interview with demie cao by charlotte drummond

Demie Cao is a Chinese-American singer-songwriter whose love of performing started from a young age as a ballet dancer. After 13 years dedicated to the art, Demie turned her focus to the music industry with her distinctive style and fierce lyrics, and energetic dances. Demie continues to grow as an artist and is training under MSTR RCKS, and in the past, has trained within the K-Pop music industry in Seoul, South Korea, and took part in writing camps in Beijing, China.

Demie’s official debut in China was with her single, “NIGHT VISION,” which landed on Billboard Asia’s 2019 “Best of Rap: URBAN ASIA Vol. 2.” Demie has also appeared in promos for 88 Rising, CJ E&M, and KCON. In May 2020, she made her English debut in May 2020 with her single “YUNG,” which garnered immediate attention and landed her on Spotify’s Editorial New Music Friday lists in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. After the release of her first EP, Thicker Lines, Demie made NME’s 100 Essential Emerging Artists of 2021.

Demie Cao is signed to 5A LABEL/Steel Wool Entertainment and distributed by EMPIRE and EMPIRE ASIA.

Social profiles: Spotify: Demie Cao Instagram and Facebook: @demiethedestroyer YouTube: Demie Cao Twitter: @demthedestroyer

Hey, my name is Demie aka Demie the Destroyer, and I’m a rapping ballerina, aggressive introvert mixed with nocturnal animal. Nice to meet you.

As any Asian-American high school girl, I was a massive fan of Korean pop. It was the first time I’ve seen people of my ethnicity and who looked like me do popular music, so I have to say that K-pop was really the catalyst of my journey. Being older now, I just think my music is just a little more mature. I always liked the sentimental aspects of songwriting and my process has really shifted more towards being personal and introspective rather than just catchy tunes I guess.

It was such a long time in the making. I was honestly just relieved to have it get released into the world. There are many songs on there that are so old, I no longer relate to them myself. But yeah, I just love that something I’ve written at home can be heard by people around the world. It’s kinda wild.

“Circles” is a song portraying a relationship with someone that has fallen apart at the core, but still wanting to hold onto it be-

cause that person was once a home. It is a song that is very personal to me, and I hope it really just speaks for itself.

The most fulfilling is definitely just watching your vision come to life. I just love the process of coming up with an idea and then watching it get executed. The industry can also be frustrating too. I don’t always feel like I have all the freedom to do what I want, but I’m learning to be more assertive with what I want. I think that’s important.

Just having the balls to do this shit in the first place honestly. I am probably the most reserved person out there, and I don’t know how I ended up here in this industry, but I am proud of it.

That’s a real good question, there’s really not that many out there. But Audrey Nuna comes to mind, The Blossom, and Luna Li- go check em out.

I’m not sure if I’m an ideal spokesperson for this, but at least for me, it’s hard to get taken seriously in a room full of white men (or just men in general) as a 5’2” Asian girl. They just kind of expect you to nod and go along with whatever.

Don’t focus too much on your circumstances. The hardest part is always the beginning.

“Circles” is coming out on May 14 and all the visuals are directed by me so I’m super excited about that. Other than that, I’m just writing and working on new music for yall. <3 Thank you for sticking around.

OM.