Kylie Cantrall Knew This Would Happen

Though her influences stretch back to Janet, Beyoncé and Millennium Dance Complex, Cantrall’s vision feels distinctly Gen Z — blurring the line between childhood idol and adult artist, between Red the Disney character and Kylie the pop star. “It’s like I have this Red character at the forefront,” she says, “But I’m also Kylie, the artist. I really do feel like Hannah Montana sometimes.”

She’s grown up online, but Cantrall’s approach is unusually grounded. She knows the scrutiny that comes with fame, and she’s learned to take it in stride. “I just want to share art with the world,” she says. “People are either going to love it or hate it, but that’s not my business.”

This is your first arena tour?

Yes, which is crazy to say. I definitely didn’t anticipate my first major tour being an arena tour. It’s pretty sick. The bar is definitely high. I can see the arena from here, and we have a giant billboard in front of it, which is so cool. Every time I walk past it on the way to rehearsal, I’m like, What is my life? This is crazy.

I love B.O.Y. I was getting such early 2000s vibes, and obviously that’s a lot of your inspo, but just the references and everything — it almost felt like a concept album to me. All those little Easter eggs: “The Boy Is Mine,” “Boy Is Yours,” and even the sampling on “See U Tonight.” Did you go into it thinking of it as a concept album, or did it just come together naturally like that?

I feel like it naturally took shape on its own. I love that you caught all the references, the Easter eggs, the samples, and the flips like “The Boy Is Mine,” “Boy Is Yours.” That was definitely something I was aware of.

At first, when the project was taking shape — and a lot of these songs I created over two years ago, which is crazy to think about — it was just a collection of my favorite songs I’d written over time. And I realized, wow, all of these are so 2000s-coded because that’s just where my heart naturally gravitates. I thought maybe the EP should be a love letter to the 2000s, the ’90s and all the icons I love.

Originally, it was going to have that vibe: a love letter to the artists that came before me and that era I’m obsessed with. But the more I lived with it, I noticed there were so many boy references. That wasn’t even on purpose at first. I realized there’s a lyric with “boy” in pretty much every song, and a bunch have “boy” in the title. I was like, is that weird? But then I was like, no, that’s the universe telling me that’s what the EP should be called.

And then it became an acronym: Better Off Young, which really encapsulates this chapter. I want all my projects to represent a moment in time. This is the last project I made before I turned 20, my last EP as a teenager. So it has that youthful, vibrant, fun energy. It’s optimistic and dancey and empowering. I want it to inspire young people to have fun and dance. Hopefully this isn’t the most optimistic and fun I’ll ever be, but I do think some of the concepts are really specific to this moment in my life.

So you’re 20, which means you were born in 2005. A lot of these references came out before you were even born. How did you get into all these ’90s and early 2000s artists?

Honestly, I feel like my musical palette was shaped by growing up in the dance studio. Dance was my first love. I remember a lot of the first choreography I ever learned was always to Britney. I probably learned ten different combos to “Outrageous” and “I’m a Slave 4 U.” There are just a few icons that every dancer looks up to — Britney, Beyoncé, Janet.

So much of my taste came from those early memories. Being 10 years old, taking class every day at Millennium Dance Complex. The old one, not the new one. I would sneak into 18 plus classes when they were teaching choreography to something risqué like Beyoncé’s “Naughty Girl.” I’d sneak in just to be in the room.

My dad’s a songwriter and producer, and my mom’s a choreographer, so they were always exposing me to everything. My dad would play Biggie Smalls, Frank Sinatra, Destiny’s Child, Brandy, Faith Evans. I really gravitated toward the R&B/2000s lane. He played Brandy’s Never Say Never album on repeat in his old car. We’d listen to it on the way to school. We’d sing “The Boy Is Mine” together. He’d do Monica’s part, and I’d do Brandy’s. So yeah, all those moments shaped my taste.

Can you do the “Slave 4 U” choreography?

Oh yeah.

It stays in your head.

A lot of that was my reference for the “Denim” music video. Like, what’s the most PG, PG-13 version of this choreo I can do for “Denim”? So yeah, that was one of the major references.

My favorite is the director’s cut of the “Slave 4 U” video. I don’t know if you’ve seen that, but it’s just the one shot of her doing the choreo.

