Dylan Conrique Talks Working With Max Martin & Success of ‘Birthday Cake’: ‘That Song Has Completely Changed My Life’

Dylan Conrique is celebrating 100 million streams on her viral hit “Birthday Cake,” and the 18-year-old sat down with Billboard News‘ Tetris Kelly to talk about the emotional track and what’s coming up next.

“I still think it hasn’t quite hit me yet,” she said of her song’s success. “Every time I go back and look at it, it still amazes me to this day. I got to go on tour and meet a bunch of fans and sing the song with them. Overall, that song has completely changed my life.”

She added that at first, she thought that “Birthday Cake” might be “too specific,” as she wrote it for her best friend, who was mourning the death of her mom. “Seeing the impact that it’s made on people’s lives has been so amazing,” she continued.

Conrique said that she’s “been writing all the time” and noticed an interesting pattern with her upcoming releases. “I realized that the music that is coming out — if you put it in the right order, it literally is a breakup story, like a whole story of a relationship,” she explained. “I kind of want to do this thing where maybe other people will put the order for themselves and how their breakup was. They can tell their own story.”

The budding teen star also opened up about working with legendary producer and songwriter Max Martin. “When he walked in and was like, ‘Can I help you on the song?’ I didn’t know what to say,” she recalled. “He was like, ‘OK, let me hear it.’ I was like, ‘Oh, no, we don’t have any recordings of the song.’ He was like, ‘Oh, just sing it for me,’ and I was like [gasp]. I was so nervous!”

Overall, she concluded, working with Martin and other songwriters has helped her “grow” so much.

See Billboard‘s full interview with Dylan Conrique above.