Artist To Watch: Meghan Trainor's Actually About A Lot More Than Just That Bass
"Gimme that title, title," Meghan Trainor sings on the chorus of her latest single, "Title." And though she's talking about DTR (defining the relationship), she might as well be referring to some sort of official recognition of her hit-maker status on the pop music scene.
For the fourth week in a row, Meghan's breakout song, "All About That Bass," sits perched atop the Billboard Hot 100, beating out Top 40 heavyweights like Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea for that coveted #1. And with a debut album in the works, there's basically nothing that can treble trouble her ascent now.
Just in case you're not all about MTV's latest Artist To Watch yet, meet the young woman behind the smash hit.
Who She Is
Not to get all "dirty limerick on you," but there literally once was a girl from Nantucket.
Trainor was always super-exposed to music growing up off the coast of mainland Massachusetts, and then later in the Cape Cod village of Hyannis. Her father, Gary, is a church organist, and her aunt and uncle, Lisa and Burton Toney, perform Caribbean-style soca music together as Island Vybe. Meghan would even perform with them from time to time, as evidenced by this video from 2011.
Although you probably know her from (shot in the dark) her breakout hit, "All About That Bass," Meghan's also got some major songwriting skills in her arsenal. In the past, she's written with the likes of Hunter Hayes, and two songs she co-wrote appear on Rascal Flatt's 2014 album, Rewind.
Why You Should Listen To Her
As the era of dance-pop and club-banger beats recedes from the spotlight, Trainor's throwback sound offers a refreshing, yet familiar, way forward. But despite the doo-wop influence on "All About That Bass," its message -- to "love your body no matter what," as she explains in a release -- keeps it current.
What inspired her to set about to "bringing booty back"? "Writing that song," Meghan says, "I was thinking about girls today and how there's even more pressure to be thin now, because of Instagram and selfies and that constant competition."
What You Need To Listen To
It's safe to assume that you're already familiar with "All About That Bass." (The song has been certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and it's currently #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after 12 weeks on the chart.) So, let's set our sights on her follow-up single, "Title," instead.
The title track off of her recently released Title EP (say "title" one more time), the breezy song sees Trainor telling her man that when it comes to their relationship, she'll take the girlfriend label or bust: "Baby, don't call me your friend/ If I hear that word again/ You might never get a chance to see me naked in your bed."
"I like that ['Title'] showed what my sound really is," Meghan told MTV News at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in September. She revealed that the song was nearly shelved in favor of "Dear Future Husband," which has a more strictly doo-wop sound à la "All About That Bass," but she insisted: "I loved that 'Title' showed a little Caribbean drum before the chorus and then, like, a rap bridge that was, like...[a] totally different sound."
What Else She's All About
Just because she's all about that bass doesn't mean that that's all she's all about. (Meghan Trainor contains multitudes.) Back in August, she shared some of her obsessions with MTV News, which include pizza, football, "Modern Family," Bruno Mars, T-Pain, kittens and, of course, her fans -- a.k.a., the "Megatrons."
What's Next For Her
A long way from Hyannis, Meghan is currently based out of Nashville as she puts together her major-label debut album. She has once again teamed up with her "All About That Bass" producer, Kevin Kadish -- who has worked with everyone from Jason Mraz to Miley Cyrus -- and she will even collaborate with fellow chart-topper John Legend.
Guess she wasn't playing around with that whole "Gimme that title, title," thing, huh?
