A lot of people may have heard the name “Olivia Rodrigo” but who is that?

Olivia Rodrigo is a teen-aged, American, singer-songwriter, and actress. Beginning on the Disney show “Bizaardvark”, Olivia continued her career onto “High school musical: The musical: The series”, also on Disney. In both shows, Olivia had the opportunity to mix two things she’s great at; Acting and music. Oliva Rodrigo started her career in 2015 when she was only 12 years old.

Not long after starring on Disney, Olivia released a song called “Drivers license” which blew up and really put her on the radar when it became the most streamed song, not only in the U.S. but worldwide. The song shows the reminiscence, hurt and acceptance we all go through during a breakup. Adding to the emotion conveyed by the lyrics on their own is a soft piano. Layered on the piano later is is a quiet, rhythmic clap and then a drum as the song speeds. There are parts of the song where Olivia sounds like she could be mad but the melody doesn’t quite portray that. I think it’s a beautiful way to show that sometimes you’re a little lost about how you feel, and that’s okay. Olivia has a voice that refuses to hide her emotions and that’s what her fans love about the music. “Drivers license” is just one song from Olivia’s “Sour” album. 

In this album you get the sad sappy breakup songs, angry ‘I hate you’ songs and more as we see Olivia remember the good times and get through the bad times. 

The song “1 step forward and 3 steps back” describes walking on eggshells in a relationship. The line “All I did was speak normally, somehow I still struck a nerve” proves that Olivia couldn’t catch a break from the anger no matter how hard she tried. A line from the song “Good 4 u”, gives listeners a passive-aggressive vibe about how she’s angry and hurt over the fact that her ex moved on but she still hopes to be happy for him.  In this line, “You’re so unaffected, I really don’t get it, but I guess good for you.” you could very well question if Oliva is genuinely happy for her ex or if she’s saying “good for you” as a way to hide how much she’s hurt.

“Deja vu”, like “Drivers license”, has a touch of reminiscing the past. There’s almost hidden anger that her ex is with another girl and a touch of jealousy that the new girl gets to experience the things Olivia once did. The anger and hurt of the situation build throughout the song and there comes a point where she’s almost yelling but she’s not because the anger is smaller than the hurt. “Strawberry ice cream in Malibu, don’t act like we didn’t do all that too. You’re trading jackets like we used to do, yeah everything is so reused”, in this part of the song you get the feeling that Olivia’s been seeing posts of her ex and his new girlfriend doing these things together. Can you imagine how that would feel?

 Most of Olivia’s songs may be about breaking up with a boy but even so, any first-time listener or big-time fan can relate to the things Olivia has felt. I and many others are in awe that a person is capable of achieving and creating such amazing things at a young age.