SPOTLIGHT: BETTINA

Meet Bettina and tune into her newest single “Want Me Bad.”

So excited to be witnessing your debut! As this is your first single, can you introduce yourself to our publication? Who is Bettina as an artist?

Thank you! I’m so excited too, it’s kind of wild to finally have music out in the world! In terms of who I am as an artist, I’d say Bettina is a BCB - British Cry Baby. Which started out as kind of a joke cause the music I’m putting out right now isn’t exactly sad haha. But honestly, I always say I contain multitudes, and that definitely applies to me as an artist too. I’m emotional, but I’m also cheeky, irreverent, and always trying to find a new way to tell the truth, even if it stings a little. That’s why I’ll always be Bettina BCB.

What’s your origin story? How did you find your way into music and decide this was the moment to drop your first official single?

I’ve been making music for as long as I can remember. I studied songwriting in London and have had a few different lives in music already - I actually used to do folk music, have been in a metal band and made indie pop for a while! Those all kind of feel like different lifetimes now, but I definitely learned a lot through the process too. Then when I got invited to LAAMP to be mentored by Stargate in 2023, that was really where I found a new kind of creative freedom. ‘Want Me Bad’ was the first song I made out there that actually made it onto my artist project, and it just felt different when I was making it with Scorpio, my producer. We kinda knew we were onto something pretty early, so it just felt like the right one to introduce myself to the world with. It’s a little cheeky, a little dramatic, a little raw - so, me.

“Want Me Bad” is such a confident, cheeky debut. What inspired this track?

Let’s just say there was a certain situationship that realllllly couldn’t let go. He still stalks my social media and watches all my stories, to be honest he’s probably reading this article right now. But for real, the song is a playful but pointed take on someone who only wants you once you’ve moved on, and it felt empowering to flip that dynamic into something fun and flirty, but with bite.

The lyric “You only want the things that you can’t have” is such a punchy line. Was that the starting point for the song or did it come later?

So we actually started with the very first line in the song "I think I’d look better next to you / I lose my head and she would too if she could see the way you move in my DMs." I wrote that a little after the situationship ended and he still kept popping up, but I never did anything with it until I got in the studio with Scorpio. He made this beat that just fit the vibe so perfectly, so we took it and just ran with it! That line “You only want the things that you can’t have”, and honestly the whole chorus, is really just a summary of this guy’s dumb behaviour once he realised what he could’ve had but lost.

“Want Me Bad” is bold and fun, but still realistically striking. How did you find that balance between snark and sincerity in the songwriting?

Every song I write comes from a real place, even the ones that seem fun or lighthearted or unserious. I think there’s real power in taking painful or messy experiences and flipping them into something that makes you laugh or feel bold again. That can be really healing, and I hope it can be empowering for listeners too. I’m definitely someone who has a lot of feelings, but I can also be kind of a smart arse sometimes, so that mix naturally shows up in the writing.

There is a soundscape mood switch up toward the end — can you talk about the intention behind that switch-up and what it represents?

It’s hot. It’s a moment. The girlies love it. That switch was really intentional, it’s a breath, and a chance for the listener to take a second and for the girlies to feel themselves a lil. I love giving people little moments like that, where the energy changes and it becomes cinematic in its own way.

Sonically, the track feels playful but sharp. What did you want the production to feel like, and who did you work with to bring it to life?

At the time, I was in a really intense period of sonic experimentation, really just trying everything and seeing what felt authentic and exciting. Looking back now, "Want Me Bad" is just the first stop on the rollercoaster I’m about to take everyone on. Scorpio Vision, my production partner, was instrumental in shaping the sound of the production. We also had our friend Anastasia come in and sprinkle some of her magic to finish the chorus the way we envisioned, and Zach’s mix really tied everything off and made it sparkle.

Were there any specific references — musical or emotional — that helped you shape the sound or attitude of the track? 

At that time, Scorpio was diving deep into Y2K-era production, and with his background in hip-hop, we both wanted to tap into that aesthetic but from a fresh angle. Honestly, we’re both kind of competitive people, and with everyone chasing that Y2K, Nelly Furtado, Bratz-doll-pop thing, we just wanted to show how it’s really done, so we could move on. We’re already cooking up on something new, so don’t expect us to stay in one sonic space too long.

What kind of stories do you gravitate toward as a songwriter, and how does “Want Me Bad” reflect your perspective or personality?

I write about all sorts of things, but I always pull something from my real life. Even when I’m writing for other artists, I try to find those human moments we all share. "Want Me Bad" is very me, it’s flipping something that could have made me feel low into a reminder that actually, he fumbled. It’s exactly what I’d want to tell my friends in that situation - his loss, babe.

You clearly have a bold voice as a writer. Is that confidence something you’ve always had, or something that’s grown through music?

Honestly I never used to think about myself as being a super confident person, but writing songs and working with people who really believe in me and what we’re making together has been really significant for me personally, and enabled me to say the things I actually want to say for the first time. I have a long background in music, and I spent a lot of time making what I thought I should make or what I thought people wanted or expected to hear from me, so finally having the confidence to make music that feels fun and fresh and exciting to me has been a real turning point.

What message or energy do you want people to take away from “Want Me Bad” when they hear it for the first time?

I wrote this song for the girlies to remember that they’re hot AF and that man is not worth a second look, let alone their tears. It’s a little sonic slap in the face, in the best way.

If “Want Me Bad” were in a movie, what movie would it be and what scene would it play over?

Oh it’s absolutely a 90s/early 2000s chick flick moment. Picture a full-blown montage of the girlies getting ready for revenge, with the slow-mo walk, big sunglasses, maybe a makeover scene. Think The Princess Diaries, Mean Girls, She’s All That, The Devil Wears Prada, Grease. And definitely a scene of something cool and hot during the bridge, that’s when we’re going full on slow mo strut.

The single cover is fiercely iconic, who shot the photos and how did this vision come into fruition?

Thank you! I actually shot the photos at home in my room with my best friend Laura. When we had the idea and I knew I would need help to execute it, she was the first person I thought of that I knew would be totally into the idea and the perfect person to help bring it to life. It was kind of just us playing around, but it ended up feeling super powerful and iconic, and I even had a comment the other day that it was inspirational from someone! I think there’s something so liberating about creating your own image on your own terms, especially in your own space, and I’m so glad people are responding to it in the way I hoped! It’s intimate but bold, just like the song.

Now that “Want Me Bad” is out, what’s next for Bettina? Possibly a full project on the horizon?

Oh, 100%, there’s soooo much more coming. I have a whole vault of songs I’ve been sitting on, and “Want Me Bad” is just the first. The next one, “Girl Code” is dropping on May 22nd!

Listen to “Want Me Bad” here.