| Tessa Violet | |||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Years Active: | 2006–present | ||||||||||||||||||
| Module: |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Module2: |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Tessa Violet Williams is an American singer-songwriter, social media personality, actress, music video director, and former child model.
Originally a vlogger under the username Meekakitty, Violet has since focused primarily on her music career. She has released three studio albums, Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled (2014), Bad Ideas (2019), and MY GOD! in 2023.
Violet grew up in Ashland, Oregon and performed in theatre productions while in high school. She created her YouTube channel under the name Meekakitty in July 2006. In 2007, Violet began making daily vlogs for a school project while working in Hong Kong and Thailand as a fashion model.[1]
After moving to New York City in 2009, Violet gained attention after winning $100,000 in a YouTube competition by receiving the most comments on her video entry.[2] In 2011, Violet was featured in fellow YouTube creator Nanalew's unofficial music video for the song "Sail" by Awolnation. The video went viral and has since amassed over 370 million views. On September 24, 2012, Violet appeared in the music video for Family Force 5's "Cray Button" ft. Lecrae.[3]
Violet released her first album Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled on March 18, 2014.[4] The album was produced by Seth Earnest at Maker Studios, with John Zappin as A&R.<ref>Web site: Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled . All Music . June 15, 2015. Despite the lack of attention from traditional media sources, the record debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and sold 5,000 copies in the first three months.[5]
Violet released the lead single "Dream" from her EP Halloway on September 16, 2016.[6] The full EP was released October 14, 2016. She released videos for all songs on the project.[7]
In 2018, Violet revealed she was working on her second album, Bad Ideas.[8] "Crush", the first single from the record, was released June 15, 2018.[9] An accompanying music video directed by Big Forest was released on YouTube on the same day.[10] As of January 2024, the music video has reached over 103.69 million views on YouTube. The single led to Violet being featured on YouTube's Artist On The Rise.[11] The entire album was set to release on August 3, 2018,[12] but instead was delayed and set to be released in three different parts.[13] The album's title track, "Bad Ideas," was released as a single on November 30, 2018, alongside a music video.[14] [15] "I Like (the idea of) You" came out in May 2019.[16] She released Bad Ideas (Act One) in July 2019, featuring remixes of the first three singles of the project.[17] [18] [19] The plan for the project then changed to release the rest of the album all at once.
On October 25, 2019, Violet released her second album Bad Ideas. The album contains 11 tracks, 6 of which had been released as singles (Crush, Bad Ideas, I Like (the idea of) You, and Games). The song was released via the label T∆G MUSIC.[20] She promoted it with The Experience [21] [22]
On November 5, Violet was featured on a remix of the I Dont Know How But They Found Me song "New Invention."[23]
On February 15, 2022, Violet released "YES MOM", the first single from her third studio album.[24] She then opened for Cavetown on his 2022 US Tour, alongside Addison Grace.[25]
On May 29, Daysormay released a version of their song "Role Model" featuring Violet.[26] [27] On June 1, Violet released the single "Breakdown",[28] [29] alongside the announcement of her Rise of the Phoenix tour with openers Will Joseph Cook and Daysormay, which ran from August to October 2022.[30] [31] On August 9, Violet released the single Kitchen Song, followed by a voice memo version of the song on August 16. On September 7, Violet featured on Will Joseph Cook's single "Gummy", which also appeared on his album Every Single Thing (2022).[32] Violet then opened for Cavetown's 2022 UK and Europe Tour along with Orla Gartland from October to November 2022.[33]
