BAYLi
Mathew Calvis
Get ready to know BAYLi like you never have before.
The New York City artist, frontwoman of funk-rock band The Skins, gives fans a stripped back look at the girl who lives behind the aura on her new song “Underneath.” Serving as the follow-up to her attitudinal debut single “MYOB: Or Whatever,” the corresponding video takes the song to a new dimension. Playing with the illusive nature of mirrors, BAYLi teeters with the similarly illusive nature of online vs. actual personas.
Talking to Billboard, BAYLi says “The song concept for ‘Underneath’ is pretty basic. It’s about the common situation that we’ve all gone through: Someone having a crush on me because of my exterior and the way I present myself on the internet vs. knowing me IRL. ‘Underneath’ represents all the questioning and self-deprecation I put myself through daily. When someone is kind or complimentary of me in any way it literally makes me feel so uncomfortable, it’s so weird, I Iose all control of my social skills and just become a rambling mess.”
Related
Working alongside respected songwriters Britt Burton (Jessie J, Fifth Harmony) and Noise Club (Hailee Steinfeld, Zedd), the three found chemistry writing “Underneath,” which occurred the first night they met. “It was the first time we met each other, when we first wrote it we were rushing to get it done because I had another session that night and Britt was also running late to get somewhere,” the Brooklyn-raised artist adds.
The video gives a deeper meaning to the superficiality-cautioning track, and focuses on the contrast between darkness and light. “Sometimes you see me fully illuminated and other shots I blend in with darkness. The reason I loved the mirror concept was because the focus stays on the mirror image of me and not the ‘real’ me, throughout the video,” BAYLi adds.
“Underneath” serves as another taste of BAYLi’s upcoming SUMMER mixtape, standing as the latest body of work to showcase her unique personal and musical style. Fresh off opening up for Snoop Dogg during his Jersey City Fourth of July festival, BAYLi is also preparing to play Surf Lodge next month.