Yes, I have seen that. The choreo is so, so good. I think Wade Robson was choreographing her at the time. Legend. All of her choreo is very iconic. It still holds up.

I also love how you started as Hello Kylie when you were nine years old, doing reviews of Disney shows. It was almost like you were manifesting a role on Disney Channel. Was that intentional, or do you think that just happened with the universe?

Honestly, I think it was intentional, me being eight years old plotting. I was like, “One day these videos…” This is my eight-year-old brain. It’s like going to the mall and humming in the middle of the food court like, “I’m gonna get discovered right now.” That’s immediately where my brain went. I was always planting those seeds and telling my family [I was gonna be famous]. I remember being so young, sitting at the dinner table like, “Yeah, I know I’m gonna be a famous pop star one day.” That was always just my tea.

I remember telling my dad I wanted to start making YouTube videos, and I wanted to do Disney songs and talk about Disney Channel. Like, maybe Disney would see it one day. And my dad was like, “Okay, work. If you have a vision, go for it.” So we had a friend who had a little camera, and he came to my house. We set up my bedroom. It was this super bright pink room, looked like a set but it was literally just my room. I’d sit on the bed and talk about Disney. At the end of the video, I’d do a cover of a Disney song, whether it was Selena Gomez or Zendaya.

I think I was definitely manifesting. And I really believe in that. If you have a vision, go for it, visualize it, speak it into existence. I feel like I’m living proof of that. I’ve always been such a Disney girl. I grew up loving Shake It Up and Wizards of Waverly Place and looking up to those girls so much. I wanted to do the wand AD so bad. I practiced that in my bedroom over and over again. “Hi, I’m Kylie and you’re watching Disney Channel.” I’m definitely living proof that manifestation is a real thing. I love being a part of the Disney family.

Do you have any favorite Disney Channel deep-cut songs?

Yeah. I really, really fucked with all the Lemonade Mouth songs. I loved that movie. I loved High School Musical and Camp Rock, too, but I know those aren’t really deep cuts.

You mentioned that before Disney Channel, you got offered a deal at Nickelodeon. I remember that being such a big thing when I was a kid, being either a Nickelodeon kid or a Disney Channel kid. I was Disney Channel 100%.

Yeah, you’re one or the other. I felt like I was a Disney girl, for sure. There’s no way I could do a series on YouTube like Hello Kylie, where I talk about Disney, and then end up at Nickelodeon. That wouldn’t make sense. So I told them, “Love y’all, but I gotta go. I gotta go over to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.”

So you manifested this Disney Channel stardom. And then once you got inside—after studying the Disney girl formula—was there a rule you decided to break? Or how did you navigate that machine once you were in it?

What I love about Disney now is that they’ve changed with the times. They’ve definitely loosened up and allowed their stars to have their own voices and control their own narratives. This tour is a perfect example. Not only is Disney letting me promote Red and the character, but they’re also allowing me to promote myself and my own music. I get to perform my own songs on this tour. Even though it’s the Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide tour, I’ll be at Madison Square Garden performing my EP, which I haven’t performed yet. That’s so crazy.

It’s definitely a testament to the time we’re in. I haven’t felt restricted. Of course, I know my audience is young, so I’m not about to go crazy with cursing in my music or anything. I understand this is the chapter I’m in, and I’m a role model to a lot of younger people. I love being that person. I love being a role model.

Everything I’m doing visually and musically really represents who I am. If something didn’t feel authentic, I wouldn’t do it. That’s your superpower as an artist: being who you are. I want my music to feel good to me and reflect who I am in the moment. I never want to feel like I’m taming or fabricating it for a specific audience. I make music for everyone. Young people, older people, me and my friends. It’s not made for just one group, which I think is really cool.

Even after the arena tour, the viral videos, the Disney crown — does any part of fame still feel deeply weird to you, or are you used to it now?

Yeah, I think fame is a strange concept in general. People feel entitled to speak on your business, and others will listen to what they say, even when it’s not coming from you directly. It’s definitely a double-edged sword, but I have a really good support system around me. My parents and my friends keep me very grounded, and I feel lucky to have that.

