Gracie Abrams has seen the online discourse surrounding her fame. And she doesn’t entirely disagree.
Gracie — who is the daughter of director JJ Abrams and film and television producer Katie McGrath — has often been called a “nepo baby,” given her connections to the entertainment industry. The “nepo baby” label is often used by art consumers to insinuate that certain artists made their way into the industry by way of nepotism, as opposed to actual talent.
In an episode of the New York Times’ “Popcast” that dropped on Friday, June 26, Gracie, 26, shared that she understands why some are quick to label her as a nepo baby.
“The nepo stuff is obviously in the discourse appropriately,” Gracie said. “I think about the privilege there, and it’s like, I had a safety net, and that allowed me the ability to experiment and to concentrate and I had the gift of time to dedicate to doing this thing I loved. I wasn’t growing up afraid financially, and that’s the biggest deal.”
Gracie released her debut album Good Riddance back in 2023, which contained buzzy tracks like “Where Do We Go Now?” and “I Know it Won’t Work.” Her sophomore effort, 2024’s The Secret of Us brought her into mainstream fame, with hits like “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “That’s So True.” She is currently gearing up to release her third album Daughter From Hell next month.
Daughter From Hell is partially inspired by Gracie’s “brutal” relationship with her mother while she was growing up. Elsewhere in the podcast, Gracie said writing the title track was a therapeutic process.
“It felt like the first time I was able to write a song, but really write anything other than a text apologizing to my mom for being so brutal growing up,” she said. “Obviously, adolescence is tough for the child and for the parent. I think my mom and I, we earned our relationship we have now, for sure. She is like, my favorite person. We FaceTime. I call her like six times a day.”
Daughter From Hell arrives Friday, July 17 via Interscope Records.
