"You broke me first" singer Tate McRae hopes her music teaches young people it's okay to have an emotional outlet to express themselves.
Tate acknowledges she isn't the only artist who turns her turbulent emotions into songs, telling ET Canada she views music as "a very universal thing."
The Canadian singer shouted out Olivia Rodrigo, who transformed her heartbreak into the Grammy-nominated album SOUR. Tate called Olivia "incredible" and said she is "very lucky to be around" her and have her as a friend. "I think we're all very ambitious people and I feel like, if you surround yourself by ambitious people, it's obviously going to inspire you," she explained.
Also touching upon her friendship with Conan Gray, Tate continued, "I feel like you always wanna put yourself in rooms full of people who are better than you -- or people who are gonna push you -- because, otherwise, you're just gonna be settling for less with yourself, which no one wants to do."
Tate recently released her single "She's All I Wanna Be" and said the song came from "a very genuine place" even though she says it's a "bizarre concept for a really upbeat pop song." She revealed the song "started as a ballad," but she emailed the song's producer and asked if it could be turned "into a punk song, just for fun."
"And then it turned out to be a really crazy track," Tate exclaimed.
Tate's followup single, "Chaotic," drops March 25.