A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: Quite a few of today's most acclaimed musical artists spent time in the hip-hop collective known as Odd Future. There's Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean. Well, a teenager just getting her start in music was among them - Syd the Kid.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ANALOG 2 (FEAT. TYLER, THE CREATOR, FRANK OCEAN & SYD")
ODD FUTURE: (Singing) Meet me at the lake around 10. Come through. Just meet me at the lake around 10.
MARTÍNEZ: She now just goes by Syd and went on to join the band The Internet. But they haven't released anything in eight years, so recently she's focused on her solo work.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BAD GUYS")
SYD: (Singing) All bad guys were once good. All good guys have gone where they never should. We're all on the wrong side to someone.
MARTÍNEZ: Her latest album is named after the peach fuzz on her face. It's called "Beard."
SYD: I was letting my facial hair grow just to see what I would look like with it, 'cause I was starting to like my mustache.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
SYD: Which, you know, is unconventional as a woman.
MARTÍNEZ: It's something, I would think, that being in the music industry, forces maybe make you feel insecure about it.
SYD: It was more society.
MARTÍNEZ: Society. OK.
SYD: And upbringing, you know? And also just being a young girl who had a mustache and, like, hairy legs and, you know, comparing myself to other girls and feeling like something was wrong.
MARTÍNEZ: But you feel good about it, though.
SYD: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, my wife likes it.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah?
SYD: She likes my mustache. I shaved it too low one time, and she was like, oh, ew. Oh my God. And I was like, what is happening? Like, that - you know? Like, I never thought I would get that.
MARTÍNEZ: Aww.
SYD: Aww.
MARTÍNEZ: No.
SYD: Right.
MARTÍNEZ: It's like, wait a second.
SYD: And I'm not a man.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
SYD: So it's like...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DO BETTER")
SYD: (Singing) I won't go through this again. So tired of making amends. I got to do better, do better, then.
MARTÍNEZ: So is it fair to call "Beard" a coming-of-age album for you?
SYD: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I'm blooming, finally. I've always felt like a late bloomer.
MARTÍNEZ: I'm glad you called yourself a late bloomer because I - my next thing was going to be, you're 34 years old. Why'd it take this long...
SYD: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: ...For a coming-of-age album?
SYD: I know. This is the first time I'm releasing something, and I have everything that I need out of life. My bases are covered. I'm really blessed.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. You just got married last year. Are you even a year in?
SYD: We didn't celebrate, but we just had our first anniversary.
MARTÍNEZ: Congratulations.
SYD: Thanks.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And then you bought a house a couple of years ago, right?
SYD: Yeah. That's really what did it. I realized through that process that maybe my dream all along was to be a homeowner, not an artist.
(LAUGHTER)
SYD: 'Cause now I'm so - I feel so settled.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "2 MANY DAYS")
SYD: (Singing) Yeah. I just want to celebrate, make a toast. Never thought I'd make it here, but I did. Now I'm making renovations at the crib. I just bought another truck I'm trying to flip. All the work I'm putting in, all the love, I'm about to make it big, make it big. Yeah. I done learned my...
MARTÍNEZ: Now, a while back, I spoke to Linda Perry. She wrote Christina Aguilera's song "Beautiful," her hit song "Beautiful" - lot of other hits, too. My favorite song on her new album was kind of this bossa nova track. And you're smiling because I think you know where I'm going with this. And it might be my favorite song on your album "Beard." This is "My Love."
SYD: (Singing) I see him trying you. And I know you can handle him on your own, but I want to protect you, baby. Looking at your face, who could help but want you? Come stay at my place.
MARTÍNEZ: Reasons why I like it. No. 1 - I mean, I don't know if anyone can be sad during a bossa nova song.
SYD: I know. I know.
MARTÍNEZ: But I've heard bossa nova tracks on other artists' albums this year. So I'm wondering, like - is there something happening with bossa nova that is just being picked up on by artists?
SYD: Maybe. Maybe it's something in the air. I mean, this song on my album came about pretty randomly. We were jamming. Just in between songs, we started a jam session, and that's what this instrumental is. It's the one-and-only take of that jam session.
MARTÍNEZ: The one-and-only take?
SYD: Yeah. Yeah. We didn't replay anything.
MARTÍNEZ: That's awesome, that it's a...
SYD: True.
MARTÍNEZ: ...One-take. Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY LOVE")
SYD: (Singing) To show you my love. (Laughter) Just giving me life, giving the vibes (ph).
MARTÍNEZ: I remember interviewing you years ago...
SYD: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: ...With The Internet. And I remember seeing you very kind of introverted. Like, maybe you kind of wished you were, like, a fly on the wall almost.
SYD: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Or maybe not even in the room in a lot of ways.
SYD: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: How did you get out of that?
SYD: Well, something that I thought about the other day is, like, I feel like a lot of us, at least in my generation - I'll speak for millennials.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
SYD: We spent our 20s thinking that we were trying to find ourselves and figure out who we were, only to hit our 30s and realize what we've been doing is searching for acceptance of who we already were. And I think, for me, that's manifested with this album, with this title, with - 'cause the truth is I am an introvert. It's just there's a level of acceptance to it now, whereas at one point, I didn't know if I was an introvert or if I was just insecure.
MARTÍNEZ: I have trouble finding anything that's not a glowing review of what you've done as a solo artist and with The Internet. Have you ever wondered why you were not on Top 40 radio and were - you're - why you're not more out there?
SYD: I've definitely, like, wondered that before. That's never been an intention of mine when it comes to making the music.
MARTÍNEZ: Is it because you're an openly gay Black woman who doesn't conform to beauty standards to be attractive to cisgender men?
SYD: (Laughter) You know, that's very possible. I'm sure it has something to do with it. Sometimes it's true that the world quote-unquote isn't ready for certain things. It could be that, for sure.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JASMIN 17")
SYD: (Singing) Hey. Girl, you're my diamond ring. You give me everything.
MARTÍNEZ: That is Syd. Her new solo album is titled "Beard." Syd...
SYD: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Thank you very much for coming in.
SYD: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JASMIN 17")
SYD: (Singing) Go to waste. Can't let you run away. You're like my spring... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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