"Beautiful People"

My name is Dezirae Schalice. I just released my very first original song on December 25, 2018 (yes, Christmas Day. That wasn't the plan, it just happened, I swear hahaha)!

So a little bit about the song: I wrote the lyrics and melody for "Beautiful People" while on the train from Chicago to Naperville in the summer of 2017. For a little back story, I was 22-years-old, fresh out of college, bartending a few days a week and partying every night of the week. My best friend at the time was this kick-ass black woman named Hope. Whenever we weren't working, we were doing just about everything together—doing our hair and nails, bar-hopping, making food, drinking rosé in kimonos—that last one never happened, but it 100 percent could have and should have...

Anyway, I loved her dearly (and still do), but there was one thing I remembered her saying to me and some of our other friends while we were on the beach one day: "Only hot bitches in my crew!" It was comical, we laughed, but of course it was rooted in a very deep truth. We valued each other more because we were all hot, enjoyed drinking, meeting hot guys, etc., etc. You know, the stereotypical 20-something party lifestyle. And I remember thinking: "I don't know if I like that. We're friends—very good friends; we tell each other everything, do literally anything for one another... but I wonder if the root of our friendship mainly revolves around our looks and this strange sense of exclusivity???"

And so, "Beautiful People" was born. I sat there on the train by myself after visiting a friend in the city and just started writing. The lyrics pretty much wrote themselves, and the melody along with them. Initially, I envisioned the song sounding something like Lorde's "Royals," Now people tell me it reminds them a lot of Alessia Cara's "Here." I consider both a compliment. I wanted the song to have this fun, playful, somewhat sexy vibe on the surface, but with a little further digging, I hope listeners will discover the underlying message of conflict one can feel if you allow yourself to slip too far into that party realm. In the year and a half since I've been out of school, I've learned the value and fulfillment of true, deep friendships that don't rely on shallow values and vices.

I hired this super cool gal named Becca Roberts to create the artwork for me. She did a phenomenal job! My idea was for the cover to reflect that very sense of loneliness the song warns about.

Sidenote: I produced it myself, which was by far the most challenging and time-consuming part of the whole song-writing process.

Thanks for reading about and (hopefully) listening to "Beautiful People"!!

Much Love!

Dezirae Schalice