Sitting at my desk, staring at Canvas as my three papers due next week hang over my head, while election-induced anxiety still hasn’t faded away and I’m perpetually on 6 hours of sleep, all I want to do is jump around my room and scream in unbridled, raging teenage angst. That’s where Bea Kristi comes in — or better known as beabadoobee, her stage name now but, once upon a time, merely her finsta handle — singing about everything I feel, but can never describe. She wrote her first ever song “Coffee” in 2017 which went viral in practically a few days, despite the fact that she only posted it online for her boyfriend to hear, and that she only learned to play the guitar in that same year. Now signed with Dirty Hit since 2018 alongside the likes of Pale Waves, she has been recognised by nearly every major magazine brand and publication, and is on billboards all across London; Matt Healy himself called her “the most exciting thing in rock music” while presenting her an NME Radar Award. Here are some of the reasons why I’m utterly obsessed with her, and why you will be too:

Her music

There are too many songs to fawn over. Her first EP “Patched Up” feels like falling in love at 17, and the next one “Loveworm” is a hazy, bedroom pop tribute to her boyfriend Soren (with many great songs to feel emo to as you stare out of the window at a windy, bleak Hyde Park). “Space Cadet” shows her transition towards indie rock, breaking out of her bedroom walls and into the studio. To me, “Fake It Flowers”, her debut album, is by far the most alluring of her releases; appealing to every angle of adolescence, it truly is the closest thing I have heard to a soundtrack to growing up. Beabadoobee dances along a really beautiful line between bitter, I-don’t-give-a-flying-f*** energy (in “Care” and “Dye It Red”) and resigned disappointment and hurt (“Sorry” and “Further Away”) before accepting a peaceful forfeit to her feelings, still learning to not be scared of loving and trusting (“Horen Sarrison” and “How Was Your Day”). The album ends in a triumphant celebration of how, despite how being young is horrendously painful, it’s also the best time she will ever have; she looks forward with the rose-coloured glasses of being in love in “Together” and “Yoshimi, Forest, Magdalene”. With Bea, you’ll scream and dance, and you’ll break down and cry, but you have each other every step of the way.

Her fashion

I didn’t know that Bea made music back in 2017, but I was a fan of her social media presence and style. Those of you who are fans of Unif might remember this photo from their Instagram account way back when:

When she isn’t wearing Unif (or the occasional Brandy Melville hoodie: even she can’t stay away!!!), Bea wears outfits comprised almost entirely of vintage pieces, mostly from Depop, it seems. She collaborates extremely often with Depop user @notjusttrash, who provides her with what she calls “fairy” and “manic pixie” tops that are to be paired with baggy combat trousers or a mini skirt with argyle tights underneath that are more torn up than they are not. Finally, don’t forget the bubblegum pink grommet belt and trainers that I can only describe as either “hiking grandfather” or “10-year-old in a skatepark in the 90s” style: there is no in-between. Her blend of textures is amazing, like pairing a sequinned Aftershock camisole layered over a long-sleeved knit jumper with a silk midi skirt, black socks and black Buffaloes… yeah, just trust me, she makes it look good. She is also very much on board with the beaded necklace trend, sporting her favourite @ugly_accessories pieces, another Depop brand, on the daily.

Let’s not forget that she also starred in the campaign for Marc Jacobs’ Heaven collection, alongside Iris Law, Eileen Kelly and other “misfit creatives”. To top it all off… in her “Sorry” music video (directed by Soren and his team, Bedroom, who direct all of Bea’s music videos and also directed the video for “Me and You Together Song”) she wore a vintage Jean Paul Gaultier dress with gigantic black platform boots (seen below). Iconic, if you ask me.

Her look

Perhaps the most noticeable feature of Bea’s look (other than her hair, which was once red and blue, but now is a more subtle bleach-blonde) is her signature heavily-winged and heavy-handed, smoked out black eyeliner, which she pairs with extreme fluttery eyelash extensions, or flared-out falsies. She also wears the most bottom-lash mascara I have ever seen someone wear. Additionally, she has multiple tattoos, spread far apart in a doodling-style, the way Pinterest and Tik Tok are currently drawn to. One, an “ugly face” on her forearm, was a stick-and-poke by Mac DeMarco in a karaoke bar in Dublin. Another set of two is above her kneecaps, “ELIJAH ROCKS”, written by her younger brother Elijah. She has many others, but perhaps the most cool of them all is a 4-frame Peanuts comic down the inside of her forearm. Looking at her tattoos, you’re bound to want one as unapologetic and unique.

Her relatability

What really stands out about Beabadoobee, and explains her appeal well, is that she is really not so different to you and me. Born in the Philippines, her parents moved to London when she was 3 and raised her in North London. She has talked about how she felt like an outsider, not fitting in to the “rich, white” demographic of her all-girls school. Expelled from that institution, she learned to play the guitar, and focussed on her career in her final year of high school, to the point of receiving A Level grades she called “terrible”. The notion of a celebrity is changing, probably due to the popularity and variety of social media, and the appeal of a “perfect” celebrity is dwindling away (in the Western world, at least). She became a sensation from her bedroom! Bea’s story is a comforting one, especially for UChicago overachievers, since it has made me redefine the idea of “success” as someone who, like her, was pressured to excel academically at all times.

She may be friends with Matt Healy now but, only a few years ago, she had his face as her phone background. Dreams do come true!