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SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE Lyn Lapid's catchy song is based on a real incident. |
A Filipino American teen has turned an unpleasant experience into a hit song.
Eighteen-year old Lyn Lapid had been posting her songs on TikTok since she joined the platform last year when she unexpectedly struck gold. Her video of "Producer Man" that she posted on social media has generated 100 million views, the most viewed original song in 2020.
“A couple of months ago, I was approached by this guy,” she said, recalling the inspiration for her song. “He seemed pretty nice. I didn’t like how he pursued success though. He said, ‘You shouldn’t produce your own songs, because they won’t do well. You should do songs that will make you popular.’ I disagreed and wrote this.”
With a jazzy beat, catchy tune, snapping fingers and an expressive face, Lyn's song went viral on TikTok.
That's right! Lyn wrote about the meeting with a producer who told her that in order to be a success, she needed to write more commercial material. Sticking to her guns, it's ironic that her first big hit on TikTok was about that first producer.
"Yes, 'Producer Man' is based on a true story," she said in an interview with Idolator. A producer in the industry contacted me, interested in my work. When I was having a couple phone calls with him, he gave me advice about my music. He suggested that beginning artists should put out music that they might not necessarily like if it means the public will like it, because music that sounds too different or original probably would not sell well. I expressed my views on the demos he sent me and told him they did not fit the sound I was going for, and he said that the demos he sent were what was working well in the market. I stopped talking to him after those conversations.
She told Rolling Stone that she wasn't prepared for the success of “Producer Man.” “I posted it to remind myself what I value,” Lapid says, “but I didn’t expect it to blow up as much as it did.”
"I posted it with no intention of it being seen by anyone," she told Idolator. "When it released and had 1 million views in about 2 hours, I was surprised. The next day it was at around 1 million likes."What she didn't expect is that her video became a "thing" among TikTokers to perform duets with her clip, some of which are included in this compilation:
Despite Lyn’s initial bad experience with the record business, a year later (she's notw 18) she has since found a producer who believed in her vision, Dan Nigro, who produced "Producer Man." She signed a deal with Republic Records and found a couple of managers she trusts: Alex Bender and Jesse Coren.
“Her voice is unbelievable,” Bender says. “And she only just started writing songs, but there’s something so special about the way she writes.”
The origin of those vibes can be traced back to her childhood in Maryland. A first-generation American born the middle kid of Filipino immigrants, she initially studied classical piano before eventually performing violin in an orchestra for seven years. Simultaneously, she developed her voice by imitating videos online.
“When you hear my music, I want you to say, ‘Oh, that’s a Lyn song,’” she exclaims. “It would be amazing if people think, ‘She gives me Lyn Lapid vibes.’”
“I want you to hear the messages I put out in my music,” she leaves off. “I’m talking about different things, whether it’s my experiences or mental illness. I hope you can really tune into the lyrics and what I’m trying to say.”
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