Last year, Reneé Rapp was fed up.
She was burned out from working on music, TV, and movies at the same time, so she hit the reset button—going off birth control, experimenting with ketamine therapy, and taking a break from everything.
When she came back, she started making bold, defiant music about her real life. In her own words, these songs had “fuck off” energy, so she named the album ‘Bite Me.’
It has some of the best songs she’s ever made, and it’s been pressed on special grape vinyl, available only on Complex.
"It's a Complex exclusive album, and it's grape. Bitch," she told Complex.
To celebrate, we’re diving deep on the album.
Lyrics:
Bite Me is full of unapologetic lyrics about the highs and lows of life. Some songs are funny. Some are sassy. Some are sad. And they’re all extremely honest. But there’s one specific lyric that Reneé says is her favorite.
On the second verse of “Kiss It Kiss It,” she sings:
“I think we almost made a baby.
I mean, we can't, but we came real close."
Reneé told Complex that it’s actually her favorite lyric she’s ever written.
“I was like, ‘That’s so hard! That’s so hard.’ And I was so gassed about it. And all the boys in the room were like, ‘Yeah, it’s good.’ And I was like, ‘Ugh, shut up. You don’t get it!’”
Contributors:
Reneé has collaborated with everyone from Coco Jones to Megan Thee Stallion over the years, but on ‘Bite Me,’ she handles all of the vocals herself.
On an album that’s as personal as this one, the decision pays off big time. But it’s not like she wasn’t collaborative. Reneé worked with an all-star cast of producers, including Alexander23, Omer Fedi, Julian Benetta, and Ryan Tedder.
Reneé specifically chose producers who were able to pull things out of her that she didn’t realize she was capable of.
In an interview with Grammys.com, she explained: “Alexander loves the things about me that I'm not able to love about myself. He'll champion the parts of me that I think are crazy, and he believes in me when I don't believe in myself.”
Exclusive Vinyl Variant:
If you love this album as much as we do, you’ll want it in your home. There’s a grape vinyl variant that you can only get on Complex, as well as an alternate cover version available in pink. You can find those, plus a whole collection of Bite Me merch on Complex.