00:00 Wow, Kenz, I just listened to "Anatomy,"
00:03 and I have to tell you, it feels like a gut punch to the soul.
00:07 Oh, thank you.
00:08 ♪ It's just anatomy ♪
00:10 ♪ You're only half of me ♪
00:12 ♪ Still you don't know me at all ♪
00:16 In your words, how do you describe it?
00:19 I just wanted to make a song that people could relate to.
00:23 This is not something that is taken lighthearted.
00:26 I feel like so many people experience, you know,
00:28 not having a father figure, or even growing up without a mom,
00:31 or, you know, so I was super excited to make this song.
00:35 But I think I, you know, I feel like it's kind of gut-wrenching,
00:40 but the song overall is just so beautiful.
00:43 God, thanks.
00:44 So, yeah, I feel like you could kind of take it in your own way.
00:47 Why do you think now was the time that you were like,
00:50 "I'm ready to get this all off my chest"?
00:52 You know, it's honestly kind of funny, but I started,
00:56 when I turned 18, I started doing therapy,
00:58 and that's not the funny part.
01:00 - Good. - That's not the funny part.
01:00 No, I was gonna say, good for you.
01:02 - Thank you. Everyone needs therapy. - That's important.
01:03 - Yes. - And I never thought that I,
01:06 you know, had these problems with me and my dad,
01:10 and, you know, so I started talking to her about that,
01:12 and I started opening up, and she said,
01:14 "You should write a letter to your dad."
01:16 And I felt really weird about doing that,
01:18 so I genuinely, I wrote this song just so I could send it to her
01:22 and be like, "Here's my letter to my dad."
01:24 And then I ended up loving it so much more
01:26 than I thought I would.
01:27 Was there a part of you that was like,
01:29 "This is so personal.
01:30 I'm not sure I want to release this into the universe."
01:32 Like, what compelled you to say,
01:34 "I do want to share this with my fans"?
01:36 You know what? For the first few months
01:38 that I had the demo just sitting,
01:40 I was like, "I don't know if I'm confident enough
01:43 to share this," because, you know,
01:46 obviously my whole family is gonna hear it, and I--
01:49 So a little back and forth feelings?
01:51 Yeah, of course.
01:52 And I think now I'm at the point where
01:55 I feel like it can help a lot of people.
01:57 It's a normal thing to go through,
01:58 and I want people to be able to relate to me
02:01 as much as a person, you know, as much as I am an artist.
02:05 ♪ You've been my missing piece ♪
02:07 ♪ So why aren't you missing me? ♪
02:09 ♪ Guess I meant less than I thought ♪
02:13 Let's talk reactions.
02:15 Does your dad know that this song is coming out?
02:18 I don't think so.
02:20 I mean, I've been kind of posting things on social media,
02:23 but he, I don't think, has social media.
02:26 Okay, and you're not in contact?
02:28 You have not told him?
02:29 You know, we're kind of--
02:31 We have a tricky relationship where it's kind of like
02:34 we talk for a while and then we don't.
02:35 It's kind of just that, like,
02:37 you know, divorced parents kind of thing.
02:39 And I'm honestly okay with it,
02:41 and I kind of want him to hear it
02:43 because it's how I feel, genuinely.
02:45 And, you know, I would never hate on him.
02:48 You know, life happens and, you know,
02:50 that's just how it goes.
02:51 And, you know, I hope he hears it
02:53 and, you know, something good comes out of it.
02:56 My goal is just to repair my younger self, I think.
03:00 That's kind of the goal.
03:01 Good for you.
03:02 And I think even having my sister
03:05 be like a big support system in the song.
03:06 I mean, when I played it for her,
03:08 she bawled her eyes out and could not speak.
03:11 No words.
03:12 No words.
03:13 And it's her favorite song,
03:15 and she actually choreographed the music video for me.
03:18 So we kind of, it's kind of our song
03:21 that we share together, which is really awesome
03:23 because it's our experience.
03:24 The wonderful idea to include Maddie,
03:27 which I'm sure this is also very deeply personal for her,
03:29 to have her choreograph the music video.
03:32 What was the experience like
03:34 collaborating with your sister
03:35 on something so close to home?
03:37 Amazing, honestly.
03:38 I feel like it kind of gave me that support system
03:41 and it made me feel okay to release this type of thing
03:46 and also be vulnerable.
03:48 And yeah, I don't know if I would release it
03:50 if I didn't do it with her, basically.
