Kami Kehoe Heals from Heartbreak with Sass and Forgiveness in ‘DRAMA QUEEN’
Breakups can be challenging for anyone to navigate, especially when we tend to gaslight ourselves from the emotions we’re feeling. We become numb to reality and the chaotic energy surrounding the heartbreak. Sometimes, we take on a more dramatic and sarcastic tone to navigate tough emotions.
Multi-genre artist Kami Kehoe proves she is just that with the debut of her first full-length album DRAMA QUEEN, led by single “hate ur f**king self.” The nine-track project is conceptually driven, capturing each stage of healing a broken heart with a sarcastic, almost downright bratty demeanor.
The songs are organized in order of how she felt through the breakup process from feeling numb, to coping in the wrong ways, to reminiscing, to feeling angry, and finally landing on forgiveness. Kehoe’s rollout began with the release of “loaded gun,” which has recently picked up steam on TikTok and earned her over 10,000 followers overnight. Both a talented songwriter and prolific drummer, Kehoe’s music touches on aspects of rock, R&B and funk while remaining firmly rooted in the playful dynamics of pop.
“I titled it DRAMA QUEEN to come off as somewhat sarcastic but also really feeling like I was being too dramatic,” Kehoe says. “Writing each song felt like a therapy session. I would write and release how I felt and then reflect when I listened back to the songs, realizing the emotions I was feeling and accepting them instead of ignoring them.”
Fusing old and new soul to create a sound that undeniably dances between genres, the 19-year-old artist to watch is also fluent in playing drums and possesses a particular attention to production that is inherently tangible.
“I've gotten a lot of feedback from people who have been through similar situations and people were able to relate to each song in different ways – that was super beautiful,” Kehoe says. “My whole purpose is making music and writing as well. It's for an outlet for me, but releasing it as being able to have people connect with it and help them and it heals me because it’s my therapy and it can be therapy for other people.”
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Unpublished Magazine. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar, what inspires your artistic style and creative persona?
[KAMI]: My main genre is pop, but I like to incorporate a lot of different genres in my music. When it comes to writing and production, I base it on how I'm feeling at that moment. When I write or produce – especially on this album – each song allows me to express myself and is a form of therapy for me.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You just released your debut album DRAMA QUEEN, and a huge congratulations is in order. What were you most excited for in regards to this release?
[KAMI]: This was super big for me. I was excited because I have a body of work out there and I feel like I have a lot of unreleased music and not a lot of people have heard a lot of my music. It was a concept album and people were able to connect with the vulnerable side of me through my writing, and people are able to see how I can dabble in different genres. I've gotten a lot of feedback from people who have been through similar situations and people were able to relate to each song in different ways – that was super beautiful. My whole purpose is making music and writing as well. It's for an outlet for me, but releasing it as being able to have people connect with it and help them and it heals me because it’s my therapy and it can be therapy for other people.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Why did you title the record DRAMA QUEEN?
[KAMI]: I titled this when I was in the studio and I had a couple different sessions that week when I was in LA. Each session, I kept giving off this bratty, sarcastic tone in each of my writing sessions. At the time I was going through a breakup, so I was feeling angry and I was expressing that in a sarcastic way. I felt like a drama queen and then I thought that would be a fire album name. I took the idea and ran with it and created an album based around being a drama queen and expressing every emotion that I’ve always had within me and allowing myself to express every emotion and be dramatic as I wanted to with each song.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I read that the songs are organized in a very structured way to flow with how you felt throughout the breakup process. How important was that organized flow to you and the structure of DRAMA QUEEN?
[KAMI]: The order is super cool. I made the songs at different times, but when I put them all together, it was more structured. For the introduction I needed something really dramatic, so my brain instantly went to a circus since it’s really chaotic. When I wrote “fun house,” I wanted it to be a broad statement of how I was feeling at that moment and the heartbreak and how I was coping. It’s a broad concept of what the aftermath was like and how I was not dealing with my emotions. That’s how I got “fun house” first and it ties in the album fully together. Each song after that was the stages of the breakup, whether I was in a relationship or out of a relationship, that talks about each situation I went through and how I dealt with those things. The last song on the project “hate ur f**king self” was the final release and closure that I needed.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Say if someone has never heard your music before. What song would you show them off DRAMA QUEEN that you think encapsulates your artistic growth and maturity?
[KAMI]: I think all these songs are able to resonate with people in different ways. But personally, I think if I had to show someone that has never heard my music before, I think I'd show them “loaded gun.” It’s a ballad, it’s the slowest song on the album, but I think everyone can appreciate it. It’s just piano, my vocals and a lot of my artistry is shown through my writing. I’ve made people feel something from that song. I would show them “loaded gun” because I feel like even if they didn't like that style of music, they would be able to appreciate it. That's one of my favorites on the album as well.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Which song was the hardest for you to write, either lyrically or emotionally?
[KAMI]: A lot of these songs were hard because while I was writing, I was feeling pretty numb in general because I wasn't dealing with my emotions correctly. I was writing in the midst of hurt and pain. The hardest for me to write was the last song “hate ur f**king self.” I was in denial of what happened to me and I didn’t want to forgive or understand this person. On the last song, I had to accept what was happening and how that person truly hates themselves and that was the closure that I needed. It was the hardest to write, but it helped me the most to get through what I was going through. I had to open up this wound that I did not want to open. Writing comes to me pretty fast, but emotionally, that one was the hardest.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite song off the album and why do you love this song so much?
[KAMI]: I love the whole album and each one has a special place in my heart for them, but as of now, “loaded gun” because I am watching people on social media connect with the lyrics. That’s my soul purpose of making music and writing is being able to connect with other people, so I love seeing that. When I perform it live, everyone knows the lyrics and the energy of the song is crazy. My favorite song might change in a week because I love the whole album.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Did you experience any lessons or have any breakthroughs throughout the creative process of DRAMA QUEEN?
[KAMI]: Reflecting on the whole album and listening back to it, I definitely went through a lot and when I was writing these songs, they were all therapeutic. When I write, sometimes I don't even realize when I'm writing until I listen back to them. Even if I don’t have an answer to what emotions I was dealing with, it’s good to know what I was going through and how I’m feeling instead of keeping it inside and not expressing myself. I started it as a way to understand more about myself. While writing, I learned a lot about myself and how I deal with certain situations or triggers. I’m able to grow and acknowledge those aren’t healthy ways of dealing with things and each song was like a lesson for me.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What advice would you give readers who are going through a breakup?
[KAMI]: Don’t invalidate your feelings. On DRAMA QUEEN, I wanted to express every emotion no matter how extreme. A lot of times I feel like in toxic relationships or unhealthy ones, gaslighting is very common. After breakups, we tend to gaslight ourselves and invalidate our feelings, so I would just say it's not wrong to feel angry or any emotion. The more you hold it in, the worse it gets, the more numb you become. Just accept or understand what you're going through and understand that your emotions aren't wrong and it's okay to be dramatic sometimes and if people think that you're dramatic, that's fine, who cares?
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Unpublished?
[KAMI]: So the rest of the year looks like I'm going to be promoting this album. I'm going to be doing some more live shows and keep building my audience and social media and keep connecting with the people that are connecting with me. I'm super appreciative of all the people I've connected with so far for this album. I want to try and release a couple of singles. Hopefully in the future I'm going to be able to release a couple of different singles, but my main focus is making videos for DRAMA QUEEN.
