Reneé Rapp had a breakout year in 2024. She’d announced that she was leaving The Sex Lives of College Girls, which really put her on the scene, to pursue her music career. She starred as Regina George in the musical adaption of Mean Girls and released a new album. Her single with Megan Thee Stallion was huge. She even officially came out on SNL, something that she’s called a “pretty c-nty” thing to do. However, once the album and Mean Girls PR died down, Reneé got quiet.
As it turns out, Reneé’s silence was more of a breather. She took an unplanned time out as she fell in love with her girlfriend, musician Towa Bird, and prioritized her personal life. Reneé has a new album coming out this summer, titled, BITE ME. She just did a big Cosmo cover interview to talk about her professional pause, emotional growth, relationship and more.
Can pop girlies in healthy relationships make good music? Honestly, I was concerned when I started dating my girlfriend, which is such an intense self-sabotage. I was always under the impression that I had to be miserable to make good music. But I don’t think you have to torture yourself in order to make something good. Some of the most talented artists in the entire world have been in healthy and happy relationships. I’ve had more good days than I’ve ever had in my life [in this relationship], and I feel like I’ve made music that’s better than anything I’ve ever made.
She’s very in love: She’s my best friend. I worship her. I love talking to her, and I also just love watching her talk. There’s something so special about watching the person you are deeply enamored with talk about something they find interesting that has nothing to do with you. Which is rare, because I think I’m the center of everyone’s world and especially hers—and I am, clock it—but hearing her talk about streaming her shit [on Twitch], she’s just such a little freak. She’s this hot, sexy, intimidating thing, but I know a side of her that’s such a weirdo. Every now and again, we’ll look at each other and we’ll be like, “Oh, it makes so much sense that we were ugly kids, but we’re not now.” You know what I mean?
She’s learned she doesn’t have to be so tough: In the last 8 to 10 months of my life, I’ve been like, Oh, wait, I don’t have to do everything and I don’t have to be around people that make me feel like shit. I thought it made me tough, that it made me come across as hard, that I could handle anything. But now I think the tougher thing is to tell someone to get the fuck away from you. So sort of a roundabout answer, but I love being sensitive. It’s my superpower.
She was asked if she’d ever open up her current relationship: F-k no. Hell no. Y’all do what you want to do. Not with mine. I’ve done it before. That shit is not for me because now I’m with the person I love and I want to marry—stay the fuck away!
Polyamory is ‘not a shoe’ that fits her: In one case, I was with a boy and I kept telling him that I was a lesbian. And I was like, “But don’t leave me,” because I wanted to be the center of attention. So we did that. And then the next one, I made some really poor decisions. And I was like, “Wait, you have to go kiss somebody else because I can’t stand this anymore.” Now that’s not to invalidate polyamory because some people are genuinely polyamorous. I was not. I just didn’t like those people, and I was like, Wait, let me try this shoe on. Which is not a shoe for me. It doesn’t fit. Matrimony, bitch.
Her advice for young queer fans during this ‘scary’ time: Find your community. Whether that community is online and thousands of miles away from you or two towns over or in someone who really lifts you up beyond a way you could do for yourself. Your community will do the best it can to keep you safe. This extends so much further past gay and trans people. Really rely on people around you who are maybe more comfortable or less at risk than you are. We kind of have a pact among certain friends of mine that’s like, “I can take a way bigger blow than you can. Let me do that shit.” I’m not going to let my friend who exists in a trans body go out and put themselves at risk because they immediately have a way bigger target on their back. There is such a dire need for protection, and the government is not going to give that to you. No one here is going to give that to you but the people you can trust.
Reneé is such a Gen Z chick. She’ssecure in who she is and uninhibited in being true to herself. It sounds like she is just so happy and in love. The question about whether or not artists can produce great art if they’re not miserable is age-old, but I think we have some great evidence for both sides of that argument. It’s also cool that she’s evolved emotionally and realized that she doesn’t always have to be so “tough.” For many of us, that is something that definitely comes with age. While that glass slipper also does not fit me, I have a few good friends who are polygamists/in open relationships. One of them has always been in an open relationship with whomever she dates, while two others have opened and closed their relationships several times over the last decade. There’s no one-size-fits-all relationship; what matters is that all parties are on the same page about loyalty and expectations. To each their own.
I also think her advice for young queer fans to find their community wherever they can is pretty solid. It really does extend to everyone, especially the part about those who are less at risk in stepping up for those who are. There is some undeniably scary sh-t going on in this world, and we need to take care of one another as best we can. Happy Pride to all my CBers out there who are celebrating, whether it’s out loud, quietly, or very personally. You are amazing just the way you are.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Rebeca Camara/Backgrid
I thought the headline was she’d never open up *about* her relationship and I was like “um, isn’t that what you’re doing?” 😆
She was great on Sex Lives and it tanked without her. I came from the era of serial monogamy, which meant lots of short term relationships because commitment is difficult when you’re young and still figuring yourself out. I don’t regret any relationships, though. I learned something from each, but I love the Gen Z mentality of being true to yourself rather than trying to fit a prescribed path. At my age though polyamory sounds exhausting. Where does one find the time?