Tate McRae: Then and Now

An analysis of Tate McRae's music evolution.

Tate McRae’s popularity has spiked in the past year, especially with songs such as “Sports Car” and “Revolving Door” climbing the billboards. According to Billboard, “Sports Car” peaked at 16th in the Billboard Top 100 and “Revolving Door” at 22nd, while the album So Close to What was the number one album. However her album Think Later, which was released in 2023, peaked at number four with songs such as “Greedy” reaching first on the Billboard Top 200. These stats prove how her popularity has been boosted recently. When songs are more upbeat, they are more likely to be played in public spaces and on the radio because they create a happier mood. This allowed Tate McRae to become more known and increased her popularity. Tate McRae’s music has successfully changed over time from being sadder to being more upbeat, while still storytelling through each song.

“Greedy” was the first single that was released from the album Think Later, and it hit number 1 in the Billboard top 200 in just over 2 months. It is a very fast-paced song that has repetitive background sounds and a large vocal range. Even though the song is upbeat, it is kind of critical of the person she is in a relationship with -- especially with the lyric “So sure of yourself, baby, don't get greedy.”

Another pop song in Think Later is “exes,” which is also very fast-paced, especially the lyrics. The song starts directly with the chorus and the words are repetitive and these lyrics imply that her relationships are constantly ending badly. There’s also laughter in the background, which sets a confident tone for the song. Tate has explained to Rolling Stone magazine in the past that her songs are so different because she embodies an alter-ego “Tatiana” when she's on stage, which is how she shifts from being sensitive and quiet to being loud and more confident.

In the background of “Sports Car” from So Close to What, there are very loud drumming sounds that sound like clapping, making the song sound more upbeat. The title is also shown in the song because there are car noises in the background. In my opinion, this song showcases how much her music has changed from Think Later to So Close to What. The song is much brighter than the majority of the songs in Think Later and her singing is much more bold and less flowy.

Honestly, in my opinion, the most interesting part about “Revolving Door” is how repetitive it is, like in “messier.” In “messier,” she is reassuring herself, but in “Revolving Door” she’s basically saying, “Ugh, I’m doing this again.” Even though these songs were released only a year apart they are drastically different, and in 2025 Tate told Rolling Stone, “It’s so crazy because as soon as I release music, I never listen to it again because I’m a year ahead of everyone else and my taste has changed drastically.”

Contrasting the more upbeat songs on both of these albums is one of the sadder songs on Think Later: “messier.” This song uses piano as the background music, and the sad lyrics are sung in a breathier fashion. The words are also repeated at the end of some of the sentences, which could be an effort of reassurance; for example, one of the lyrics is, “We both know this happens every time, every time.” The lyrics confuse the listener because we don’t understand the state her relationship is actually in which mirrors her uncertainty. The song is also similar to her original songs she wrote on Youtube in her early career such as her song “One Day.”

In “plastic palm trees,” Tate’s methods of lyric writing and background instruments emphasize a sadder tone. This is further backed up by her telling Rolling Stone in 2025 that “I was sad, and all I wanted to do was write about it. I will always be a happy person with a little tiny bit of sadness within me. And I think that's what drives all my songs.” This song shows us the other side of her that is Tate -- not Tatiana -- and it shows her true, hard feelings.

“Siren Sounds” is definitely one of the sadder songs on the album, even if it’s not as slow or acoustic as some of Tate’s other songs. However the lyrics are more regretful and they’re kind of saying, “This might be bad, but I want to keep going.” This shows how her music evolved over time because even the sadder songs are more upbeat and less acoustic.

“Nostalgia” is the saddest song on “So Close to What,” because there is repetitive, acoustic guitar playing in the background that stays in the same pattern throughout the entire song. The lyrics are very nostalgic and regretful, and since they are sung slower it emanates the sorrow that she is trying to portray. Tate also told Rolling Stone in 2025 that “My music has gone through so many different phases. I think your music is always a reflection of where you’re at as a person.” This indicates how as a person she is in different phases while she is writing her album which is why there’s such a large contrast between songs on the same album.

According to Billboard, Tate McRae started out as a competitive dancer performing on both So You Think You Can Dance and Justin Bieber’s world tour in 2016. The following year, she launched her YouTube series “Create with Tate,” which then shifted into her creation of songs. She was signed by RCA in 2019, and then released her debut EP in 2020. Her first hit song in 2021 was “You Broke Me First” which was featured in over one million Tik Tok videos. She then released her debut album I Used to Think I Could Fly in 2022 and a year later released Think Later which included her hit song “Greedy.” It’s very inspiring to look back to see her career trajectory and see how far she’s come. I’m really excited to see how she continues to grow in her music.