Lyn Lapid is a Filipino-American singer/songwriter based in Baltimore and Los Angeles, gaining notoriety as the voice behind 2020 hit "Producer Man." With an impressive discography, namely: "When She Loved Me," "In My Mind," "I Guess That Was Goodbye, and "Do You Really," among many more, Lapid continues to grow in her artistry with a resolute dedication to her craft.
Recapping Lyn’s 2022 national tour for her EP “The Outsider,” she toured four major U.S. cities. This time around, she led her pack through 20 cities before returning to Los Angeles for 88rising’s Head in the Clouds Festival in August. Standing among giants of the Asian-American music industry, Lyn Lapid is making a fresh mark with her third EP: “To Love in the 21st Century.”
There’s the familiar scent of desert smoke and burnt diesel, the ashes of a long day–a majority of it for Lyn’s crew driving from their last stop in San Diego. Avid fans ornamented in green camped outside The Rebel Lounge for hours before sunset, some under the shade of a staggering commercial sign that boasted in bold:
The Rebel Lounge
TONIGHT
LYN LAPID STEPHANIE POETRI
SOLD OUT!
At first glance, nothing grows in the desert, but that’s far from the truth. As Lyn takes on Phoenix, an oasis flourishes: greenery hems the stage from edge to edge, streetlights bask the instruments in warm hues, a flowered banner with “LYN LAPID” glows at centerpoint.
As the bass line of “Still Into You” reverberates through the brick walls, the crowd’s excitement spills backstage into the green room, where our team assembled equipment. We were greeted by none other than Stephanie Poetri and Lyn’s band, who graciously shared the intimate space with us.
We caught glimpses of the life Lyn has been living on the road: a request for water, the arrival of food (routine mealtimes were obsolete), and zero time to waste.
Lyn floated into the room once her meet and greet came to a close–a composition of earth-toned elegance and organic softness. Fluffy dark hair, multi-colored glitter atop her eyelids, a vanilla crochet top paired with a green dress, white stompers clad upon her feet. A brown oversized varsity jacket hung loosely from her shoulders. Doors close, we begin.
TARO: To start, tell us a little about yourself.
LYN: My name is Lyn, I am a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Baltimore. I grew up mostly in Columbia, Maryland, both my parents are from the Philippines, and they've always had me involved in music. When I was six years old, they would bring out the karaoke, and at the age of seven, they enrolled me in classical piano lessons.
I’ve been in music for the longest time, but it was three years ago when I seriously tried to pursue music. Ever since that moment, it’s been such a dream and honestly, I would not trade it for the world.
TARO: Did the name “Lyn Lapid” originate when you started posting on social media platforms like TikTok?
LYN: When I first started on social media with my YouTube channel, I went by [my birth name] Katelyn Lapid for a couple of months. I changed it to Lyn Lapid because I like alliteration.
TARO: When you debuted, when did you feel that people were beginning to believe in your vision?
LYN: My friends were my very first supporters, they were the only ones who knew that I sing and stuff. When I created my YouTube channel, they were there when I first started putting out videos [and believed] that I was going to make it. Having them there at the very beginning meant everything to me. Shortly after, my parents came along and they really, truly, fully supported me.TARO: In your 2020 hit piece, “Producer Man,” you capture the dark side of signing yourself away to gain access to new opportunities, resources, and capital to grow in your career. Have you felt there were any parts of yourself that you had to sacrifice working in the industry?
LYN: [As I navigate] how to promote myself on social media and create a presence on there, I feel I've kind of learned a balance between, you know, putting out content that I am personally proud of, and content that I know would go viral.
It’s a tough decision to balance what I want to put out as a creator or a singer-songwriter—sometimes those don’t really align. But I’ve just tried to figure my way with all that, and honestly, it’s still a work in progress.
TARO: Navigating between these fine lines of what people want and what you want, how you keep your footing?
