At 27, Detroit singer Charity has full license to write a song called "Millennials." And the lead single from her upcoming debut album, Tender Headed, premiering exclusively below, absolutely draws on true experience -- her own and others' -- as part of that generation.
"Millennials" was born from a phone conversation Charity (nee Ward) had with her sister while driving to a show in Toledo. "Her boyfriend had quit a job he hated and was having a really hard time finding something else and was just struggling and real frustrated," she recalls. "We realized how many millennials experience that. So many of us are broke. I'm constantly transferring money out of my savings into my checking. I was living in my mom's house as a whole grown-ass adult when I wrote it. Just looking around it was like, this is all of us."
Charity then wrote the loping, organ-laced "Millennials" as an anthem of inclusion. "My mission was to talk about the fact that we're not alone," she explains. "We're all feeling this social media pressure, wanting to keep up yet falling far behind -- and mind-f***ed by all this instant gratification around us. When I want something I can go on Amazon and get it instantly. If I want a fact I can Google it and know right away. There's so much information, but our ability to become ourselves and come into success or into stability is so delayed compared to generations before us. Everything moves so fast for us, except our own lives.