For the first time since 2023 (excluding Mean Girls releases), Reneé Rapp has finally dropped new music today. The new single “LEAVE ME ALONE” comes on the heels of a lot of cheeky promotional teases from the ever-charismatic Rapp, including a mysterious fake NDA alluding to some of the eventual album’s themes.
While fans previously suspected Rapp was gearing up to release a single called BITE ME, it turns out that’s the name of the upcoming album (and maybe an eponymous single to come), as this first track we get a taste of is indeed titled “LEAVE ME ALONE”, which is exactly what I’d like everyone to do so I can bask in the sexy thrums of this instant earworm.
A curious cast of characters have been tapped for promotion of the BITE ME project, including Gabby Windey, Charlize Theron, Paris Hilton, and…Monica Lewinsky? What is the throughline here? Can someone tell me? When it was just Charlize and Paris, my group chat speculated “Reneé’s roots,” and Monica could possibly fit that theme, too, but Gabby? Is she old enough to be a root?
The song’s hook is its best part and a great mantra for the summer (“Leave me alone, bitch, I wanna have fun”). There’s also possibly a reference to her departure from Sex Lives of College Girls: “I took my sex life with me, now the show ain’t fuckin’.”
It’s a great time to be a dyke who loves pop music, and if “LEAVE ME ALONE” is any indication, the upcoming sophomore album from Rapp — out August 1 — will keep the tradition of queer women dominating the song of the summer rankings going.
In an appearance on Instagram’s podcast Close Friends Only, Rapp opened up about the process of making this album and some of the emotions going on behind the scenes. “I think one of the last songs I wrote, I had such a terrible day,” she says. “I just had such a bad day and just like bad experiences, and I was like I have nowhere else to go with my thoughts because obviously I can’t put them outward in this moment, therefore I will be like mentally just writing.” Much of the album tracks her growth from age 23 to 24, with Rapp saying about her 23rd year: “It was so bad, and I thought 22 was insane for me.”
So it sounds like we can expect a lot of different layers of Rapp’s artistry and storytelling on the album, including sexy and fun stuff as well as more intense emotions. We’ll get to hear more of BITE ME on August 1.
I’m super enjoying sapphic pop at the minute and this single is awesome, but is anyone else getting tired of the videos only featuring conventionally attractive femmy white women? Zolita’s new one is like this too – it’s really noticeable and gets me down
I just came to this thread having seen RR’s performance on the AMAs: seemed to me most if not all the backup singers/dancers were WOC (and some weren’t too femme-y).