Bieta “Bebe” Rexha has been a part of some big hits.
Now she’s working on being a big artist — in her own right.
The Brooklyn native’s work as a writer/producer/collaborator includes Eminem’s “The Monster” as well as songs by Pitbull, Iggy Azalea, Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, the Chainsmokers, David Guetta and more. She was also part of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz’s side band Black Cards.
Nowadays Rexha’s own music is taking center stage. She did release an album, “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up,” in 2015, but it’s this year’s two-part “All Your Fault” series — the first came out in February, the second is coming in April — that has the real push, with Rexha on the road to support it and some big plans ahead…
* Rexha, 27, is enjoying a chance to be on her first headlining tour. “It’s awesome,” she says by phone from Los Angeles. “It’s big pressure ’cause I want to give a great show and I want people to come back, but it’s just exciting. I feel really good to be headlining after opening for Elle Goulding and Nick Jonas and grinding on the Warped Tour. Having everybody sing along to the songs and just having fun…it feels good, y’know?”
* Concentrating on her own music, Rexha says, is “the best feeling. It’s been exciting being on features and being a part of great songs with other artists; That’s all very fulfilling and I’m grateful for that. But I think the best, the most fulfilling thing is having your own success and being known as your own person and not standing in the shadow of anybody else. I don’t feel like a sidekick; I kinda feel like I’m the super hero now.”
* Rexha says that releasing “All Your Fault” in two parts reflects the nature of the music industry in 2017. “I think music has changed so much, do drastically with all the streaming services, and we kind of live in this ADD world where we’re adding playlists and songs and the music comes and goes so quick,” she explains. “So the meaning of what an album is changes, too, and I’m a newer artist, so to give the songs the spotlight they need I put out six songs and let people hear those and then bring out another six songs a little bit later, and that way those songs get the highlight they deserve.”
* “All Your Fault, Part II,” will sound a bit different from its predecessor, according to Rexha. “It’s a little different,” she says. “It’s a little bit dancier and a little bit poppier. It’s for the pop lovers. It’s done but I’m going to go into a studio for another week or two just to write a little bit more and do something.”
* “The Monster,” a chart-topping single that won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, remains a key achievement in Rexha’s career. “i actually perform a version of that song on stage every night,” Rexha says, “and I think that’s really important ’cause it’s like a full circle moment. That song honestly has changed my life, and the one thing it gave me more than anything was respect as a songwriter and an artist. People respected me so much after that song and me being part of it. It gave me that creative freedom so I could go out and find my own voice in my own time, in my own way. I’m, like, so thankful for that.”
If You GO:
* Bebe Rexha, Daniel Sky and Spencer Ludwig
* Wednesday, March 22. Doors open at 7 p.m.
* The Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
* Tickets are $20.
* Call 313-833-9700 or visit majesticdetroit.com.
