By: Vanessa Polk
If I had to pick one vocalist to crown the best voice of Gen Z, Tori Kelly would definitely be a top contender. Known most for her vocal acrobatics, Kelly has been making music since 2012 and has been in the industry long enough to leave her mark on pop culture, from auditioning as a contestant on American Idol to starring as Meena the elephant on the animated film Sing and its sequel, Sing 2. On March 17th, Kelly dropped her newest single “missin u,” ending her three-year-long break from releasing solo music. “missin u” left long-time Tori Kelly fans shook, as she’s presenting herself with a radically new aesthetic, visually and sonically. To properly understand this new shift, we must first look into how Kelly set her mark on the music industry.
Career Beginnings
Tori Kelly, born Victoria Lauren Kelly on December 14th, 1992, possessed a natural affinity to music at a very young age. In 2010; at sixteen years old, Kelly decided to audition for the ninth season of the American TV show American Idol, only to be ridiculed by the notoriously critical judge, Simon Cowell. This did not, however, deter Kelly from pursuing a career in music. Growing up around the turn of the century, Kelly was fortunate enough to jumpstart her music career by uploading acoustic covers to YouTube, her most popular covers of all time being “PYT” by Micheal Jackson and “Thinking’ Bout You” by Frank Ocean. Any vocalist familiar with Internet-famous runs knows of the infamous Tori Kelly PYT run.
Projects
It wasn’t long until she’d independently release her first-ever EP Handwritten Songs by Tori Kelly. A year later in October 2013, she was signed by Capitol Records, releasing lead single “Dear No One,” which gained intense notoriety, leading Kelly to sing it live on NBC’s The Today Show. A month later she released her debut major-label EP Foreword. Around this time, Tori received exponentially increasing attention on the Internet, as she became a frequent collaborator of other Internet-grown musicians like the acapella group Pentatonix, Filipino-American artists like AJ Rafael and Jeremy Passion, and other well-known vocalists like Todrick Hall.
In 2016, Kelly released her second studio album, Unbreakable Smile. Its singles, “Nobody Love” and “Should’ve Been Us” were commercial successes, being performed live on The Today Show and On Air with Ryan Seacrest, respectively.
Her other studio releases include a gospel album titled Hiding Place (2018) a vulnerable album, Inspired by True Events (2019), and a Christmas album, A Tori Kelly Christmas (2020), featuring original Christmas music and Christmas carol covers.
The Influences of "missin u"
All of Kelly’s studio releases, excluding Hiding Place and A Tori Kelly Christmas were inspired by R&B and pop influences. In interviews, she credits gospel and 90s music as musical inspirations, listening to TLC, Michael Jackson, and NSYNC in her upbringing. This is no doubt a contributor to the new aesthetic “missin u” serves. “missin u” also marks the first studio album that was released without the involvement of her first-ever record label, Capitol Records. Acknowledging that “missin u” is being distributed by Epic Records, it’s safe to assume Kelly has severed ties with Capitol Records and is now starting a fresh new era with her new label.
Visual Inspirations
“missin u” serves up looks that we’ve never seen— or heard— before. Even though Kelly credits 90s music as her musical inspiration, this is the first time we’ve seen her dive head-first into such a genre. In the “missin u” music video, the formerly-blonde-now-brunette two-time Grammy award-winner is transported to “better days”, with a drastic outfit change in the song’s intro. In the first few seconds, Kelly is transformed from a multi-colored crewneck to a medley of monochrome outfits. Throughout the music video, Kelly is seen in monochrome white, black, red, and silver outfits, a chose-your-fighter-type ensemble that perfectly encapsulates that Y2K vibe Kelly reported was her creative vision for the video. The video itself also utilizes filming strategies such as the fisheye lens, which was trademarked by legendary music video director Hype Williams, known for directing MVs for countless hip-hop and R&B artists. Compare the screenshots from the "missin u" MV, and Hype Williams-directed MVs.
Sonic Inspirations
From a sonic perspective, “missin u” takes inspiration from the 90s as well. In the verses, the song features a variation of the iconic orchestra hit a music-recording technique popularized in the 90s, from Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” to Madonna’s “Vogue”. In the chorus, chords are played by Rhodes keyboards, a classic nod to 90s classics, a great example being the intro of SWV’s “Weak”.
“missin u” also takes musical inspiration from EDM. The chorus features busy electronic drums, paying homage to a classic EDM footprint, examples being Justin Bieber’s “Ghost”, which was produced by Jon Bellion, who— not surprisingly— is the lead producer of “missin u” itself! (What a coincidence…)
From a song-writing perspective, Kelly’s vision for her newest single was to transport her listeners and get “that nostalgic feeling.” In an interview with People Magazine, she reports:
We wanted to make sure that we got that nostalgic feeling both in the lyrics and in the music. I just knew, 'OK, when people listen to this, I want them to be transported. I want them to think about that era or just that nostalgic feeling,' whatever that is for them.
Kelly also states that she wants “missin u” to be enjoyed by listeners of all moods; from those who want a good sob session to those who just want to get up and dance.
I've played it for some people who just cry when they hear this song because maybe they're thinking about a specific person, and there are other people who are just dancing in the club and not sad at all when they hear it. I love that about this song because I think everyone can relate to it in their own way. For me, I just want to blast it in my car and belt it out.
Conclusion
“missin u” marks a new era of Tori Kelly; visually and sonically. In the same interview with People Magazine, Kelly reported she was in the middle of a world tour when the whole world went on lockdown in early 2020.
I was actually on a world tour right as Covid was happening, and it was heartbreaking to have to cancel that.
After three years, I’m confident Kelly has plans for the future of her revamped music career. In the teaser video of “missin u,” Kelly held a VHS tape with the words do u evr think of me handwritten on it. Considering how much of a lover she is of subtle easter eggs, it’s not surprising to think she’s planning to expand on the creative themes “missin u” established.
Gathering inspiration from 90s R&B and hip-hop, and EDM music, she shows a side of herself long-time fans deem a breath of fresh air after three years without solo releases. I’m excited about what this new era of Tori Kelly brings!
Comments