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Summer albums just hit different – a blessing of elevated temperatures and thicker air, the melodies stick to you for longer. This phenomenon especially reigns on Chenayder’s debut album, Outdated, where the silly and sweet melodies pour off every track, courtesy of her throwback whispery vocals, a light breeze of tonality breaking up heated but subdued R&B beats. The record has been in heavy rotation on our office and when we found out she was hitting the road with our Zine cover stars, The Two Lips, we got too excited not to reach out and get the tea. Late to the party maybe, but not wanting to be outdated, we caught up with this amazing young act here:

OnesToWatch: My first question is always, why are you an artist? Why do you do what you do? 

Chenayder: I've been doing it since I was in middle school and it's just very much a creative outlet for me, especially going through the emotions and whatnot of growing up. It was definitely more of an outlet for me when I first started. 

Was anything else, other than music, of interest in terms of exploring that feeling of expression? 

I was always into the arts in general, like theater and music, but once I got older, music pulled me just a little bit more, because I felt like I could express myself more with it. 

Do you ever imagine yourself doing something different or is this the one and only option for you? 

The one and only option for me for sure.

Let's get into your process. How do you go about writing a song? 

It’s different each time. Right now, I see myself usually coming up with a topic first, seeing how that topic makes me feel and then try to put that into the melody and find beats to match that. 

Beautiful. Has that changed a lot over the course of your young career?

I think it's changed. When I first started, I started off producing on Soundtrack, and I would just make beats on there all the time, and then once COVID happened, I started singing over the beats, writing lyrics to them. Now, first I get a topic, then I start writing the lyrics and then I try to find something that matches.

When you say you were writing over beats, you were producing them? 

Yes, especially when I first started. I was very interested in production, and then once I had free time because of COVID, that’s when I introduced lyrics and melody. Now that I have more resources and connections with people, I find myself working with people on making beats and creating my sound. I don’t really sit back during the session, I’m very involved. 

Let's get into your most recent project. How old are these songs on Outdated? Are any of them outdated? No, I'm joking. 

A lot of them have different ages. For example, I think “The Game” is probably the oldest one. I worked on that one when I was 16. And then the newest one would probably be “Bang,” which I made a couple months ago. A lot of them have changed meaning for me over time or are about feelings that I hope one day feel outdated.

It's a beautiful album. I always find self-editing really interesting. So, given you're picking from songs that have a varying lifespan. What was your architecture for putting this album together and how many songs did you leave out? 

I've been working on the album for like 2 years, so it was really more about the certain emotions that I really wanted to be portrayed on the album. There's optimism – I always wanted to show that there could always be a better future, and that's what “The Beginning” is about. And then there's also “Blue World” where it's about self-doubt and just wanting to be better. So I feel like we were picking the tracks on this album to show the roller coaster of emotions that I’ve felt for the past 2 years. 

Did you have a lot of songs that didn't make the cut?

There were songs that didn't make it, but only for the sake of cohesion and purpose in the album. Anything I cut maybe felt like I’d already spoken to that feeling and I didn’t need to again. 

Do you ever have ambitions for a project when you release it into the world? Is there anything you hope to happen for yourself or hope to happen for your audience? 


I would hope to leave some type of impression. And also, like, sound wise, I would just hope it feels different. 

Job well done, for sure. Gonna pivot into some more quick fun questions. If you could create a festival billing, who are your top 5 or 6 artists that you'd love to see perform – dead or alive? 

I’ll put Steve Lacey on there because I've been really loving his album recently. Also TOMORROW X TOGETHER, a K-pop group. I really love them. I would also put Paris, Texas on there. The 4 Freshmen. Cibo Mato. 

That's a very eclectic festival. I love asking that question because I definitely understand your influences a lot more, having heard that. If some friends came over and were hungry, can you whip up a meal? And if so, what would it be? 


You know, I really love taco salads. I'll whip up some ground beef, cheese on top, some lettuce, call it a day. I'm done. 


If you are at your most relaxed, where are you and what are you doing? 

I'm at the park. It's 70 degrees outside. The wind is blowing, and I have my headphones on, and I'm just walking around mindlessly for 2 hours straight, thinking about nothing. 

Are you listening to music or podcasts or a novel?

I'm listening to music. 


Love it. Is there a place you've never been before that you would love to perform at? 

Lollapooza. 

If you could manipulate space and time, would you? And if so, would you go into the past or into the future? 

That's a great question. I don't want any spoilers. I want everything to just go day by day. So I think I would probably go into the past. 


Any specific place or time, would you want to see your grandparents meet or something like that? 

I'd probably go back to middle school. I'm not gonna lie to you. With COVID, I just had so much time to myself. I wasn't able to hang out with my friends or nothing like that, but we were able to play Roblox and Minecraft all the time. The world was going crazy, but there were fun times over the phone. 

Last couple of questions. I would love a non-music recommendation. Somewhere to visit, something to read, something to watch, can be really just anything.

I would recommend the show, An Interview with the Vampire. I really love that show. 

I haven't heard that one before. What about musically, who do you recommend? 


I really like Portraits of Tracy. She just released an album recently and I really love her song “Great Fortune.” I first listened to it before it was released, because she posted it on YouTube and was like, “I'm going to take this down after like 24 hours.” 

Lastly, just want to end on your words. 

I'm going on tour with The Two Lips, we're gonna hit Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and also Atlanta. 

Love it, continued success.