Tessa Violet

Tessa Violet Williams, previously known as Meekakitty, is a singer-songwriter, video blogger, actress, music video director, and former model. Originally a vlogger, over the years Tessa Violet's online content became devoted to her musical career with Violet having released two studio albums, Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled in 2014 and Bad Ideas in 2019.

Tessa Violet
Violet in 2018
Background information
BornChicago, Illinois, U.S.
GenresIndie pop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, video blogger, actress, music video director, former child model
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • ukulele
Years active2006–present
Labels
Websitetessa-violet.com
YouTube information
Also known asMeekakitty
Channel
Genres
Subscribers1.83 million subscribers[1]
Total views173 million (April 16, 2021)[1]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers

Early life and career

Violet grew up in Ashland, Oregon and performed in theatre productions while in high school. She began her YouTube channel in July 2006 and started daily vlogging in 2007 for a school project under the username Meekakitty when working in Hong Kong and Thailand as a fashion model.[2]

After moving to New York City in 2009, Violet gained attention after winning $100,000 in a YouTube competition by receiving the most comments on her video entry.[2][3] In 2011, Violet was featured in fellow YouTube creator Nanalew's music video for the song "Sail" by Awolnation. The video went viral and has since amassed over 370 million views.[4] On September 24, 2012, Violet appeared in the music video for Family Force 5's "Cray Button" ft. Lecrae[5]

Music

Violet released her first album Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled on March 18, 2014.[6] The album was produced by Seth Earnest at Maker Studios, with John Zappin as A&R.[7] Despite the lack of attention from traditional media sources, the record debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and sold 5,000 copies in the first three months.[8]

Violet released the lead single "Dream" from her EP Halloway on September 16, 2016.[9] The full EP was released October 14, 2016. She released videos for all songs on the project.[10] [11]

In 2018, Violet revealed she was working on her second album, Bad Ideas.[12] "Crush," the first single from the record, was released June 15, 2018.[13] An accompanying music video directed by Big Forest was released on YouTube on the same day.[14] As of May 2021, the music video has reached over 82 million views on YouTube. The single led to Violet being featured on YouTube's Artist On The Rise.[15] The entire album was set to release on August 3, 2018[16] before an alteration in the album's release plan. The album's title track, "Bad Ideas," was released as a single on November 30, 2018.[17] "I Like (the idea of) You" came out in May 2019.[18] She released Bad Ideas (Act One) in July 2019, featuring remixes of the first three singles of the project.[19][20][21]The Original plan for the project was that it would be in three parts [22]

On October 25 2019, Violet released her second album Bad Ideas. The album contains 11 tracks, 4 of which have been released as singles (Crush, Bad Ideas, I Like (the idea of) You, and Games). The song was released via the label T∆G MUSIC.[23] She promoted it with The Experience [24][25]

Violet was also featured on a remix of the I Dont Know How But They Found Me song "New Invention."[26] Tessa released Breakdown in 2022 to go alongside a tour [27] She released Breakdown in 2022 [28][29] She released You Are Not My Friend in March 2023. [30]

Violet cites artists such as Lorde, Bleachers, Lily Allen, Taylor Swift, Cavetown, and Julia Michaels among her influences.[31]

In 2023, Violet toured as an opening act for the “Conditions of a Punk” tour for Half Alive, an alternative pop rock band.

Discography

Studio albums

List of EPs, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US Heat[32] US Indie[33]
Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled
  • Released: March 18, 2014
  • Label: Maker Music
  • Formats: CD-R, digital download
1047
Bad Ideas
  • Released: October 25, 2019
  • Label: T∆G Music
  • Formats: LP, digital download
1948

Collaborative albums

List of EPs, with selected chart positions
Title Album details
You, Me, and Christmas
(as a member of People You Know)
  • Released: November 11, 2014[34]
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: Digital download
Leaves and Branches
(as a member of People You Know)
  • Released: July 23, 2015[35]
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: Digital download

Extended plays

Title Album details
Halloway
  • Released: March 18, 2016
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Bad Ideas (Act One)
  • Released: July 26, 2019
  • Label: T∆G Music
  • Formats: Vinyl, Digital download
Bad Ideas - The Remixes
  • Released: July 26, 2019
  • Label: T∆G Music
  • Formats: Digital download

