Poppy (singer)

Moriah Rose Pereira (born January 1, 1995), known professionally as Poppy and formerly as That Poppy, is an American singer, songwriter, YouTuber, and performance artist. In 2014, she gained viral fame by starring in surreal performance art videos on YouTube as an uncanny valley-like android who commented on and satirised internet culture and modern society. She signed a recording contract with Island Records in 2015 and released her debut pop EP '' Bubblebath'' in 2016.

In 2017, Poppy signed a deal with Mad Decent and released her debut studio album ''Poppy.Computer'', which consisted of art pop and bubblegum pop songs. To promote the album, she embarked on the Poppy.Computer Tour. In 2018, she released the pilot for the proposed surreal comedy online series ''I'm Poppy'' on YouTube Premium. She also released her second studio album ''Am I a Girl?'' In stark contrast to her previous style, the second half of ''Am I a Girl?'' began to show a heavy nu metal influence.

In 2020, Poppy signed to Sumerian Records'', incorporating heavy metal and industrial rock. Continuing the stylistic shift that started with her second album, ''I Disagree'' featured lyrical themes and music videos which some critics described as "disturbing", "violent", and "macabre". In 2021, as part of her long-time collaboration with professional wrestling promotion WWE and its NXT brand, she released the metalcore EP ''Eat (NXT Soundtrack)''. Her fourth studio album, ''Flux'', was released three months later to critical acclaim and featured a less harsh and more stripped-down sound than her previous works.

Poppy's song "Bloodmoney" received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2021, making her the first and currently only female artist to be nominated in a metal category.

Early life

Moriah Rose Pereira was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 1, 1995. She lived in the nearby suburb of Whitman for part of her youth, but moved with her family to Nashville, Tennessee at age 14. She recalls wanting to be a Rockette as a child, and took dance lessons for 11 years until deciding to be a musician. She was bullied at school for being skinny and quiet, leading her to complete the latter half of her studies via homeschooling. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18.

Career

2011–2014: Moriah Poppy and ThatPoppyTV

Poppy had her first performance at IndieCove in August 2011, where she covered an Alanis Morissette song. She made two YouTube channels: "Moriah Poppy", which has been deleted, and "Poppy", her current channel. Prior to 2014, she performed at social media festivals, including VidCon in June 2012 and DigiTour in June 2013.

2015–2016: YouTube partnership, ''Bubblebath'', and ''3:36 (Music to Sleep To)''

Poppy moved to Los Angeles in 2013 to pursue her musical career. There she teamed up with director Corey Michael Mixter, known by his stage name Titanic Sinclair, to make a series of abstract promotional videos on a YouTube channel originally titled "thatPoppyTV". Though her partnership with Sinclair dissolved in 2019, as of April 2022, the channel is actively uploading videos and has attracted a large audience. In 2015, she signed to Island Records under the name That Poppy and released her debut song, "Everybody Wants to Be Poppy", in June of that year. She performed at the Corona Capital Festival in November 2015. She released the song, "Lowlife", a month after releasing her first single " Everybody Wants to Be Poppy" and released her first EP, a four-track pop record called '' Bubblebath'', on Island in 2016. The EP consists of four songs; "Lowlife", "Money", "Altar", and "American Kids". In August 2016, she released a series of advertisements for the shoe company Steve Madden on her channel as a part of its ''Steve Madden Music'' program.

On October 17, 2016, Poppy released an ambient music album called '' 3:36 (Music to Sleep To)'', composed by Titanic Sinclair and herself, with assistance from polysomnographists from the Washington University School of Medicine.

In November 2016, she became the face of Japanese retailer Sanrio's first "Hello Sanrio" collection.

2017–2018: ''Poppy.Computer'', Poppy.Church, and ''Am I a Girl?''

In February 2017, Poppy starred in a series of videos for Comedy Central called "Internet Famous with Poppy". That September, they won a Streamy award in the category 'Breakthrough Artist'.