LYN: I'm a dual-based artist. I stay in Los Angeles but I go back home to Maryland a lot. Going back home keeps me grounded with everything that's going on. When I stay in LA for too long, I find myself losing, not my roots, but what I value, like my family and connections back home. And I try to make sure that I stay connected to all of that.
I try not to lose myself when I’m really struggling. Going home keeps me grounded and connected with people who really fully support me.
TARO: In "The Outsider" Track-by-Track on YouTube, you touched on the disconnection you felt from moving “home base." In recent years, have you found your strings in Los Angeles?
LYN: I feel like I've found my people, I guess. It took me a while because when I'd come out to Los Angeles, I would just be alone. I know a couple of other artists in Los Angeles, and I've gotten more confident in myself because I'm surrounded by people who are also artists and understand my situation.
TARO: I can imagine that your music videos have a special place in your heart as you cast close friends to play roles. What does supporting each other creatively look like behind the scenes, and how do you foresee growing together?
Being there for my friends who are also creatives in the industry and vice versa is a two-way street. Whenever we’re available, we ask each other, “Hey, do you want to be in a music video? Or do you want to like, help me write a song?” Things like that.
TARO: If you could go back in time and give a piece of advice to your younger self, what is something you would tell her?
LYN: I would definitely say to my younger self before I started music, to not give up on me and not be too harsh to myself. Even now, I'm still really hard on myself with my music and everything that I do. I would tell her to believe in myself more. Another piece of advice I would give myself is to not quit the violin.
After graduating, I abandoned it and now regret it so much because I’ve played for ten years. I feel like I got really good, and now I feel like I'm back at zero when I try to play. So yeah, definitely don't quit the violin.
TARO: You previously mentioned that "In My Mind" was a piece that brought out a sound and feeling that you have been searching for. How do real-world experiences shape and draw out your unique sound?LYN: I've run into a lot of new music on social media, especially TikTok. I have this playlist where I find all these cool new pieces that I use as great inspiration, and it's really helped me develop my own sound.
Performing live has also really influenced how I make music because I was only making music for my own ears before, and now having this whole audience and these people behind me, I've found the balance between making music just for myself and making music for them.
TARO: If you could characterize "To Love in the 21st Century" in colors and texture, how does it look and feel?
LYN: Throughout the making of this project, I've been unintentionally putting so much green in the visual side of everything. I ran with it. I feel like green is the official color of this new era. I asked all of my supporters to wear green to the concerts and they've been following through.
I would say [To Love in the 21st Century embodies] the feeling of cotton in a pillow. I don't know why I first thought of that, but yeah. Soft.
TARO: On that note, how would you describe "To Love in the 21st Century" in a single sentence?
To Love in the 21st Century– It’s really hard to be young in this generation, and being in the dating world sucks.
TARO: This is a TARO collaboration keychain that we give to our guests! For me, the slash in the dragon means facing up to your greatest fears and overcoming obstacles. For you, what has been the largest challenge on your journey thus far?
I am my biggest critic. There are so many mental things that I struggle with as an artist, such as imposter syndrome and thinking if this is all worth it.
LYN: The mental side of everything is especially difficult; just getting into and out of that headspace is a really big challenge for me. Honestly, I’m still working through getting through that. The best thing that I can do for myself is to surround myself with people who truly believe in and support me; having that system is super important.
TARO: As we part ways for now, what are all things Lyn Lapid that we can look forward to?
LYN: I'm excited about the new EP that's going to come out on June 23rd, and the rest of this tour that I'm about to make my way through! This next year is super exciting for me.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Lyn lapid
WORDS BY
Allen Pan
Allen Pan is a musician and media creator based in Phoenix, AZ. His kill-streak includes headlining at international conferences, performing for the Diamondbacks, and opening for 88rising artists with his band. When music is on cooldown, you can find him writing and spending time with his cat. Allen is best known to his oppositions as the "prick with the violin."
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