[Haley Shamah] Oh my god, spiritual experience. I will never be the same. The best night of my life.
THAT WAS SOPHOMORE HALEY SHAMAH SHARING HER IMPRESSIONS OF THE SOLD OUT RENEÉ RAPP CONCERT AT THE ARAGON BALLROOM THIS WEDNESDAY.
[Reneé Rapp concert audio fades in]
IN JUNE, RAPP ANNOUNCED SHE WILL BE GOING ON TOUR. THE SINGER DROPPED HER DEBUT ALBUM, SNOW ANGEL, ON AUGUST 18. SHE TOOK ALEXANDER 23 AND TOWA BIRD ON THE ROAD WITH HER ACROSS NORTH AMERICA AS OPENERS IN SUPPORT OF THE LP.
SURPRISINGLY, THE SINGER ACTUALLY GAINED MOST OF HER POPULARITY THROUGH ACTING. SHE WON THE JIMMY AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN 2018, AND HAS ONLY AIMED HIGHER SINCE THEN.
[HS] I’ve been a fan of her since like 2019 when her cast in Mean Girls, the musical, was announced and I’ve been following her on Broadway and the Sex Lives of College Girls.
HOWEVER, REGARDING RAPP’S ROLE ON THE AMERICAN COMEDY-DRAMA SHOW “THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS,” CONCERT-GOER SOPHOMORE ALEXA DEFILIPPIS SAID-
[Alexa DeFlilipps] I love ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls.’ I’m really sad that she’s not going to be in it. The third season I think she’s only in three episodes and then she’s not in it, which was bad.
RAPP CONFIRMED THIS SUMMER THAT SHE WOULD NOT BE RETURNING AS A SERIES REGULAR. HOWEVER, FANS SPECULATE THIS JUST MEANS HER MUSIC CAREER IS TAKING OFF.
ACCORDING TO DEDICATED RENEÉ RAPP FAN FRESHMAN EMANI LARKIN,
[EMANI LARKIN] She’s like a vocal athlete, you know. I just love her so much.
WITH 3.7 MILLION MONTHLY LISTENERS ON SPOTIFY, RAPP DOES SEEM TO BE TAKING THE WORLD BY STORM WITH A COMBINATION OF POP, ROCK AND SOULFUL R&B.
[AD] My favorite songs are, I really like “Snow Angel…”
[“Snow Angel” by Reneé Rapp]
[AD] I really like “I Hate Boston…”
[“I Hate Boston” by Reneé Rapp]
[AD} And “Too Well” was the first song I heard her solo music…
[“Too Well” by Reneé Rapp]
BUT WHAT SETS RENEÉ RAPP APART FROM OTHER TALENTED SINGERS ON ALL ACCESS STREAMING APPS?
[HS] She’s 23 right now, which is younger than a lot of the music industry.
IN 2019, BILLBOARD PRO REPORTED THE TOP SOLO ARTIST ON BILLBOARD 200 AVERAGED 29.25 YEARS OLD
LIKE SHAMAH, DEFILIPPIS ALSO SAID RAPP USES HER YOUTHFUL ENERGY AND SPIRIT TO CONNECT WITH HER LISTENERS, EVEN PERFORMING A SONG CALLED “23” AT THE CONCERT.
[AD] She had everybody in the audience who’s 23 raise their hand and it was a lot of people which is awesome…she talks about how she wrote it on her birthday because she felt bad a little bit about growing up, not being as young as she was before.
RAPP HAS ALSO GONE VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA, USING ALGORITHMS TO REACH NEW LISTENERS. HER TIKTOK HAS OVER 1.5 MILLION FOLLOWERS.
ACCORDING TO FRESHMAN JOÃO MARTINS, THIS CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF HER MUSIC.
[JM] When she released her first few songs. They went kind of viral because of who she was, I think.
LIKEWISE, LARKINS POSITED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS LOOKING FOR ACTORS, DANCERS AND PERSONALITIES WHO ARE ALREADY POPULAR TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THEIR PRODUCTIONS.
[EL] It’s like stunt casting, where they’re like, ‘oh my gosh, let me find this amazing actor to go on Broadway and everyone will come to my show.
WHILE LISTENERS SAY RAPP HAS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL, SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER STATUS, AND LEADING ROLES ON THE STAGE AND SCREEN, HER ABILITY TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE APPEARS TO TRULY SET HER APART.
[EL] She’s extremely personable. You can tell that she’s very humble and very grateful, and she’s well spoken. She’s for the people, you know.
FROM WNUR NEWS, I’M JILLIAN MOORE.
[Reneé Rapp concert audio fades out]