03:52 Really?
03:53 Yeah, she is.
03:54 You felt like her support was necessary
03:56 to get this baby into the universe.
03:57 Absolutely, and all of my friends and my whole family,
04:00 my mom and my stepdad,
04:02 they're just all such an amazing support system.
04:05 And yeah, I'm really excited.
04:07 Oh, you bring up Queen Melissa.
04:08 Oh, she's everything.
04:10 She really is.
04:10 You know, I was with you on your last music video set.
04:13 She had the Ken's merch on head to toe, like a true queen.
04:16 Kenzie, I'm just so proud of you.
04:19 I love you so much.
04:21 What was your mom's reaction
04:23 to hearing her baby girl's heart
04:26 just kind of on her sleeve in this song?
04:28 She cried.
04:29 She's a very emotional person,
04:30 but of course she cried to this song.
04:32 And she just said that she loved me
04:35 and that she's here for me.
04:36 But she was like,
04:36 "It's the most beautiful song that I've heard you do."
04:39 So that was really awesome to hear.
04:41 I want to lyrically break down this song.
04:43 Verse two, particularly, I really love.
04:45 ♪ I hate when people say that our noses are the same ♪
04:49 ♪ So I went and got a change like three quarters of a lane ♪
04:54 Tell me about writing that.
04:56 Yeah, I mean, I, it was,
04:58 the whole writing process of the song was very hard to do,
05:03 but it was awesome that I got to write it
05:05 with these three amazing people
05:07 that I've been making all of my music with.
05:10 Honestly felt like a therapy session.
05:11 Did it?
05:12 Were there tears?
05:13 Oh, lots.
05:14 Even from them as well.
05:15 We were kind of all, it was,
05:17 yeah, it was like a communal cry session.
05:20 And it honestly made me feel like not alone.
05:22 It was really awesome.
05:23 But that lyric in particular, yeah,
05:25 I definitely had this struggle growing up
05:27 where I felt like I looked like him
05:29 and yeah, so I just felt like I needed a change.
05:33 Yeah.
05:34 How do you feel about that today?
05:35 Great.
05:36 I feel like myself.
05:38 Yeah, your truest authentic self.
05:40 I'm proud of you.
05:40 Of course, thank you.
05:41 Another lyric I loved was.
05:42 ♪ And I dated so many people ♪
05:45 ♪ 'Cause of how you treated mom ♪
05:47 ♪ Now I'm with somebody good ♪
05:49 ♪ But I'm still feeling numb ♪
05:51 It's a really sweet nod.
05:52 Of course, people who love following you
05:54 know you and Dakota.
05:54 Total, total goals.
05:57 What did he make of this song and that cute little shout out?
06:00 Oh, I think he loved it.
06:01 I think he definitely has seen me
06:05 kind of grow into myself over the years
06:06 because we have been together for three years.
06:08 And in the beginning of us being together,
06:11 I had major trust issues just because I'm so,
06:14 I had this expectation that love doesn't work out
06:18 because of parents getting divorced.
06:20 And I'm sure a lot of people also understand that.
06:23 The walls were up.
06:24 Of course.
06:25 And I think now all of my walls are down
06:28 and I feel, yeah, I feel just like so happy.
06:32 And honestly, it's kind of like a best friend situation.
06:37 Like we're best friends, but we're also together.
06:38 So. Yeah, just easy.
06:40 It's the way, yeah, it's the way it should be.
06:42 Do you have a favorite lyric in this song?
06:44 Oh, you know, I think the chorus hits me the hardest.
06:47 ♪ It's just anatomy ♪
06:52 ♪ Hate that you're half of me ♪
06:55 If you could share a message with your dad today,
06:57 what would you want him to know?
07:00 I honestly would just,
07:01 I've thought about sending him this song
07:03 because everything that's in the song
07:05 is exactly how I feel.
07:07 And. Okay.
07:08 So are you going to when it drops?
07:10 I'm sure I will.
07:11 I'm sure he will hear it.
07:12 But, you know, I still have so much love.
07:15 I mean, that's my dad.
07:16 Of course.
07:17 I can never hold grudges with people.
07:19 I like, I still love him deeply and he is a part of me.
07:24 It's complicated as they say.
07:25 It's complicated.
07:26 It is complicated.
07:28 But yeah, I just think I would just want him
07:30 to listen to the song and that's it.
07:33 All right.
07:34 Listen to the song, dad.
07:34 Listen, it's important.
