Tate McRae Gets Real About Being Overly ‘Sexualized’

Tate McRae Become vulnerable about the downsides of fame.

In a new interview, the 22-year-old opened up about the harsh criticism she faced over her fashion choices.

According to McRae, she’s spent the past year finding her voice and boldly stepping into new opportunities (and clothes) that made her feel her best.

Despite this, the Canadian hitmaker, known for hits like “Greedy” and “Sports Car,” still faces opposition from critics intent on tearing her down.

Speaking with Rolling Stone, McRae didn’t hold back when discussing the flood of negative comments she received about her provocative outfits and her song “Purple Lace Bra.” In the single, McRae sings explicit lyrics about her relationship with a man, and in the live performance, she wears a purple lace bra.

McRae told RS that part of her reasons for releasing the song were the messages of empowerment she received. However, after everything was revealed, the reactions seemed bad. “People always want girls to put themselves out there. The minute they do, they get torn apart by it,” she said.

Doubly so, McRae was unflappable about the negative comments she received about her appearance, and wondered if she would face the same comments if she were a man.

“I was feeling sexy and confident for the first time in my life, and then I would release something and feel sexual, and I feel like all my work and effort has been taken away from me,” she said, before saying the “scrutiny” towards women became “worse and worse.”

She added, “It’s weird that people pay so much attention to us girls because of the little things that a man wouldn’t get checked out for…and they don’t think about the great things that happen on stage.”

McRae went on to explain that when she or her peers are on stage, some audience members are not focused on their singing or their amazing performance. “They think about what shorts they’re wearing, or what their makeup looks like, and that’s annoying,” she admitted.

Even then, McRae still experiences many positive moments while performing, such as seeing “the girls in the front row screaming [the lyrics.” She added, “It gives me full-body chills because I’m just like, ‘Oh, we’re all experiencing this. This is not just me. It’s everybody who feels this frustrating feeling that it’s gone on for so f-cking long.'”

Shifting gears, the “2 hands” singer opened up about her evolving career, which included recording a track for the “F1” movie and collaborating with country star Morgan Wallen on the summer track “What I Want.”

McRae, who grew up listening to country and has been deeply inspired by her brother’s love of the genre, said she joined forces with Wallen because she really wanted to cross genres.

However, McRae faced intense backlash from fans, with one writing, “Tate McRae collabing with Morgan Wallen … I’m actually so disappointed in her [right now]”.

McRae admitted that she was not expecting such an emotional response to the song because for her it was just about the music. “It was just about the song for me. I didn’t realize how connected the song was to all the other factors, and that really shocked me,” she said.