Meet Taylor Marie

1. Where are you from and what was the moment you realized music was something you were fully passionate about?

Hi! Firstly, thank you so much for doing this. I truly appreciate it! I am from Southern New Jersey, a small town called West Deptford, right outside of Philadelphia. Music has been in my life for as long as I can remember, but I first started to feel a little spark of believing in myself and my musical passions when I was in high school and became known as the person who would always take the aux and “put people on” to new and underground music. It became a part of my aesthetic, at least I like to think so. :)

My freshman year of college, I really started to take music seriously when I started a music blog called “Heartfelt Hip Hop” and I began networking with creatives and immersing myself in music journalism. When I transferred from Syracuse University in New York to USC in Los Angeles, I started attending weekly open mics, got involved in the music community, got hired by Universal Music Group °1824, and realized that music was actually a real, tangible thing for me. Once I realized it was possible for someone like me, from a small town thousands of miles away, that’s when I finally decided to jump headfirst in and see where it would take me. Today, I couldn’t imagine not being a part of music and the music industry.

2. Who are some of your favorite artists and why do they inspire you or influence your style?

Some of my favorite artists are Summer Walker, Kiana Lede, and Ella Mai. These artists are so inspiring to me because their lyricism and songwriting capabilities are so impressive, relatable, raw, and emotional. I aspire to relate to my listeners the way that they do, and I love how connected their music makes me feel to them and their relatable experiences. I can only hope that I can inspire my listeners in the same way.

3. What lyric do you find the most relatable to your own life that you’ve written?

I have so much love for so many of the lyrics that I’ve written. Being an artist and songwriter, I’ve written songs for myself and for others, so this is a great question because I feel that I have a lot of material to reflect on.

I think that I have two favorite lyrics of mine. They’re from the songs “Tough Love” and “Guard Up” and the lyrics are as follows.

“I don’t know if I’m more scared of ending, or of having to begin.” - Guard Up

“I’m over friends who wanna abuse me- I know it’s not perfect, I know it’s not a movie- but keep treating me like this, and you’re gonna lose me.” -Tough Love

4. Why should people listen to your music?

I’m not the type of person who likes to tell people what to do (I have such a hard time doing this, lol) but if someone were to listen to my music, I think they would enjoy it because of its relatability, rawness, honesty, and emotion. Music is my art- words, more specifically, are my art and my way of expressing myself, and I think you can learn a lot more from my music than you can just talking to me. When I make music, I lay it all out there and I say the things that I might be too afraid to say, otherwise.