Brenna Tipps, the LA-based artist who deals in sun-soaked pop music, moves through a rippling arena of artistry that’s as idyllic as it is relatable. She draws heavy inspiration from anime, dreamscape visuals, and the gaming characteristics on her Twitch channel (twitch.tv/brennatipps/), yet, unsurprisingly, Tipps propels a more concrete future where the real world is even more enchanting than whatever we see online.
Recently, the musician debuted her third single, titled “Fake World”, which arrived on March 4 parallel to her collaboration with fellow musician Aaron Lamont on “Shady”. Both tracks explore different angles of the same vein, trying to understand hidden motives and navigating murky water.
What’s interesting about Tipps is her ability to take glittering sonic production and condense the material into vulnerable, bite-sized story lines, uniting the gravity of pop music with familiar experiences. Her alliance with Lamont nods to future collaborations, but her force as a solo artist is eternal.
Having grown up on North Padre Island in southern Texas, Tipps found a love for music making at an early age, stepping into the studio for the first time when she was sixteen. Upon moving to California three years ago, she worked her way into a competitive music community and started releasing one single per month.
At the top of the new year, we were given “Feel Something”, a tender track that speaks to numbness within a relationship. A month later, Tipps released “Don’t Trip”, the shimmery girl anthem, reminding us to step up and dust off the cowgirl boots.
With each of Tipps releases, she pours more color into a larger illustration covering sensitive subject matter in a way that’s instantly recognizable but also inherently separate from any other singer currently on the docket. Her presence online shows a young heart exploring the networks of the west coast, which has served as an anchor for inspiration with her own music and that of Lamont’s “Shady”.
“When writing ‘vision is real, talk is surreal. Here today, lonely tonight’ I was referencing a relationship where his words didn’t match his actions” Tipps explained. The lyrics of “Shady” detail the deceptions we face when dealing with dishonest partners, and just as the palm trees in Los Angeles cast a long shadow, the subject may not be what we initially believe.
At one time, Tipps herself was the new girl in town, susceptible to LA’s force-fed “green phase”, which usually involves hyper exposure to all of the smoke and mirrors the city has perfected for decades. She quickly found her footing in the skateboarding and gaming communities and began putting her stories to paper, hoping to inspire the next genesis of arrivals to look beyond the dewdrops and deceptions.
“While there are so many positive things about Los Angeles, a lot of things are dramatized and made to look better than reality,” she said. “You can get caught up in it if you aren’t careful.”
Now, Tipps is the fresh face in music production, expertly driving her own vessel across California’s bounty without tripping up or losing speed. She’s found her tribe in Los Angeles, and delivers her artistry with confidence and a rare sense of self-awareness. At present, Tipps is releasing one new single per month, diversifying her approach to pop music each time with sultry, savory creativity. In the future, she hopes to sign with a label and go on tour, where she will no doubt command every stage she sets foot on.
Tipps’ understanding of how the music industry works is evident in her songwriting, social media presence, and networking abilities with fellow artists. Her collaboration with Lamont is a pinnacle point in the early days of her career, and displays a strong level of maturity in working with others who occupy similar roles.
Tipps has stated that her ideal union in music production includes a stark male-to-female contrast in vocals and a baked in r&b feel, the recipe of which came in full throttle with Lamont in the studio. Looking ahead, Tipps is already setting herself up for creations with the likes of The Weeknd, as “Shady” could easily fit into the track listing of modern pop’s hardest hits.
As Tipps continues to work hard and play harder, she retains a unique position in whimsical creation that doubles as a reality check, showing us extremely personal subject matter drizzled in fantastical delight. Her main sources of inspiration are visually captivating pieces of pop culture that push us to look in the mirror sometimes and separate the fluff from the real stuff.
Tipps is among the select few who reap authenticity year-round, not seasonally, nurturing a self-made culture that illuminates common challenges but keeps the wispy expressionism tethered to the ocean floor. “Fake World” introduced us to Tipps’ backyard, perhaps next we’ll come to better understand what lives beyond the surface.
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