07:35 (laughing)
07:36 You and I go back a little bit.
07:38 We do.
07:39 We do.
07:40 I love you.
07:41 I love you too.
07:42 I really am so proud of you
07:42 and watching your growth and evolution as an artist.
07:45 Thank you.
07:45 I was with you on set in 2019
07:47 on the music video for Motives.
07:49 And I have to tell you, I loved you back then,
07:52 but you really feel like you have evolved and grown
07:55 into a very different artist and person today.
07:58 So tell me, who is Kenzie 2023?
08:02 Oh, Kenzie right now.
08:04 I feel like I'm still growing up
08:07 and I'm still figuring that out,
08:09 but I feel like now and back then I was so different.
08:13 I think back then I didn't really know myself
08:15 and I didn't really know what I wanted to do
08:17 with my career and my music career.
08:19 That's okay.
08:20 You're figuring it out.
08:20 Exactly.
08:21 And I kind of was kind of jumping on the trend
08:25 of like what everyone else was doing.
08:26 And I think now I'm making my own trends
08:29 and I feel like I'm just listening to my heart
08:32 and I'm also just being very gentle with myself.
08:35 And yeah, I just love life.
08:38 At the time you were like very focused on the choreo.
08:40 Yes.
08:41 And I remember you told me you were wearing olive oil
08:43 on your body to get the abs popping.
08:46 Today, how do you describe who you are as an artist?
08:50 I think I'm more carefree.
08:51 I think I'm more authentic with myself.
08:54 And I think I share every part of my life with everyone,
08:58 which is sometimes a little scary,
09:00 but I'm honestly just so happy.
09:03 And yeah, I feel like I've just grown into myself
09:07 so much more and I have so much fun with it.
09:09 With your songwriting,
09:11 you have not shied away from getting personal.
09:13 Is there anything off limits?
09:16 I think name dropping.
09:17 I think name dropping is-
09:19 With former flames?
09:21 Yeah.
09:21 Okay.
09:22 Yeah, we don't like to talk about that.
09:24 We're not kissing and telling here.
09:25 Absolutely not.
09:27 Absolutely not.
09:28 Okay, that's a good healthy boundary.
09:30 I think on the flip side of that,
09:31 it's so wonderful to see you so happy in your relationship.
09:34 And I know the last time we spoke to you,
09:36 I think it was October of 2022, you said that-
09:39 Yeah, it's so nice to finally be in an amazing relationship
09:43 and get to write great love songs with it.
09:46 There's gonna be lots of love songs.
09:47 I mean, I can't even help but not.
09:50 It's your life.
09:50 Yes, of course.
09:51 I will say I don't have a release date,
09:54 but I'm sure it'll be in the beginning of next year,
09:56 which is a long, long, long way away.
09:59 But we have a lot of singles dropping.
10:01 I'm like, I need to write the perfect song for him
10:04 because I can't let him listen to it unless it's perfect.
10:07 (upbeat music)
10:09 ♪ L is for the way you look at me ♪
10:14 How are things going between the two of you?
10:18 Amazing, amazing.
10:21 You know, I feel like a lot of couples
10:22 start living together when they're around our age
10:24 and we haven't done that,
10:26 which has made us like really awesome.
10:29 Why, why'd you make that choice?
10:30 I'm too young to live with a boy, I think.
10:33 It's like, next thing is marriage, you know?
10:36 And that's a long way away, so.
10:37 Okay, so that's, you're 19.
10:40 Yes, I'm 19.
10:41 Okay, so you're very much in the Kenzie era.
10:43 Oh, yes, yes.
10:44 Like, it's amazing to have a wonderful partner,
10:46 but for now, marriage is not a focus.
10:48 Oh no, hanging with friends,
10:50 you know, hanging with my family.
10:52 That's my girl.
10:53 Traveling, making music, like that's what I wanna do.
10:55 And he's obviously along for the ride, so.
10:57 Of course.
10:58 Okay, you say along for the ride.
11:00 Yes.
11:00 I hope that's a gentle nod to a tour.
11:03 Hopefully.
11:04 Literally along for the ride.
11:06 What can you tell us about plans to tour?
11:08 I would love to tour.
11:09 I've been wanting to go on my own tour for so long
11:13 because I haven't done that yet, just by myself.
11:15 And so I think that will definitely happen next year
11:18 after my album drops.
11:20 (upbeat music)
11:22 (chimes)
11:24 (chimes)
11:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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