“I say this all the time to my team, it feels like I’m in a fan fiction. Like, a fan fiction that I would’ve written when I was 15,” says Brittany Broski over Zoom. “It gets more and more ridiculous by the day – in the best of ways.”
Having just filmed an episode of her hit digital talk show, Royal Court – on which celebrity guests including Charli XCX, Maren Morris, Colman Domingo and more compete for a spot on her “medieval council” – Broski’s life of late does seem to be getting better and better. After becoming an internet sensation thanks to a clip in which she tried kombucha and her quizzical facial expression became a viral meme, Broski has successfully cemented that momentum into online stardom.
In addition to Royal Court, she hosts her own podcast, The Broski Report, in which she covers current mainstream obsessions and offers updates on her own life (see recent episode: “Left My Gallbladder In Italy”). One of her most recent viral hits involves Broski tossing it to her on-the-scene correspondent, who is also Broski, to interview a bystander, who is none other than Timothée Chalamet.
But last month, Broski revealed a new side to the persona her community – fondly known as Broski Nation, which includes her 2 million Instagram followers and 7.6 million TikTok followers – has come to know and love.
On March 20, she shared a reimagined cover of Harry Styles’ “Adore You,” complete with a stunningly shot live video in which Broski wasn’t dressed for court, nor the news – but as a renaissance-inspired pop star.
On Friday (April 4), Broski is taking the next step in her musical journey and releasing her debut single, “The Sun.” The soulful, sultry rock song makes Broski’s ambitions and vision crystal clear – and proves that she’s been patiently waiting for this exact moment.
Broski – who co-wrote the song alongside songwriter/producer Luke Niccoli, as well as songwriters SXSSY and Emily Haber – says “The Sun” is a perfect way to introduce her music career because of how it represents the sonic universe she set out to create: “ethereal, whimsical, but also at the core of it, a fucking stink face bluesy rock song,” she says.
“I think life is wasted if you go through it not trying everything,” Broski continues. “It’s been a long time coming, but it’s landed right where it’s supposed to…And the best is yet to come. We’ve barely scratched the surface.”
You did theater and improv growing up, but when did you realize you had this voice?
I grew up in the church. I also grew up with a nana who has a beautiful voice. I was always like, “I’m an old soul.” I loved music from the ‘50s and ‘60s, The Mamas & the Papas and the Beatles, and I always was gravitating towards that bluesy rock-and-roll that has informed a lot of my favorite artists like Hozier. And so that [kind of music] was always on my playlist in middle and high school.
When I signed with the label during the pandemic and they asked me, “what’s the sound?” I’m like, “well, it’s Hozier meets Florence [and the Machine] meets Chris Stapleton.” And that’s kind of what came out in the studio. And it was beautiful because it’s like, “God, I know myself, b—h.” I know my taste and I know what I was raised on, and so many of those things blended into this beautiful smoothie that came out.
Tell me about signing with Atlantic, what was your pitch?
The label meeting was incoming. My A&R emailed in 2020, during the pandemic, and said, “Hi. I don’t know who this email’s going to, I just found this on Brittany’s profile. I am such a big fan, and I’ve seen her post videos of herself singing. If this is something that she’d like to give a chance, let me know.” I was like, “Is this real?” So we got on the call and my A&R Caterina [Nasr] asked me, “What would the look be? What would the sound be?” And I’m like, “I’ve got it, babe.” Pinterest board, Canva presentation. It’s done. It was this whimsical renaissance woman from the beginning. It was a lot of flowy fabric and corsets and candles and it just made sense. And I think it’s continued to make sense the more that we’ve developed the project. It feels so me, from what I talk about on the podcast to my show, adding whimsy and magic and fun into daily, mundane life is the correct way to live.
The fact that you do have a show, a podcast, and now you’re releasing music, how does that all fuel you in different ways?
The worst thing career-wise and also personal life-wise that I could do right now is say, “f–k all this stuff that I’ve developed, that my fans love, that I love doing. I’m a singer now.” Which is a project that my fans are obviously excited about, but the majority of them did not ask for it. So what I want to do is all of it – and do all of it well. The music isn’t eclipsing my other facets of expression or business. It’s just another plate on the table.
What are other benefits or challenges of having millions of followers before you even release your first song?
The benefits are plentiful because, in theory, I always say this and I’m kind of joking, but I could fart into the microphone and there’d be at least 10 people like, “She’s so talented. No one’s doing it like her.” But at the same time, I feel very seen by my audience…and I am very excited to give this piece of art to a fan base that already exists, is already familiar with me, and this is a more personal flavor of what I’ve already given them.
The cons are that all of those things are simultaneously working against me, so to speak, and the fact that people might already have an idea of me as a person or as what my artist persona would be. And I think that’s a bit unfair, [but] it motivates me even more. It’s a double-edged sword of people already know you, but people already know you.
Scrolling the Instagram comments of your “Adore You” cover, people were shocked.
Right. You don’t know this side.
How did some fans’ surprised response make you feel?
It was kind of a hell yeah moment. This is the point of the project, and this is to be revealed, that women are so diverse and multifaceted. And not to make a Shrek reference, but they’re like onions. You just peel back a layer and there are more underneath. That is so exciting to me about the future; I’m going to keep revealing things that you did not think I could do, or maybe you underestimated. And that gives me motivation for writing, for releasing, for live shows. There’s so many tricks in the metaphorical hat that I’m ready to pull out.
Your first taste of original music is “The Sun.” Tell me about this single.
The majority of my music was written, sung and recorded in Nashville, but this one was in L.A. And I think what happened was I was coming off of a situationship, but not even, where I was at my wits end of this feeling of, “I have done all of the work on myself, I am intelligent, funny, successful, beautiful, all these things and it’s taken me years to get there. What do you mean I’m not good enough? Or, what do you mean I’m too good for you?” What the f–k are you supposed to do with that? And so it was that frustration that I came into the writer’s room with…And what we landed on is, I think, the perfect introduction to my original music and what you can expect in the future.
How will you celebrate the song’s release?
I might take a little edible and watch me a National Geographic, Roman Empire or something on TV and fall asleep at 7:30 PM.
You mentioned “The Sun” offers a taste of what we can expect in the future – what do you have coming?
There is definitely a larger project coming, and I would say all the spoils of a rollout. It’s really important to me that people know my headspace on this record. I wrote all the music with my co-writers, I have a producing credit on some of the songs. Like this is so deeply personal and where maybe the Broski Report I’ve held back a little bit, this is going full throttle in terms of my personal life and how I really feel and my lived experiences. I’m seeking community with my audience, while at the same time I know they will find community in my story.
