Rebecca Black was told ‘to switch the pronouns’ after writing songs about women

Rebecca Black has finally been able to go “as queer as I want” with her new music after being told “many times to switch pronouns in songs”.

The “Friday” singer came out as queer in April 2020, revealing that she had recently gone through a break-up following a “pretty long” relationship with a woman.

Her EP Rebecca Black Was Here, released on Wednesday (16 June), sees Black sing confidently about her queer relationships – but singing about her love of women wasn’t always easy.

Speaking to Buzzfeed, Black revealed that her song “Girlfriend” was inspired by her decision to publicly come out.

“On that day, I just felt really able to speak honestly and openly. When writing it, I really didn’t hold back or try to bend any of the lyrics to make it feel like it could pass as a straighter thing – which might sound silly on the outside, but to a queer person it’s really important.”

She continued: “As someone who has been told many times to switch pronouns in songs, I just feel really lucky to not deal with that now.

“I feel really supported by every single person that’s on my team and that I work with to be as queer as I want.

“I think people recognise the power in that, because the audience is there and they are looking for the representation. Nobody wants empty promises or empty representation. People want to feel heard.”

Black went on to reflect on the significance of Pride Month, explaining: “I feel like it means something different every year.

“This is my first time celebrating it as a fully out person – being able to go out and be with people and be with other queer people who have been a huge part of my coming out process. That’s really exciting, personally.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Black spoke about her “complicated” relationship with “Friday”, the song that catapulted her to fame a decade ago.

The song quickly went viral for its hypnotic autotune, hilarious music video and iconic lyrics – but it also resulted in the then 13-year-old singer facing vicious online abuse.

“At the end of the day, I’ve had enough time to do a bit of recalibrating on my end, look at what happened, and I just have a different perspective,” Black said of the song.

“I struggled with a lot of resentment after that song and experience – but at some point you have to let that go, or else it weighs you down and makes you more difficult to be around.”