It’s also interesting growing up with social media. I built a following when I was eight years old. I had videos hitting over a million views when I was in third grade. I couldn’t even multiply yet. I experienced little forms of fame early on, like getting recognized at the mall. I also dealt with hate comments when I was young, mostly about my teeth. I had a big gap, and I remember reading those comments thinking, “People are crazy. Why are they so mean?”

But the good side is that it made my skin a lot tougher. I quickly realized, Oh, this is what comes with putting yourself out there. You’re going to be under public scrutiny, and you just have to take it with a grain of salt. These people don’t know me. They’re only seeing a sliver of who I am. I just want to share art with the world. And with art comes interpretation. People are either going to love it or hate it, but that’s not my business.

Yeah, I feel like Disney Channel stardom used to be really toxic. But obviously that was before social media. Now things have shifted.

Totally. It’s a different era now. I’m not a regular 20-year-old. Most people my age are out drinking and doing whatever, and not that I’m not doing those things, but I have to do it in a very curated way. If I’m going out, it’s to a trusted friend’s house. I can’t put myself in the same situations that most 20-year-olds can, because if I slip up in any way, I’m under a microscope. Any moment can be taken out of context.

So yeah, it’s weird having to constantly be hyper-aware of my surroundings, of when cameras are out. I never want to end up in a situation where something gets misunderstood or blown out of proportion. Cancel culture makes that even more intense. But that’s just what comes with social media. You take it for what it is.

There’s also a beautiful side to it. I’ve been able to connect with so many people. I can literally text my fans, be in group chats with them, talk to them one-on-one, and build that relationship. That’s so special, and that’s the part of social media that I love.

Do you have a favorite line off the B.O.Y. EP? One that you secretly replay in your head and go, “Damn, I wrote that”?

Yeah, I do. I kind of had to pull the pen out for: “One girl’s trash is another girl’s trash too.” I love that lyric so much. It came from a day when I was writing at home with my two co-writers, Lisa Shinta and Jim Levine, who I did the whole EP with. I was telling them how my ex had just hard-launched his new girlfriend. It brought up this mix of feelings. Like, love and light to the new girl, but also, girl, you don’t even know.

There was this meme I saw, it was someone laughing, and the caption was like, “His new girl thinks he’s God’s gift to Earth.” And I’m over here like, “Good luck!” I feel like everyone’s been there. So yeah, “Boy is Yours” is a special one.

If you could play anyone else’s Disney Channel role, who would you choose, besides your own?

Honestly, Hannah Montana would be a vibe.

She’s the blueprint.

She really is the blueprint of my life. I feel like Hannah Montana sometimes because I have this Red character that’s so at the forefront, but then I’m also Kylie, the pop star. That’s different from Red. I have a relationship with both sides of myself, and I’m constantly going back and forth between the two. So yeah, I do feel like my life is very Hannah Montana–ish.

I mean, it is. It’s the Descendants tour, but you’re also performing your B.O.Y. EP. It’s like the Hannah Montana tour where she’d switch between Miley and Hannah.

That’s exactly what it feels like. There are going to be people in the crowd — kiddies singing the Descendants songs at the top of their lungs, and then teens screaming “Boy For a Day.” It’s totally different audiences, but they’re all kiki-ing at the same show, which I think is really cool. I just want to bridge that gap. Little kids can still have fun with my music, and older teens can post up at the Descendants concert and vibe too.

As you head out on this arena tour, what would you tell your 9-year-old self?

9-year-old Kylie is with me. I feel her so much during this whole experience. I go back to that version of me who was always itching to be on stage. Anytime we went to a restaurant or anywhere with a stage, my parents were like, “Give her two minutes and she’s up there with a mic.” I was just obsessed with performing.

The fact that this is my life now, it feels so full circle. So kismet. I always try to listen to that inner voice that’s coming from pure love. When I’m in the middle of 10-hour rehearsal days and I’m exhausted or feeling like I’m not giving 100%, little Kylie chimes in and goes, “Girl, look where you are right now. This is your literal dream.” I stay in touch with her because that’s the purest part of why I do this. I love it. I’m obsessed with the art and the craft. So I just keep pushing myself to be the best artist I can be — for her.

Photography courtesy of Kylie Cantrall