Olivia Rodrigo Talks Being A Filipina Pop Star: I Grew Up Never Seeing That

There's no doubt that Olivia Rodrigo is one of the biggest pop stars in the world right now. Hot off the release of her latest music video for 'Brutal,' the 18-year-old singer sat down with Saturday Night Live actor Bowen Yang for V Magazine. During their chat, the pair bonded over being Asian artists in the public eye.

“I think you are kind of doing something very radical by just existing as a musician and the way that you are as this Asian artist," Yang told Rodrigo. "I don’t know if that ever factors into the way that you approach your career. Because if I think about that too much myself, I get overwhelmed. And so I only open that drawer every now and then. How often do you open the drawer?”

Rodrigo, who is Filipino American, said she and Yang "share a lot in that sort of space," calling that shared experience "incredible to think about." Like Yang, Rodrigo admits she can also get overwhelmed when she thinks about her position as a Filipina pop star.

“I sometimes get DMs from little girls being like, ‘I’ve never seen someone who looked like me in your position.’ And I’m literally going to cry," she said. "Like just thinking about it. I feel like I grew up never seeing that. Also it was always like, ‘Pop star,’ that’s a white gir," Rodrigo added.

Rodrigo has a lot of pop star engagements to look forward to this year, as well. She revealed what she's most looking forward to and, yes, it involves seeing her fans IRL.

"I’m most excited to tour. Like we were talking about before, I’m really excited to create that experience for people," Rodrigo gushed. "And I’m really excited to write more music and suddenly I can work with anyone I want to work with now, which is so crazy and gonna be a really fun thing to explore."

Even though she's going to be busy making new music and performing her slew of hit songs, Rodrigo is also excited to just kick back and be a teeanger. "Honestly, I literally just turned 18, so there are so many normal teenage things that I’m really excited to do," se gushed. "There's so much in life that I have to learn and so many experiences to be had. So I’m honestly most excited for that. I love growing up. I feel like I get happier with age, so hopefully, that’s a trend that continues."