Mariah The Scientist : Your new R&B obsession has arrived
And we mean, OBSESSED.
Atlanta singer-songwriter Mariah The Scientist officially returned to the airwaves back in October 2023 with R&B hit ‘From A Woman’, quickly and successfully followed by her third album ‘To Be Eaten Alive’. Mariah The Scientist has strategically set herself up for a run at true stardom whilst staying true to herself and her artistry. Capturing the attention of a generation, mesmerising crowds during stadiums and arenas shows, opening for the likes of Coldplay and Ariana Grande or even blessing the Coachella stage on her own. The artist developed a loyal fanbase that has grown with her since her first release ‘Beetlejuice’ back in 2019.
The 26 year old artist rose to fame after taking dropping out of college where she was studying biology, a past she still honours through her stage name and her vibrant passion for science. The singer opened up about the difficulty of her decision.“There was no concrete guideline or path or strategy for me to become successful with my music so it was more of a shot in the dark. It was very uncertain overall and I was so concerned about how my parents would feel, especially my dad. I felt alone and wasn’t the most inspired being by myself in a dorm room but that’s when I started writing basic poetry and found some beats and started my YouTube Channel and then really stuck with it.”
For Mariah, R&B wasn’t always on the cards. “My parents never really listened to R&B, Hip-Hop or Rap, it wasn’t the most popular genre in our household so I think eventually I started exploring other stuff and got more into alternative music by the time I got to college. I feel like I was inspiring myself to make the music that I make. There are several artists that I used to listen to when I was in college, around the time I was going to dropout, like The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey, Pink Floyd, OutKast, Tame Impala. I do think my musical affinity was expanding more at that time than from what I listened to growing up.”
With her third album ‘To Be Eaten Alive’, Mariah The Scientist really wanted to share something that felt true to herself and to her artistry. A lover of astrology, she found comfort in the animal of her star sign, the scorpion and its many qualities. “I think the overall perspective I wanted to share was, especially through the cover, if a scorpion is poisonous then eating it will probably make you really sick. It’s like, you will kill yourself in an attempt to kill me or you know, consume me. A little bit of an oxymoron, you know, if there was a predator out there who thought I was an easy target or an easy kill because I was small, they’d be wrong. I really wanted to implement my star sign qualities somehow and felt like I was already doing that through my music as it can be dark and a bit morbid sometimes.”
Having hit the road for her tour just a little over a month ago, the singer recalls on what might be her favourite thing about being on the road. “One of my favourite memory that I probably will always think about later in life is that I am able to take my cat everywhere. I can’t tell if I am his emotional support animal or if he is mine, we’re always together. Also, having my sister and my cousin hired as part of the team and being able to bring them and my parents across the world and watch them discover all those new places. The greatest thing is definitely feeling like you’re being understood because other people feel what you’re feeling through your music. That’s one thing that I love the most about music, it’s that it’s open to interpretation.”
Growing through her musical journeys and her many opportunities taught the American singer-songwriter a lot, she reminisces on her journey to where she is today and what helped her get there. “Your morals, your beliefs and what you’re valuing for your life and your art. You really have to stick to that. You just really need to establish certain standards for yourself and for your life and you really can’t budge on that, unless you’re evolving and you want to change for reasons that are solely your own. I do things exactly how I want to do them, you gotta be headstrong with the things you want to do.” She also would love to sit with her 10 year old self and tell her what she thinks could motivate her and other young ambitious artists. “Be consistent, keep going, keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to explore different avenues or for people to tell you no because who are they to tell you what you can do with your life, it’s your life and you can literally do whatever you want, you could be the most successful person, you can be whatever you want to be if you just believe it and apply yourself. Make your own rules. You can be anything you want is how I feel and it’s definitely what I would tell my younger self.”
On the lookout for more, Mariah The Scientist is definitely interested in dipping her fingers in more of the different facets of her creativity. “I’d love to act a little as well and definitely release more music, I’d really love to have more collaborations with female artists and travel and do some shows in the places I haven’t gone to just yet. It would be so interesting to perform at some award shows too, it would be really cool. I would also love to go back to school, I’m still very much obsessed with science and will talk anybody’s ear off with it, I still have a lot of passion for it.”
Mariah’s latest album ‘To Be Eaten Alive is out now on all platforms. The artist doesn’t plan on releasing a deluxe version but be on the lookout for some remixes of some of her already released work.
