Yung Baby Tate is well connected. Not so much in the sense that she has powerful people in high places but more so in that she understands herself, her fans and the significance of being a pop star in today’s culture and society. In her music videos, performances and social media, Yung Baby Tate is here, she is the present, and she is laying the groundwork to be the future of hip-hop, R&B, and pop fusion acts. The GRAMMY-nominated artist is only just beginning.

Born Tate Sequoya Farris in 1996 to GRAMMY-nominated singer Dionne Farris, the 25-year-old artist may have inherited some of her mother’s abilities, but she’s built her own path to pop stardom using her creative gifts and cultivated talent.

In 2015, she released her debut EP, ROYGBIV, initiating a string of conceptual projects showcasing her songwriting, singing, rapping, and production capabilities. Yung Baby Tate followed her first drop with the holiday-themed YBTXMAS in 2016 and in 2018, she issued BOYS. The albums were stepping stones to her debut full-length LP, Girls, which was released in 2019 and featured artists such as Baby Rose and Atlanta rapper Latto. (The album also featured a short film directed by Christian Cody.)

In 2019, beyond her success and positive reception,Yung Baby Tate delivered a stand-out entry to Nicki Minaj’s Megatron Challenge. Although the Queen rapper did not name her the official winner, Yung Baby Tate had already established herself as a multi-talented artist that others should pay attention to.

In 2020, the multifaceted vocalist continued to soar towards stardom. She collaborated with British pop artist Bree Runway on “Damn Daniel,” announced a new partnership with Issa Rae’s Raedio, and earned credits for her contributions to the GRAMMY-nominated album Revenge of the Dreamers III.

She closed the year by dropping After The Rain, a deeply personal EP inspired by the feelings after a breakup featuring fellow Georgia artist 6LACK. Being vulnerable, the rapper says, has helped her earn a fanbase.

“I am pretty much always exposing myself. I think that [vulnerability] is something that fans and listeners want in music because it allows for one to understand that we’re all going through the same human experience,” the singer shares with GRAMMY. “I really love seeing tweets, where it’s like some random scenario and then everyone else is like, ‘Well we [are] all just living the same life’…I think for music a lot of times, being vulnerable and kind of exposing yourself is what makes people resonate with it.”

Not only is she relatable, Yung Baby Tate is infectious. An After The Rain standout track, “I Am” featuring rising Alabama rapper Flo Milli evolved into an anthem of affirmations and a Tik Tok sensation, earning over 1 million views on YouTube.

Catching up with GRAMMY.com via phone, the “Rainbow Cadillac” singer spoke about her career, representing the LGBTQ+ community, her song featured on the creative campaign for LIFEWTR, and what she hopes to accomplish as a force in the music industry.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

I want to talk a little bit about the LIFEWTR campaign, and the song that you created “GIVE U LIFE.” What was the inspiration behind that song and the creative process?

The inspiration behind the song “GIVE U LIFE” was birthed off of what LIFEWTR, and really, what water is in general. Water is like the main source of life. Everyone needs it to survive. It really does give us life. I also wanted to take that phrase that people often use [like] “Ooh girl! I love what you just did there, you’re giving me life,” and kind of compared myself to water and to those elements that bring life to the world and into music and art.

The LIFEWTR campaign was done with Issa Rae. You also partner with Rae through Raedio. How is that relationship impactful personally and professionally?

Personally, this partnership has really allowed me to grow in a lot of different places that [I wouldn’t really have if] I were to partner with anyone else or another label. Issa reaches out from time to time, just to say “Oh, I’m proud of you for this [or] you are really amazing on that,” which is really cool to have someone who I look up to as not only an actress but also an entrepreneur, a businesswoman, a fellow Earth sign.

It definitely has improved my confidence, personally. But as far as a career, so many doors have been opened in so many different things, not just music, but acting, voiceover work, the LIFEWTR campaign. It’s just been very very helpful, and I’m extremely grateful for it.

I think it makes a difference for me because you are both Black women. How do you think that kind of relationship can be an example for others especially in this type of industry where sometimes we’re literally all that we have?

