In collaboration with
- Words Notion Staff
- Creative Director Daisy Deane @ DELA.STUDIO
- Director Ayshe Zaifoglu
- Photographer Rashidi Noah
- DOP Toby Leary
- Stylist Carlotta Constant assisted by Mollie French & Annie Gale
- Hair Stylist Shamara Roper assisted by Donica Campbell
- Makeup Artist Maya Man assisted by Tom Easton & Babi Compos
- Set Dresser Piper Samuel
- Producer Elly Craig
- Production Assistants Amy Yates & Olivia Wright
For Amazon Music Breakthrough UK: Artists To Watch 2024, in collaboration with Notion, METTE reflects on her pre-show rituals, future collabs and the mantras she lives by.
The chances are that you’re already familiar with METTE. A mind-blowing triple threat, who featured in N.E.R.D and Rihanna’s music video for ‘Lemon’, her stardom has been steadily rising for years.
Nowadays she’s best known for her dance-rooted music jams, sang and performed to help you feel centred. Letting loose in the club and belting out your favourite hits has become a verity since the pandemic and the Minnesota native is soundtracking our personal hedonic night-time pursuits, redefining the landscape of pop while she’s at it.
Casting her spirit through the language of lyricism, METTE is growing in assuredness, and simultaneously becoming contemporary music’s latest vanguard. Meet the next rising star of the Amazon Music Breakthrough UK: Artists To Watch 2024, in collaboration with Notion, now…
Where does your artist name come from?
My artist name is my real name, my government name, but I had to chop off the surname: one word, like all the queens.
Where were you born?
I was born in Owatonna, Minnesota. I’ve lived in many places and I’ve had many iterations of a coming-of-age story, from dancing to acting. But now I’m claiming my destiny as a musician.
What’s your star sign?
I’m a Gemini. It means everything, many things. I am sweet. I am psycho. I am ferocious. I am gentle. I am whole and complete in every possible way.
How do you want your music to make people feel?
I want people to feel a sense of kinship to the beat, to the rhythm. I think there’s something innately motivating about my music, especially the way that I want people to dance, sweat it out, and find a sense of communion on the dance floor and at my shows. That’s what I hope for.
Tell us about your process of making music?
When I’m in the studio I’m very serious, trying to wring my brain out with witty ideas. But the thing that I’ve realised when I make music is that when I’m in free flow with my authenticity, so I just try and stay true to myself. Sometimes that’s difficult – you want to chart, you want to be successful, but the only way to enjoy the creative process is to be yourself. There’s one thing that I have constantly as a mantra, and that’s there’s nothing to prove, only to share. That’s how I live my life.
Do you have a pre-show ritual?
Incense, fresh ginger in hot water, vocal warm-ups and then a chant with my band. The lyrics to the chant change every night. We freestyle, we’re stomping our feet, looking each other in the eye. It’s very intense, but we need that connection before you go on stage.
What’s your main source of inspiration?
I’m really inspired by music that centres me in a place and time in my life. Janet, Madonna, Prince, James Taylor, probably because that has a nostalgic edge. I remember listening to [My Beautiful] Dark Twisted Fantasy studying in Paris when I was in college. Now when I listen to some of those records, specifically Nicki’s verse on ‘Monster’, it takes me back to that time in my life. Music is the time machine. That’s why I love it so much.
What’s on your rider?
Honestly, from my dancing years, we don’t need to pull up with anything. We pull up with our good graces and that’s about it. I need a kettle, I need hot water, I need fresh ginger. That’s literally me to a T.
Which artist, past or present, would you choose for a collaboration?
I have a single coming out called ‘Darling Drive’ with Sam Gellaitry and I’m really excited about that collaboration. He’s a synth wizard and an amazing person. But I try not to put a name out there; I just want good, positive energy in the studio and some kind of kinship to be felt. I mean, listen, I’m a girl from Minnesota. Prince is everything. If I could have even had the opportunity to dance for Prince, that would have been amazing. Legend. Icon. Forever inspo. Prince forever.
Describe your sound?
An amalgamation of pop, an amalgamation of dance, R&B, and some good songwriting. For me, the lyrics are really important because that’s how I cast my spirit into the world – through language. And then, of course, I gotta dance and perform that in these music videos.
