Nessa Barrett Talks ‘Tired of California,’ ‘Misconceptions’ About Social Media Stars & More

Nessa Barrett is gearing up to release her debut album, Young Forever, on Friday (Oct. 14), and the 20-year-old singer sat down with Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos to discuss the upcoming album, as well as her new single, “Tired of California.”

The singer, who got her start on TikTok, revealed that she got “tired of California” right after she moved to the sunny state. “Living in LA and California itself was a dream of mine since I was little. When I was 17, I ran away and moved across the country to be in LA, and it has given me so many opportunities and I love it so much,” she explained. “But, I feel like a lot of people in the industry can relate, we just feel trapped here.”

On her healing while writing such an emotionally charged album, she shared that she’s big on hypnotherapy and inner child work. “I feel like working with yourself and getting very deep and learning how to have compassion for the person that’s inside of you — because we forget that and neglect ourselves in a way — I feel like it’s very important.”

Barrett also shared her thoughts on those who have large social media platforms that are sometimes not taken seriously when trying to take the jump into full-blown musical artist, and then feel confined. “Everyone online isn’t fully the person that they are on social media. So when people start to branch out and do new things or follow a dream of theirs, it’s kind of confusing for people and it’s hard for them to accept,” she said. “Just because you have an audience and a big platform, it doesn’t mean you don’t grow and change like anyone else. That’s part of life.”

Watch Billboard‘s full interview with Nessa Barrett above.