All photos courtesy of Kylie Cantrall.
Welcome to SOUND ADVICE, Interview’s destination for playlists curated by our friends, enemies, and lovers. In recent weeks, we’ve featured soundtracks from Anok Yai, girlsweetvoiced, and Cannelle. This week’s installment comes from Disney bad girl turned valley girl Kylie Cantrall, who is fresh off a chaotic—and slightly shady—Descendants 6 press tour. Last Friday, the rising pop girl dropped her latest EP Valley Girl Problems, a cheeky, upbeat, and vulnerable project about navigating heartbreak and betrayal under the intoxicatingly bright lights of La La Land. In between her grueling dance rehearsals and much-needed matcha runs, Cantrall made us a playlist of pop perfection filled with legends like Janet Jackson and up-and-comers like Chxrry. Afterwards, she had a go at our questionnaire where she dished on all things gossip, girl groups, and the best way to get over your ex.
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Where do you dance?
Tbh, lately, it’s been in rehearsals for my upcoming live shows. I just performed at The Roxy and have my first headlining tour going out in the fall. So if I’m in front of a mirror at Mihran K or Center Stage, it’s going to be the endless hours of rehearsals before I’m going out on the road.
What is your musical taste red flag?
This is so random, but slide guitars. I’m not sure if anyone I’m going to be working with will be able to sell me on the idea that “What your song is missing is slide guitars!” Lol.
Who is the first person you run to with gossip?
I would have to say my bestie Sharlize :). We have the kind of friendship where, after any event or outing we go to together, we always have to have our own separate debrief after so we can recount every little detail that happened in the night.
Three words that describe Valley Girl Problems.
Confessional, vulnerable, girly pop💅.
Which song on this playlist makes you cry?
“Still” by Kehlani is genuinely one of the most beautiful songs ever. It was immediately the one that I added to my playlist when I first listened to her album. I cry every single time.
What’s a good piece of advice you never follow?
Find a “nice guy.” I just don’t know why that’s so hard. It might have something to do with the fact that I’m used to working hard at things that I subconsciously believe it takes “hard work” to have a bf. Maybe the nice ones just make it too easy? Defff the wrong approach, I promise I’m working on it
Fuck, marry, kill girl groups: TLC, Destiny’s Child, Spice Girls
Okay I’d say, fuck Destiny’s Child, marry TLC, and kill Spice Girls (sry Posh I love u tho).
What’s a lesson you had to learn the hard way?
That things live on the internet FOREVER. I’m definitely not going to tell you which video is my most embarrassing, because that will only make everyone immediately go look it up. All I’ll say is that there is something floating around that I would love to have erased PERMANENTLY.
Dream collab, dead or alive?
So easy, especially if you listened to my last EP B.O.Y. I had a song on there called “Raised By Rihanna.” So I guess it would be obvious to any of my fans that ofc I’d love to collab with Mother one day.
The world is ending, what are you wearing?
Yeah, under those circumstances, I prob can’t wear Vivienne Westwood and red bottoms. I would need something comfy like a Baby Phat sweatsuit and definitely my most broken-in pair of Timbs. I feel like they’re the perfect “running away from aliens attacking the earth” shoe.
Tell us a secret.
I shouldn’t have a driver’s license because I never passed my actual driving test. I literally put on my seatbelt, started my car, and immediately hit the curb as I pulled out of the DMV. I knew I wasn’t going to impress the instructor with my skills, so I turned on the charm and said a prayer. He said “I shouldn’t pass you, but you can consider this your lucky day.” Lolll thanks, king.
Who do you trust most with the aux?
Probably my good friend Red. We’ve been dancing together since we were kids, but he’s always putting me on to new music. It helps that he’s been touring the world with BTS right now, so whenever we get together he’ll have a new extensive list of artists to put me on to.
What’s a song on this playlist you wish you wrote?
I think “Positions” by Ariana Grande is quite literally a perfect pop song. A true masterclass in pop perfection.
What song off your EP has been on repeat?
I think I’d have to say I’ve really been listening to “Closet” a ton. And maybe it’s because I was editing the MV right up to the release date. I shot the video in Paris in June, but it’s been weeks of back and forth with millions of versions. I never realized how many notes you can give on just coloring a video. “I just think, like, the video feels melancholy when the sky has a greenish tone. I’m looking for a cobalt blue?” Lol
Best way to get over your ex?
Ughhh I don’t think there is a quick fix. You can hang out with friends, stay off of social media, even find a rebound, but honestly it’s really only time that will truly get you over the heartbreak.
What DCOM describes your life right now?
This is kind of a deep cut, Johnny Tsunami, hahaha. I just think I’ve been riding the waves as they come in. From last year’s big summer tour to the month of Descendants movie promo to the release of my new EP Valley Girl Problems. But if I’m being honest, those waves I’ve been riding have been stormy. Like tsunami-level stormy, so maybe thats why that particular DCOM popped into my head lmao.
What album was your coming-of-age soundtrack?
Low-key, the Lemonade Mouth soundtrack was my shit as a kid. “Determinate” went double platinum in my house when I was ten haha.
What’s the most valley girl thing about you?
Wow, there are so many cliché things that are valley girl about me. I could say it’s me drinking a matcha while sweating my ass off in my convertible with my industry friends piling in to go shopping at Wasteland on Ventura, and, to top it off, let’s add some vocal fry and a crazy “like” count into the mix.
Where’s the afters?
The real answer is my place. I’m a true Cancer and I’ve always been the type to invite everyone to my house after any function, all of my friends know that. So it doesn’t really matter where we go, we all know we’re gonna end up in my backyard.
The key to my heart is…
Consistency. I just love the people who I know are always gonna be there for me. Sure, every relationship has some ups and downs, but to know that you’re there and you got my back, that means everything to me.
