Audacy Pop stations across the country are excited to shine a light on the best emerging artists in music with LAUNCH. Meet Lola Young, the South London Alt-Pop singer-songwriter who’s viral hit “Messy,” has catapulted her onto the US charts and made her Audacy’s latest LAUNCH artist, presented by Macy’s.
Listen to Launch: New Pop on the free Audacy app
“I’m super happy and grateful to be named an Audacy LAUNCH artist,” says Young. “I’m just so blown away by all the love that Audacy has given me on its stations. Thank you so much for choosing me!”
Lola’s propulsive breakup song from last year’s This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway, became almost inescapable at the end of 2024 due to it’s virality on TikTok. While admittedly hearing her song on the app isn’t Young’s favorite thing, she isn’t too precious about how her vulnerable track ended up soundtracking a finger-gun dance trend.
“If it’s resonating, it’s resonating. It doesn’t really matter in what capacity,” she’s refreshingly admitted about the unlikely trajectory of the song she first wrote as a demo in her bedroom amid a chaotic breakup.
“My relationship was ending, and it was closure for me,” Lola has said about the root of the track. “Then I started to think about my relationship with myself.” Realizing many of the lyrics were criticisms towards herself, Lola leveled, “I’ve got a big a** mouth and I’m a loud woman… I’ve got to own it.”
Regardless of how it became one, “Messy” is undoubtedly a hit. And now that its roaring up the charts, Young feels a sense of relief. “It takes a lot of pressure off,” she noted during a recent sit down with Variety. “It means that there’s a lot more belief, there’s a lot more creative control.” Which is good because she already has plans for new music, revealing, “I’ve got my second album in the bag.”
“I’m going to dig deeper and explore new terrain,” she expressed about what’s to come. “It feels a bit Rocky, there’s a 90s Hip-Hop influence, Folk music inspired the lyricism and there’s some Pop too.” A musical recipe she concocted early in her career and she plans to stick to it, “Why fix something that’s not broke?”
Get to know more about Lola Young by tuning into Audacy Pop stations nationwide, and hear more from the "Messy" singer and the latest in music at audacy.com/launch.