Uncovered Purpose Under an Unexpected Spotlight
When Loren Gray posted her first video on musical.ly in 2015, she did not expect to become famous. “It wasn’t really on purpose,” she recalls. “My friends at school were actually using it to make videos for Instagram, and I didn’t know it was a platform at the time, and I got on it to make videos like everyone else.” Just like a bolt of lightning, though, fame struck her hard, fast and seemingly out of the blue. “I started getting followers on my Instagram, and I wondered where they were coming from,” she adds. “And then, I realized that I had 30,000 followers on musical.ly, and I was like ‘Oh! This is a thing!’ And from there, I just kept doing it, and I was consistent.”
Although her massive following provided Gray with something of a creative avenue where she could connect with other people by showcasing her interests, her newfound social-media fame also fundamentally changed her relationships with herself as well as with those around her. “It’s really hard to tell who your real friends are. You never really know who likes you for you, or who likes you for what you have to offer. I think I’ve gotten a little more guarded and careful about who I surround myself with because I have so much more to lose now,” she elaborates. “At the beginning, it was a little difficult to establish the boundaries between my personal life and what I decide to post. I feel like I owe it to people to share my life with them, and that’s not always the case.” Furthermore, her unexpected rise to stardom made her a target of vicious bullying by her schoolmates and Internet trolls, who harassed her and undermined her confidence. “It’s kind of hard being a teenager who’s growing and making mistakes, and having 15 million [people] looking at me all the time. Confidence is something that took me a long, long time to regain,” opens up Gray. While she is openly appreciative of her fans and her platform, she is vocally anti-bullying, and strives to encourage self-confidence and positivity in her fan base. “Being on the Internet, it’s such an awful place at times – where people can say whatever they want – so I constantly put it out to my fans that it’s important to be nice to people, and it’s important to make sure everyone feels comfortable even if you don’t like them,” she continues. “People can say whatever they want on the Internet. It’s not real life.”
Now, as far as the power of self-confidence goes, the 17-year-old Pennsylvanian sensation is leading by example that she is cementing her place in her true passion: music. “Music has always been a big part of my life. Starting social media, I was a little bit shy of it because of all of the attention that I was getting. I was afraid to put myself out there, but I kind of had this realization that people are going to say what they want regardless, so I might as well go for it, put myself out there, and do what I love,” affirms Gray who has been single-mindedly following her dream of becoming a successful singer-songwriter. Since she signed a record deal with Virgin Records earlier last year, she has released “My Story,” “Kick You Out,” and “Queen,” and has collaborated with Lost Kings (“Anti-Everything”). “Music is my full-time focus,” she says. “I just hope that the people that follow me and the people that listen to my music can relate, and if it can help one person or it can empower one person, then I’m doing what I set out to do.”
Writer: Monica Dias
Photographer: Catherine Asanov (@catherineasanov)
Fashion Editor: Lassalle (@stylebylassalle & @stevenlassalle_ - www.stevenlassalle.com)
Fashion Editor Assistants: Gala Lee (@galaleestyle) & Gabriella Lovazzano (@gabriellajlovazzano)
Hair: Justine Marjan
Hair Assistant: Samantha Annatone
Makeup: Emma Willis (@emmawillismakeup)
Videographer: Trip Digital Radio (@tripdigitalradio)
Editor: Eiko Watanabe
Special thanks to Primo’s Donuts (@primosdonutsla - www.primosdonuts.com)
Photographer (for cover): Arshum Rouhanian
Art Director: Al David
Stylist: Wilford Lenov
Hair: Gabi Lopez
Makeup: Dillon Peña (for TheOnly.Agency - using Dior)
Special thanks to 103 Studios at Capitol Records (@capitolrecords - www.capitolrecords.com)