As lead artist

Title Year Album
"Dream" 2016 Halloway
"Not Over You"
"Crush" 2018 Bad Ideas
"Bad Ideas"
"I Like (the idea of) You" 2019
"Games"
(solo or with lovelytheband)
"Words Ain't Enough"
(solo or with Chloe Moriondo)
"Bored"
(solo or with MisterWives)
"Role Model"
(with daysormay)
2020 Non-album singles
"YES MOM"
2022
"BREAKDOWN"
"You Are Not My Friend" 2023
Title Year Album details
"Where Did U Go"
(Pop Culture featuring Tessa Violet)
2017 Non-album singles
"Crush + Someone Like You Mashup"
(Pomplamoose featuring Tessa Violet)
2018
"Monster Mashup"
(Pomplamoose featuring Tessa Violet)
"Smoke Signals"
(Cavetown featuring Tessa Violet)
2020
"New Invention"
(I Dont Know How But They Found Me featuring Tessa Violet)
2021 Razzmatazz (Deluxe Edition)
"GUMMY"
(Will Joseph Cook featuring Tessa Violet)
2022 Non-album single

Other appearances

Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"I Wan'na Be Like You" 2016 Everybody Loves Disney
"Cash Cash Money" The Matchbreaker (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
"Feelings Are Fatal" 2019 mxmtoon plum blossom (the edits)

Music videos

Title Year Director
"Sorry I'm Not Sorry" 2016 Evan Spencer Bruce
"Dream" Isaac White
"Not Over You" Tessa Violet
"Haze" Sean O'Halloran
"On My Own" Shawna Howson
"I Don't Get to Say I Love You Anymore" Sean O'Halloran
"Crush" 2018 Jordan Harms & Isaac White
"Bad Ideas" Jade Ehlers
"I Like (the idea of) You" 2019
"Games" (official lyric video)
"Bored" 2020
"Words Ain't Enough"
"Wishful Drinking" Rachel Reizin

References

  1. "About Tessa Violet". YouTube.
  2. Cohen, Stefanie (July 25, 2010). "Cashin' in on video". New York Post. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  3. "19-Year-Old YouTube Vlogger Receives Over One Million Views and Wins $100,000 in Lashes to Riches Giveaway" (Press release). PR Newswire / Beauty Biosciences. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  4. SAIL - AWOLNATION (Unofficial Video), retrieved January 7, 2023
  5. Merge PR (September 25, 2012). "Family Force 5 Hits the "Cray Button" with new Video Premiere Featuring Lecrae". Breathecast. The Christian Post. Archived from the original (Web) on January 19, 2013.
  6. "Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled". All Music. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  7. "Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled". All Music. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  8. Tessa Violet [@meekakitty] (March 27, 2014). "My album is #10 on @billboard 's Heatseekers chart!!" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  9. Tessa Violet (September 16, 2016), Tessa Violet - Dream (official music video), retrieved September 27, 2016
  10. "Tessa Violet - Halloway". Discogs.
  11. "EXCLUSIVE: Tessa Violet Talks 'Halloway' EP, Transatlantic Tour, and YouTube". October 26, 2016.
  12. Violet, Tessa (April 22, 2018). "a year of bad ideas". YouTube. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  13. "crush teaser" via YouTube.
  14. "Tweet". twitter.com. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  15. "Tessa Violet - Crush (Official Music Video)" via YouTube.
  16. Timmons, Joseph (June 19, 2018). "Tessa Violet Announces New Album, Bad Ideas To Be Released August 3rd". YouTube. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  17. Violet, Tessa (November 29, 2018). "Tweet".
  18. Roth, Madeline. "Tessa Violet Describes The Real-Life Crush That Inspired Her 'Bold, Confident' New Song". MTV News.
  19. "Fire Tunes Alert: Tessa Violet Just Released Remixes to Her Last Three Singles". www.lofficielusa.com. January 18, 2021.
  20. "Interview: Tessa Violet on her upcoming three-part album, 'Bad Ideas'". April 2019.
  21. "Tessa Violet reveals latest single was built on Bad Ideas". December 16, 2018.
  22. "Interview: Tessa Violet on her upcoming three-part album, 'Bad Ideas'". April 2019.
  23. "PREMIERE: Tessa Violet Knows "Words Ain't Enough" on Her Second Album's Lead Single". FLOOD.
  24. "Exuberant 'Bad Ideas: The Experience' livestream shows what Tessa Violet is capable of". May 19, 2021.
  25. "Livestream Review: Tessa Violet // Bad Ideas". May 17, 2021.
  26. "iDKHOW share remix version of New Invention featuring Tessa Violet". Kerrang!. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  27. "Tessa Violet debuts "BREAKDOWN," 2022 headline tour announced". May 26, 2022.
  28. "Tessa Violet Debuts New Single 'Breakdown'".
  29. "Tessa Violet gives us permission to "BREAKDOWN" in new single". June 2, 2022.
  30. "Next Week in Music | March 20-26 • the Long List: 375 Releases on the Way". March 19, 2023.
  31. "Why We're Infatuated with Tessa Violet". The Fullest. August 7, 2018.
  32. "Tessa Violet Chart History - Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  33. "Tessa Violet Chart History - Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  34. "Leaves and Branches". Bandcamp. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.