On this episode of Headliners, Greg is joined by the incomparable KILLBOY!!!!
At the close of 2019, KILLBOY dropped her breakout single “WHEREDAFUCC,” the bedroom-produced anthem that not only grabbed a hold of critics and fans but introduced the world to this multifaceted artist with her unapologetic ethos. It’s been up ever since. Artists like KILLBOY are few and far between, as her cool is understated, yet she embraces her flaws through her music and laces them with sarcasm. The purple-haired singer/songwriter/producer crafts hits that are deeply personal and full of attitude. As KILLBOY releases “DADDY ISSUES,” her first single after being signed to Atlantic Records, she continues to sing with brutal honesty and tempers her emotions with biting wit.
KILLBOY was raised in the small town of Texarkana, a strip of land that sits on the borders of both Texas and Arkansas. She resided on the Texan side, in a highly conservative household and community that she always felt out of place in. “I was making music ever since I was little,” she recalls, seeking solace in her music as a means to rebel against the stringent walls surrounding her. She eventually adopted the name KILLBOY as a means to keep her music a secret from her family. However, by her teenage years she secured her first big break when a YouTube hit went viral. “I had a song on the radio when I was like 17 and I was on tour with Hinder,” she recalls, yet she put her aspirations on pause when labels didn’t want her to write and produce her own music. “I was like, ‘Fuck you guys, I’m going to college,’” she adds.
As a fledgling Biology major, KILLBOY kept avoiding the gravitational pull toward making music, until she couldn’t any longer. She started sharpening her production, even learning how to mix and engineer her own music. By her last semester of college, she realized it was go time, packed up her car and drove 24 hours to Los Angeles to make her dreams come true. The release of “WHEREDAFUCC” set it off, though her 2020 was spent bringing more hard anthems like “HIGH ON MY OWN SUPPLY,” “THAT’S OK I’LL JUST FUCK MYSELF,” and “HOW U GON.” She kept the momentum going into 2021, dropping her top-streaming bisexual love song “U+ME,” FUCK YO FRIENDS,” “CORY WIT THAT GF,” and “TRAVIS”—the latter of which KILLBOY saw a vision for when no one else did. They still released the single and it became her third most streamed song to date. “That’s when I realized I am just going to do whatever the fuck I wanna do,” she says.
The next iteration of KILLBOY’s career includes more live performances and keeping the production hard with the vocals sharp. “DADDY ISSUES” tackles grieving the death of her father yet spins it with some self-actualization and a touch of dark humor. On the live front, KILLBOY is set to play the So What?! Music Festival in May, and is currently on tour with jxdn.
KILLBOY is just getting warmed up, and as she continues to rock on her own terms, she keeps her mission clear. “I’m just going to keep doing what I enjoy,” she says matter of factly. “That’s what being KILLBOY is all about. I love the music I’m making and I hope it gives people the freedom to do whatever the fuck they want at all times.”
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