Poppy's debut studio album, ''Poppy.Computer'', was released on October 6, 2017, by Mad Decent. Her first concert tour, the Poppy.Computer Tour, started on October 19, 2017, in Vancouver. In November, Poppy announced that their second studio album was "almost ready", and that they were going to Japan again to finish it.

Poppy made her ''YouTube Rewind'' debut in 2017, and was one of the few content creators to get their own lines. In March 2018, Poppy performed at the Japanese pop music festival, Popspring.

On April 17, 2018, Sinclair's former partner Mars Argo filed a 44-page lawsuit in Central California court against Sinclair and Poppy alleging copyright infringement, stating that Sinclair based Poppy's online persona on theirs, as well as emotional and physical abuse Sinclair had allegedly subjected them to in the period after their separation and the subsequent abandonment of the project. On May 7, Poppy made a public statement about the "frivolous" lawsuit, saying Argo was attempting to manipulate them psychologically. They called the suit a "publicity campaign" and a "desperate grab for fame". The Sinclair case was settled out of court on September 14 "with no money exchanging hands" The copyright case against Poppy was dismissed.

In 2018, Poppy released a cover of Gary Numan's song "Metal" as a single on all digital platforms. On July 27, 2018, she released the first single for the album ''Am I a Girl?'' titled "In a Minute". She released the album's second single "Time Is Up", which features American DJ Diplo, on August 22, 2018. She released "Fashion After All" on October 12, 2018. "Hard Feelings" was released on October 19 and "X" was released on October 25, 2018. The album also featured the song "Play Destroy", a collaboration with Canadian singer Grimes. Shortly after the release of the album, Poppy revealed that Grimes bullyed her during the making of "Play Destroy" stating:

In 2018, Poppy began to drop hints about a new project and website called Poppy.Church. The website is no longer active. Poppy attended the 2018 American Music Awards. After winning the Breakthrough Artist in 2017, Poppy returned to the Streamy Awards in 2018 as a presenter. Her cover of "Metal" was featured in the video game ''WWE 2K20''.

2019–2020: ''Choke'', ''Genesis 1'', ''I Disagree'', and ''Poppy's Inferno''

On January 8, 2019, Poppy announced a graphic novel through Z2 Comics entitled ''Genesis 1'', which was released to comic book stores on July 10. The graphic novel tells the origin of Poppy. The description on Z2 Comics' website reads "Is she a girl? Is she a machine? Is she humanity's redemption, or its damnation? Don't be scared – either way, she is Poppy… and you love Poppy. Witness the genesis of the internet phenomenon in this original graphic novel, bundled with an exclusive brand new album." It was co-written by Poppy, Sinclair and Ryan Cady, with art by Masa Minoura and Ian McGinty. She elaborated in an interview with ''Gigwise'' that the album released with the graphic novel, titled ''I C U: Music to Read To'', is an ambient music album meant to be listened to while reading.

On January 23, 2019, ''Billboard'' announced Poppy would star in the augmented-reality experience ''A Jester's Tale'' created and directed by Asad J. Malik. It was produced by RYOT and 1RIC, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the New Frontier program. The storyline "transports viewers inside a child's bedroom to meet a cast of character holograms". After attending the iHeartRadio awards in 2016, she returned in 2019 wearing a dress designed by Viktor & Rolf, and sat front row at their fashion show. In 2019, Poppy revealed plans for a movie and her own music streaming service. She attended the ''Billboard'' Music Awards. Her song "Scary Mask" was released on May 29, and featured American rock band Fever 333. The song was included on her second EP, ''Choke'', which was on released on June 28, 2019.

The title track was released as the second single from the album (following "Concrete" in August) on October 4 alongside the album pre-order. The album continues the metal sound featured on her 2019 EP ''Choke'' and the latter half of ''Am I a Girl?'' "Bloodmoney" was released as the third single from the album on November 6, 2019, and "Fill the Crown" was released as the fourth single from the album on December 11, 2019. The final single from the album, "Anything Like Me", was released alongside the album and the music video for the track on January 10, 2020. ''I Disagree'' was released on January 10, 2020, through Sumerian Records

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