Rella’s music easily reminds you of some of the biggest name in the industry. His music has an instant universal appeal wrapped up in his unbending aesthetic and indie edge. Fused with luscious pop sensibility and a hint of a slightly daze, “Rockstar” wins your heart easily. Hard-hitting but traceless, the track leaves a mark in you and makes you want to sink into this music forever—that’s the kind of charisma in Rella’s work.

“Rockstar” tells the story of being used by people for money, fame, and comfort. It explores emotional vulnerability yet remains its slight distance. In “Rockstar,” everything is leased through a kind of cloudiness and blurriness, yet the track remains its heartfelt honesty, sensibility and melancholia. Like being interconnected, yet you couldn’t pinpoint what is what, obscurity and blurriness is so brilliantly woven into the storytelling. His vocals hit you hard. The heart and the nerve has disappeared into the sounds. While the light weighted, nostalgic, scenic backdrop just stays true to itself. “Rockstar” kind of remind you of the work of Midwxst, marinelli and Still Woozy.

The New Zealand rap artist clearly has something special.

Punk Head: I like the storytelling in “Rockstar.” Is there a person/event that stimulated the creation of this track?

Rella: This song really drew from a variety of experiences from a range of different people rather than being about one particular person. I mainly identified with the notion of how some people will slowly watch your success and then try to say certain things to get in your good graces but only ever with the intention of serving themselves. I had one girl I was seeing for a while who was saying everything and anything but only wanted to be in a music video and then up and left after that. Another told me I was going to be huge and blow up only to steal my money and go back to her boyfriend a few days later. Others will just try to use me for clout, self-esteem or somehow think that because I’m a rapper I’ll somehow help fund their like, lazy, drug taking lifestyle.

PH: What do you like the best about this track?

Rella: I think I like the transition from the first half of the hook to the second melody the best. I remember it coming to me relatively quickly but it was only when I laid it out and heard the potential that I got really hyped. Listening back to that and then getting all my friends out into the studio and seeing their reaction reaffirming that like, this song is good was just crazy exciting.

PH: What’s your goal this year?

Rella: My goal this year is reach 650,000 monthly listeners on spotify, but also to just continue improving with each song that I put out. It’s a difficult balance between releasing too much music, and not releasing enough but I think I’m finding that balance this year.

PH: Who are your biggest influences?

Rella: Certainly Juice Wrld, Trippie Redd and Lil Peep. Outside of the hip-hop genre I would also probably add Kurt Cobain, David Bowie and Stevie Nicks.

PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?

Rella: I’d just like them to know that I’m here, not going anywhere and have an absolutely stacked 2023 planned. I’m having more fun and getting more satisfaction from music than ever before so I’m super excited to share what I’ve been working on with you guys!