On March 21, 2023, Violet released the single "You Are Not My Friend".[34] In April and May 2023, Violet toured as an opening act for the for Half Alive's “Conditions of a Punk” tour.[35]
On June 9, Violet released the single "MY GOD!",[36] and announced her third studio album MY GOD!, which released on July 14, 2023.[37] Violet embarked on MY GOD! The Tour in the United States and Europe to support the album, with Frances Forever as the opener, from July to September 2023.[38]
On July 13, Violet released a video for her song "Bad Bitch",[39] followed by the release of a single version of "Play with Fire", featuring Frances Forever, on August 16.[40]
Violet cites artists such as Lorde, Bleachers, Lily Allen, Taylor Swift, Cavetown, Julia Michaels,[41] and Fun[42] among her influences. A PUP concert Violet attended in 2019 inspired her to delve into her punk-influenced upbringing for her "Games" collaboration with lovelytheband.[43]
| Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Heat[44] | US Indie[45] | ||||
| Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled |
| 10 | 47 | ||
| Bad Ideas |
| 19 | 48 | ||
| My God | — | — | |||
| Title | Album details | |
|---|---|---|
| You and Christmas (as a member of People You Know) |
| |
| Leaves and Branches (as a member of People You Know) |
|
| Title | Album details | |
|---|---|---|
| Halloway |
| |
| Halloway B-Sides |
| |
| Bad Ideas (Act One) |
| |
| Bad Ideas - The Remixes |
|
| Title | Year | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Dream" | 2016 | Halloway | |
| "Not Over You" | |||
| "Crush" | 2018 | Bad Ideas | |
| "Bad Ideas" | |||
| "I Like (the idea of) You" | 2019 | ||
| "Games" | |||
| "Words Ain't Enough" | |||
| "Bored" (solo or with MisterWives) | |||
| "Role Model" (with daysormay) | 2020 | rowspan="1" | |
| "Yes Mom" | 2022 | My God | |
| "Breakdown" | |||
| "Kitchen Song" | |||
| "You Are Not My Friend" | 2023 | ||
| "My God | " |
| Title | Year | Album details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Where Did U Go" (Pop Culture featuring Tessa Violet) | 2017 | rowspan="4" | |
| "Crush + Someone Like You Mashup" (Pomplamoose featuring Tessa Violet) | 2018 | ||
| "Monster Mashup" (Pomplamoose featuring Tessa Violet) | |||
| "Smoke Signals" (Cavetown featuring Tessa Violet) | 2020 | ||
| "New Invention" (I Dont Know How But They Found Me featuring Tessa Violet) | 2021 | Razzmatazz (Deluxe Edition) | |
| "GUMMY" (Will Joseph Cook featuring Tessa Violet) | 2022 |
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "I Wan'na Be Like You" | 2016 | Everybody Loves Disney | ||
| "Cash Cash Money" | The Matchbreaker (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |||
| "Feelings Are Fatal" | 2019 | mxmtoon | plum blossom (the edits) |
| Title | Year | Director | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Sorry I'm Not Sorry" | 2016 | Evan Spencer Bruce | |
| "Dream" | Isaac White | ||
| "Not Over You" | Tessa Violet | ||
| "Haze" | Sean O'Halloran | ||
| "On My Own" | Shawna Howson | ||
| "I Don't Get to Say I Love You Anymore" | Sean O'Halloran | ||
| "Crush" | 2018 | Jordan Harms & Isaac White | |
| "Bad Ideas" | Jade Ehlers | ||
| "I Like (the idea of) You" | 2019 | ||
| "Games" (official lyric video) | |||
| "Bored" | 2020 | ||
| "Words Ain't Enough" | |||
| "Wishful Drinking" | Rachel Reizin | ||
| "BAD BITCH" | 2023 | Mariel & Marita Gomsrud | |
| "MY GOD | " | Lindsey Blane |
| Title | Original Artist | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Boats and Birds" | Gregory and the Hawk | 2016 | |
| "I Wan'na Be Like You" | Disney Songs | 2016 | |
| "Lonely Boy" | The Black Keys | 2016 | |
| "IF This is Love" (Featuring Jon Cozart) | N/A | 2016 | |
| "Moon Song" (Featuring Hazel Hayes) | Karen O | 2016 | |
| "Your Life Over Mine" | Bry | 2017 | |
| "Pity Party" | Melanie Martinez | 2017 | |
| "Cannibal Queen" | Maniature Tigers | 2017 | |
| "Teenage Dream" (Featuring Dodie) | Katy Perry | 2017 | |
| "Crazy" (Featuring Dodie) | Patsy Cline | 2017 |