Meet the chart-topping newcomer and TikTok sensation, ready to conquer the world.
Trevor Daniel is very much on his way to becoming the pop prince of heartbreak. He may be new to the scene, but based on such a light discography; he has already made a heavy impact on those who have crossed his path. Inspired by the innovative rappers before him in the likes of Drake, Kanye West and Kid Cudi, Trevor Daniel is unafraid to be vulnerable in his lyricism and express candidness through his beats.
This new era of lo-fi R&B has proven to resonate deeply with the younger generation, as the success of the platinum record “Falling” seemingly sky-rocketed overnight and landed straight into the Billboard charts, Top 20 hit in the UK Charts and Top 10 in the Spotify Global Charts championing over 600 million streams on top of remixes from Blackbear and Summer Walker.
Now, Trevor Daniel has finally dropped his debut album Nicotine. Co-written by Billie Eilish’s brother and collaborator Finneas; the LP unsurprisingly is scattered with devastating bops from yearning and love to toxicity and drama. So, we caught up with the young sensation to discuss TikTok success, dropping his album early and relevancy pressure.
How has growing up in Houston influenced your sound sonically?
Growing up in Houston influenced my sound a lot because the hip-hop culture there has a big hand in the way I do certain drops and things with my drums. I like screwed vocals too.
What is the first record you fell in love with? Is it different from the one that made you decide to pursue music full time?
My grandma told me I used to always walk around the house singing “I love you, you love me” from Barney, so it’s probably a little bit different than the song that made me pursue music, ha!
Tik-Tok has been the source of a lot of break out hits across the world. How do you feel about this internet trend and do you think it will last?
It’s fire. I think it’ll last, especially since we’re in quarantine and that’s all we have to do now.
You sky-rocketed to fame at such a fast pace, do you ever feel a certain amount of pressure to maintain it?
It was pretty fast, however, I’m lucky enough to have had a ton of time that I was working on my craft before blowing up and now I’m really confident in myself and my abilities, so I’m not too worried about it.
Congratulations on the debut album! Why did you decide to drop the project early? How did it make you feel?
Thank you! I decided to drop it because I already made a promise to my fans and also, I felt like people really needed something right now.
Which song means the most to you on Nicotine and why?
I did a lot of narrowing down for this album so it’s hard to pick, all of them mean a ton to me.
Does the ex who you wrote “Falling” about know that it’s about them?
Yeah…she knows.
What in life keeps you inspired despite these weird times?
Magic erasers have become my main source of inspiration – extremely satisfying.
You recently Instagrammed a quote that read, “Sad now doesn’t mean sad forever”- what are your general mantras or quotes that keep you going through life?
That was actually from this book that I’m writing, it was a late-night thought but now I see people tweeting it a lot, it’s kind of crazy. I would say the quote that enters my mind the most is “do it ___ you won’t”. It started off as a joke with friends but weirdly it motivates me, it’s kind of hard to explain. I don’t even know why.
What do you hope to achieve by the next decade?
Hopefully, in the next decade, I would have left a huge mark on music in general. I want my music to be how Journey’s music goes to my dad – He was always saying the whole “back in my day this was the music I couldn’t get enough of”.