On her debut EP, Baby Teeth, Zoe Ko began to expose the mean girls who made her high school experience miserable. On her unapologetic pop anthem, “Kiss My (Ah),” Ko is continuing to cut her musical teeth and tell her side of the story.
On our latest podcast, the New York native took a break from supporting UPSAHL on the “Melt Me Down” tour to chat about the feisty single, its music video, and what fans can look forward to next.
Excerpt from the podcast (This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity):
What inspired your song “Kiss My (Ah),” and how does it tie into the EP?
I feel like all my music, no matter what project or era, they’re all just so connected because I do genuinely write about my life and what I’m feeling on that day and whatever. And even if it’s not a perfectly detailed, accurate story, it is exactly how I’m feeling. All my music and whenever it comes out is a direct representation of how I’m feeling during the months, or the month I’m writing it. I feel like “Kiss My (Ah)” is genuinely just what came out of me because I’m just more self- confident. I feel like the baddest b*tch version of myself that I have been ever in my life. I think that’s just where I’m at so a song like “Kiss My (Ah)” can be produced.
You’ve shared that some of your biggest references for this song are “Hella Good” by No Doubt and “Gimme More” by Britney Spears. What elements of those songs inspired you in writing this one?
I was just obsessed with the vocal treatment of the different mores that the vocalists would say in “Give Me More.” It was sometimes like a guy voice-ish and then sometimes Britney’s super nasally thing. I just loved all the dimension that they had with just this one word. Then same with “Hella Good.” I was just obsessed with this sexy, kind of dirty and dark energy that it had with the really intense bass and guitar that had the same kind of a similar riff. So I kind of just paired those. I had already been riffing off the phrase “shove it up your a$$/kiss my a$$ kind of vibe.” I just went in like the whole chorus basically, and I think I came up saying like, “shove it up your a$$” instead, which is crazy. And he was like, ‘girl, that made me too much for the world.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know. Let’s try it!’ So we landed on “Kiss My (Ah),”, which is a little chiller.
Featured Photo Credit: Breanna Lynn