That was actually very important for me when I chose to partner with Raedio. Not only is Issa an extremely powerful, successful Black woman, but there are plenty of Black women and Black men on her staff, and that made me feel comfortable, like I will be seen, heard and understood. One thing I really admire about Issa is when she said “I’m rooting for everybody Black” she really did mean that, and you can see it through the things that she does, the people she empowers, and the people that she employs. It is definitely extremely important to me, and I hope it can be an example of how other people can do the same, not just women, but men as well.

What was your initial reaction to that viral response to “I Am” featuring Flo Milli?

I was really shocked. It’s not like I didn’t believe in the song, I believe in every song that I put out, but I definitely wasn’t expecting such a huge reaction and such a huge resonance with people, but I was extremely grateful for it. The song really is something that I wrote for myself to manifest, to affirm, to speak life over myself, [and] to give myself life, and the fact that so many people heard it, and said, you know what, I want to listen to this every morning, actually, every day, every time I’m going to work, and every night. It just made me so extremely grateful and proud of the work that I’ve been able to do. It makes me feel like the work that I have been doing… means something.

Can you share more on After The Rain Deluxe?

This is kind of like the before the rain, or during the rain. A lot of these songs are way more moody, way more reflective, because this whole EP was birthed off of a relationship ending and reflecting on the things that led to that or the things that came after. So, for this half of the EP, it is kind of what led to the rain and then the rain happened, and then, after the rain, we’re going to be alright again. I’m really excited for fans to hear because I’m diving way deeper into R&B which is a space that I’ll be more leaning towards going forward with new music. So, the first half is after the rain, is a little bit of R&B with this half is way more R&B centered and I’m really excited about that and really excited for people to hear it.

Who are some Black music icons, sounds or genres that continue to inspire you to create and how do you hope to impact the overall landscape of Black music through your art and your career,

Black music icons that inspire me are Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé, Rihanna, really a large fan of powerful women. I love Brandy, I love SWV…there’s so many. I love Pharrell. I love Future, even. So many people inspire me. I’m inspired by so much, which is why my music is very varied. I hope to inspire people in the same way that I believe Nicki Minaj and Missy Elliott have inspired me to think outside of the box. [They] never allow[ed] themselves to be boxed in.

I think I’m doing a pretty good job of that already. I want to inspire the next generation of people to not care about what people might think of them and to not be afraid to fully express and not be afraid to be the oddball. That’s the type of legacy that I wish to leave.

As a member of the LGBTQ plus community, do you feel as though queer Black women in R&B, hip-hop and pop spaces are underrepresented, and how do you think the industry can move forward towards more representation?

I definitely do feel like we’re underrepresented, but I like to think that, that is changing very swiftly. I think for a long time artists have been or were afraid to identify themselves in the public. I know even like freaking Whitney Houston was biSєxual and like it was kept under wraps. I think that if it wasn’t, it would have inspired so many people to feel like, oh my gosh, this woman that I look up to, and I love she’s just like me, instead of saying, I’m wrong for feeling this way or I shouldn’t tell anyone. I think we’re definitely making a lot of strides and a lot of moves.

I love Lil Nas X and how open and unapologetic he is with his Sєxuality. Whether he’s having Sєx with the devil or anything else. I’m just really being myself. I think moving forward the [music] industry should be more accepting of that, so that people won’t feel like they have to hide or have to keep it under wraps for only a few people. The LGBT community is beautiful, it’s vast and it’s so diverse, and you honestly never know who [you] might be inspiring [or] who you might be doing some relief to. [They can] be like, “Oh wow, I love Yung Baby Tate, she’s biSєxual, great.” I feel very good about myself now, and I don’t feel like questioning or hiding myself. I think moving forward having more representation is always extremely important.

As someone who identifies as biSєxual and being a Black girl from the South, how do you think that impacted your creative career?

Creatively, I think I’ve always been everywhere, it also kind of lingers over into my Sєxuality, I’m just very free. A free-thinking, free moving [and] free-loving person. I think that really sнows in who I am as a person as well, and the things that I do, and the music that I make, the things I say, the people that I surround myself with, it is just a very free, don’t really care, type of vibe. And I’ve always really known that about myself and embrace that about myself.