NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
As she prepares her next album, Kim Petras says, “I have a lot of bones to pick”<\/p>\n
The Grammy winner says she was accused of selling out because of some of her previous mainstream collaborations<\/p>\n
“I did a few albums that felt like I was doing what people in the music industry wanted from me, and then I got punished for that as an artist,” the pop star adds<\/p>\n
Kim Petras<\/a> is making music on her terms again.<\/p>\n The pop star is preparing her next album, which she\u2019s already teased with three singles: \u201cPolo,\u201d \u201cFreak It\u201d and \u201cI Like Ur Look.\u201d And she promises that the project will be a departure from Feed the Beast, her 2023 major-label debut released on Republic Records.<\/p>\n Petras tells PEOPLE she\u2019s \u201ckind of pissed\u201d as she heads into this new era \u2014\u00a0and that is fueling the album.<\/p>\n \u201cI did a few albums that felt like I was doing what people in the music industry wanted from me, and then I got punished for that as an artist,\u201d says Petras, 33, who says she was accused of selling out for some of the moves she made in recent years, like scoring a Nicki Minaj collab<\/a> on her last album (\u201cAlone\u201d) and teaming up with David Guetta on \u201cWhen We Were Young (The Logical Song).\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI’m like, \u2018Everybody would do a Nicki Minaj<\/a> feature if they got the chance to do it. Why, when I ‘sell out,’ is it the worst thing in the world? Because I’m a trans artist<\/a> and I’m supposed to be better for the community?\u2019\u201d Petras says. \u201cI wanted to make a David Guetta song and a Nicki Minaj song, and I wanted it to be tacky, and I love tacky pop music, and I don’t feel apologetic for that. And I do feel like I need to defend music that people think is tacky. That’s my favorite music.\u201d<\/p>\n Petras felt that \u201cpeople really just roped me off and were like, \u2018You\u2019re over, bitch. You sold out.\u2019\u201d she adds. \u201cI have a lot of bones to pick.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, she\u2019s pouring her frustrations with the music industry into her next record.<\/p>\n \u201cOn this one, I just am pulling the curtain back and being like, \u2018I know you think that I completely sold out, but I did it only so I could have creative freedom completely on a project like this and write it completely with friends and really be brave and do things that might not be digestible,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I’m down to get punished by my label and get no budget and work my ass off to make the visuals and do all of that for making music that I care about. And that was always my plan.\u201d<\/p>\n After establishing a fan base with her breakout singles \u201cI Don\u2019t Want It at All\u201d (2017) and 2018\u2019s \u201cHeart to Break,\u201d Petras went on to make history<\/a>, becoming the first trans woman to win a Grammy for Best Duo\/Group Performance for the 2022 Sam Smith collab \u201cUnholy.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n After the Grammy win, \u201cI don’t give a f— about anyone’s opinion anymore, and I do what I want,\u201d Petras says. \u201cAnd I feel like I found that through doing what I’m told to do, I was like, \u2018My soul can’t do this anymore,\u2019 and I feel like I’m not making art and just falling into depression over that because literally I feel like my body just rejected being fake.\u201d<\/p>\n