty Blonde<\/em> will be treated like a single. \u201cI worked so hard on this album. It\u2019s been three years now, and every song is so important me. They\u2019re like your babies, you know? I don\u2019t want to be conformed by a certain sound or certain boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rexha last dropped an album in 2023, with that year\u2019s Bebe <\/em>performing slightly better than its 2021 predecessor, Better Mistakes<\/em>, but not by much. The former peaked at No. 132 on the Billboard 200<\/a> while the latter reached No. 140, both well short of her 2018 debut album\u2019s No. 13 high on the chart. Other than serving as a home to her 2022 \u201cI\u2019m Good (Blue)\u201d duet with David Guetta, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100<\/a> and has been streamed more than 2 billion times on Spotify, Bebe <\/em>didn\u2019t exactly give Rexha what her fans think is a long overdue Main Pop Girl moment.<\/p>\n

But, then again, the four-time Grammy nominee says it also wasn\u2019t the most authentic showcase of her identity as an artist to begin with. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a lot of people, they saw me through this lens of when I was trying to be, like, this perfect, clean-girl pop star,\u201d Rexha explains. \u201cWhen you\u2019re signed to a major, it\u2019s a little bit stressful, you know? \u2018Cause you\u2019re trying to always make everybody else happy. A lot of the big songs that I had, too, were always in my computer \u2014 I\u2019d always written them \u2014 and they were all basically \u2018No\u2019s\u2019 from whichever label I was at.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I haven\u2019t been able to show [this] side of me until now,\u201d she adds. \u201cNow I have a label, EMPIRE, that just is allowing me to be myself purely, and they celebrate that, and that\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billboard <\/em>has reached out to Warner for comment.<\/p>\n

Feeling nothing but support from the San Francisco distribution company\u2019s founder, Ghazi, its president, Tina Davis \u2014 whom Rexha says she first met at age 17 at a Pace University\/Grammy career day \u2014 and the rest of the EMPIRE team, the musician says she finally feels free to \u201cpay homage to that messy girl\u201d raised by Albanian parents in New York. She references her upbringing in the Dirty Blonde <\/em>supercut, especially during opening number \u201cChica Chica,\u201d which finds her speaking Albanian and smoking cigarettes on a front lawn with older, bare-beer-bellied men.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018You know what? We need to bring my culture into this,’\u201d Rexha recalls.\u2029\u201dSo we got all the guys out with the plastic chairs, similar to how I grew up. Everybody\u2019s like, \u2018You either have to fit New York, or you have to fit the perfect clean pop star, or you have to fit super-cultural.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, why can\u2019t I do all of it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has an ability to craft records that resonate globally,\u201d Ghazi said in a January statement<\/a>. \u201cWhat excites us most is that she\u2019s still evolving.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there were ever a time for her to finally break free of the proverbial \u201ckhia asylum\u201d \u2014 semi-problematic<\/a> internet speak for artists who spend indefinite periods of time grasping at cultural relevance, a label many have cast upon Rexha \u2014 it\u2019s with the release of Dirty Blonde<\/em> on June 12. In the meantime, Rexha is having fun trolling people online about it, at one point jokingly asking for help escaping pop-star purgatory in a voice note <\/a>she posted on X (\u201cI heard Sabrina [Carpenter] got out. Zara [Larsson], Charli [xcx], they left. They never looked back. And my fat a\u2013, flop a\u2013 is still in here,\u201d she said at the time.) <\/p>\n

In the past, Rexha admits that the \u201ckhia asylum\u201d narrative hurt her feelings, but now, she thinks it\u2019s \u201cfun\u201d and prefers to be \u201cin on the joke.\u201d Plus, she knows more than anyone online ever could how prior industry struggles may have prevented her from ascending to top levels of superstardom like some of her peers \u2014 which isn\u2019t to say she\u2019s had any shortage of major successes. Rexha has notched 13 entries on the Hot 100 \u2014 four of which were top 10s \u2014 and has written countless more for other artists. Meanwhile, her 2017 collaboration with Florida Georgia Line, \u201cMeant to Be,\u201d remains the record holder for longest time spent at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs <\/a>chart at 50 weeks total.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much that you can\u2019t tell people,\u201d she tells Billboard<\/em> of past obstacles behind the scenes. \u201cBut, look: I\u2019ve had hits, I\u2019ve written so many hits for other people, and\u2026 no matter what happens, the internet, [at least] they\u2019re talking about me. Like, what are you gonna do? Cry and sit in my house all day and just be depressed? No, f\u2013k that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019ve been here,’\u201d Rexha adds. \u201cIt\u2019s been almost 10 over 10 years. I\u2019ve been<\/em> doing this s\u2013t. And I\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out Rexha\u2019s Dirty Blonde <\/em>supercut below.<\/p>\n

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