Life Support Is The Album Madison Beer 'Fought So Hard For'

By Jack Irvin


because the musician’s star started to rise, Madison Beer had thought an enormous, extravagant party would toast the release of her debut album, Life Support. Although even before the coronavirus pandemic postponed its arrival nearly per year and prohibited such gatherings for the foreseeable future, she had already changed her mind about the grand soiree. "I don't think I'd like to celebrate my album with a bunch of people who couldn't really give much less of a shit whether I have music out or not,” Beer, MTV’s March Push Artist, says. “They just want a reason to party.”


Whenever the album dropped at midnight on Friday (February 26), Beer celebrated alternatively with a tiny pod of the people to whom she’s closest: her manager, her Life Support co-writing team, as well as a few companions. (“By a few companions I mean, like, two, 'cause I only have like two friends,” she says with a laugh.) Her favorite for an intimate gathering may come as a surprise, as a young celebrity whose life is routinely on display to over 22 million followers, yet it compliments the weak material of the album. It’s been a long road to Life Support for the 21-year-old artist, complete with an intense mental health journey and several fights for her artsy freedom.


Immediately after posting a cover of Etta James’s “At Last” on YouTube while she was 13, Beer landed a deal with Island Records and put out a string of bubblegum singles, like 2013’s piano-driven tween bop “Melodies.” Those early tracks won over her large online following, however the music was a far cry from the soulful taste reflected by her YouTube covers. She felt like a “cash cow,” parting ways with the label in 2017 in search of a new direction. The following year, she independently released As She Pleases, a number of R&B-laced tracks including the Gold-certified anti-hookup anthem “Home With You.” Despite co-writing most of them of the project, Beer still wasn’t putting out the music she wanted to make.


In 2019, she signed with Epic Records and started working on Life Support, decided to retain full creative control while in the process. Co-writing and co-producing the complete record, it’s far more representative of Beer’s personalized taste than any of her previous material, spanning pop, option, and electronic sounds inspired by Lana Del Rey, Tame Impala, and Daft Punk. Prefaced by singles including the sweeping, emotional ballad “Selfish” and infectious, sultry banger “Baby,” it’s an eclectic body of work that showcases Beer’s powerful vocal chops and impeccable songwriting skills. If you’ve ever mistaken her for a social media star with a music career on the side, think again.


MTV News: How did you set out to prepare this album differently from your previously released music?


Madison Beer: Well, once we began making it, I was like, "This has to just be me. It has to feel like me. It has to read like me. It has to feel super authentic.” I want my story to be told in a very proper way, so I knew from the moment we began creating it that it was going to be this journey of finding myself and finding my sound at the same time.


MTV News: You've spoken about feeling like your previous record label wanted to place you in a bubblegum pop mold, so you even felt like a money cow" at times. Right now, you're putting out this record where you co-wrote and co-produced every song, so you handled creative direction on every video. What does it mean to you to right now have full creative control over your work?


Beer: It's everything to me. I get really emotional — even any time as soon as you began requesting me that, I began tearing up a little bit. I felt like I was never going have the ability to actually release stuff that was me, or that felt good. I was like, "Is this what being an artist is? Is every artist just not themselves?”


It was so tough, and I had to fight so hard for so long to get to where I am right now. Even with "Selfish," with all love and due respect to [Epic Records], they didn't want "Selfish" to be a sole. They were just like, "We think that this one could be better," and I was like, "I'm sorry. I want 'Selfish' as an individual I'm so glad right now, looking back, that I fought so hard for it. I feel like that song has so heavily impacted so several people.


MTV News: It must feel pretty validating right now that “Selfish” is your fastest single to be certified Gold by the RIAA.


Beer: Yeah, exceptionally. It's hard going against such powerful executives. It's pretty intimidating considering with a snap of their fingers they can be like, "OK, bye Madison Beer. Visualize you later." I was scared, yet I'm so glad that I fought for it. I think that it certainly has given me a little bit of jurisdiction to have more creative control and push for what I feel is right.


MTV News: Which track was the most tough to finish?


Beer: "Selfish" was the opening of the emotional, susceptible songs, yet then "Effortlessly" was just a tough day. That day was pretty close around the time that I was really suicidal and pretty much 5150'd. I was just in a horrible place, and I remember I couldn't even form a sentence. I just think back to that time, and… Sorry, I'm trying not to cry. It was a lot for me.


I remember being in the studio that day, and just talking for hours with my team about how I took the simple things for granted, [like] being able to smile without having to force it. I remember I mentioned, "I used to do all these things so effortlessly,” and [a co-writer] was like, "That's a really dope song concept,” and then [we] began writing about it. Immediately, it was one of my main go to songs that I'd ever made. It's my dad's preference. It's an extraordinary song. I love it so much, nevertheless yeah, it was a tough, tough, tough day for me.


MTV News: You've been incredibly open about your journey with mental health, especially your diagnosis with borderline personality disorder. Is it scary to share that with the world, especially with how quick people can be to judge online?


Beer: Yeah, my platform has felt more like a chopping block in the past. I some days feel like people seek out a reason to hate on me or be mean to me. The initial thing I really widened up about was my self-harming journey [when] I was per year tidy, and that was scary. It was really hard for me, because I've Been conditioned by the public, and the media or whichever, that I am gonna be canceled or hated for anything I mention. I question everything all of the time.


Whenever I opened up about having BPD, as much as people have been super encouraging, kind, and caring towards me, I've also literally seen text messages of people I thought were my companions being like, "No wonder she's so crazy. She has BPD." I seen a message from a girl who I used to be companions with who basically mentioned that I’m a manipulative person without soul because I have BPD. I was like, "Wow, that's shocking to read.” On social media, I’ve seen the same sort of stuff.


I'm like, you guys have no idea what you're talking about. It's actually really offensive and thus wrong to just assume that you know things because you did a little bit Google search. First of all, BPD, and any kind of mental disorder, is totally different for everybody. Each person goes through different things, and thus it's been really tough. There's such a stigma around mental health.


MTV News: You gained your following from a very young age, yet music has routinely been at the forefront for you. Have you ever felt like your social media presence has overshadowed your artistry?


Beer: For a long time I really did feel like people were [focused on my online presence, which] I didn't value as much, and I feel like I was guilty of it. I was the one feeding the beast of social media and growing my following, yet that's because I was hopeful that, one day, I would have a big enough following that I’d have the ability to push my music. So right now I feel like it's sort of paid off, and it's good, nevertheless I feel like for a while it was a little bit of a double-edged sword.


MTV News: What do you want your fans to take away from this album?


Beer: I hope it just provides healing, help, and also a sense of light in any way that it may, and [that it] makes them feel something, whether it's happy, or they hope to dance to it, sing to it, or whichever it can be. I just want them to feel comforted or helped by this album.


MTV News: Looking back from where you are right now, what suggestions would you give to your 13-year-old self posting covers on YouTube?


Beer: I would just tell her to hang in there. You're going to be fine. There will be really tough times. You're going hope to give up, although don't, 'cause you're going to create it to a place where you're really overjoyed of yourself. You're going to be really happy that you stuck around to be able to see it all happen. That's all I would mention. She'll be fine. She understands what she's doing.