Tate McRae struggled to 'define' herself as a teenager
Pop star Tate McRae admits that she couldn't define herself early in her career.
Tate McRae had no idea "what [she] wanted" at the start of her music career.
The 22-year-old pop star made the transition from dancing to singing as a teenager, but Tate struggled to "define" herself after moving to Los Angeles in 2021 in order to pursue her dreams.
She told TIME: "When I first got [to Los Angeles], I was juggling through so many different personalities. I had no idea what I wanted, no idea who was guiding me in the right direction [or] the wrong direction.
"As a dancer, you get told what to do and how to do it. And I realised as a singer, the job isn't just about how you performed that day, it's who you are. You have to really define in your head who that is and what you like. And sometimes when you have so much control, it can feel like you have none at all.”
Tate was inundated with advice from different people, and the pop star recalled feeling really unsure of herself at the time.
She said: "You are constantly getting advice, and you have to sort through what's actually good. That's impossible at age 17. How the f*** am I supposed to start a career and present this persona [when I] have no idea who I am?”
Earlier this year, Tate revealed that she felt "misunderstood" as a teenager.
The Greedy hitmaker told Paper magazine: "My idea of the future kept shifting.
"Around 15, I started getting really into pop culture and wanted to be a back-up dancer. And somewhere between 14 and 16, I just felt so misunderstood. That’s when I started writing every day. It became my lifeline."
Tate feels that fame and success could easily have a detrimental impact on her music - but she won't allow that to happen.
The singer said: "Creating and making art while seeing yourself so much on the internet is really confusing. It can interrupt the flow of creating your best work."
Tate has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years, but she doesn't take her success for granted.
The pop star - who released her debut album, I Used to Think I Could Fly, in 2022 - explained: "Sometimes I walk into rehearsal and get full-body chills. Just knowing I’m going to perform for that many people ... it feels like my biggest dream has come to fruition."
