Cry Baby is very close to my heart. I feel like I am her in a lot of ways. I want to continue making music from her perspective.
— Melanie Martinez
My music is like a baby pink frosted cake with sprinkles, but when you cut into it, there's a gooey, dark chocolate center.
The way that I dress is the way I've always dressed. The way I've eaten is how I've always eaten. I dress like a 5-year-old, and I eat like a 5-year-old.
I used music as therapy and embraced being a cry baby.
I'm just happy I got to express who I am as an artist and touch people's hearts.
To me, I absolutely cannot stand Twitter. I hate it more than anything.
It's one thing to ask for a picture, but to just take a picture of me is kinda weird, guys.
Please understand that I make music to express myself, and if you know anything about me, you know that I'm nothing but honest.
I stay away from the title of 'role model.' I want to be a more realistic role model - not a perfect Barbie role model.
I went to the carnival a lot. The carousel was my favorite ride as a kid.
I have a song called 'Training Wheels,' and it's about being in love with someone and taking it to the next level by taking off the training wheels.
When I'm done with my last album, I want to make a movie with Tim Burton telling the story of all of the albums connected. That's my biggest dream.
It's really hard for me to finish a song unless I have a strong visual in my head while I'm writing it.
I wanted to play my original music, but it was really hard because a lot of the people who would come out to the shows found out about me through 'The Voice' and wanted to hear covers.
I only wear vintage clothing. I'm pretty obsessed with things in the '60s, like fashion and music, too.
Growing up, I always took things too personal and was very emotional, and I got made fun of for it.
Everyone is allowed to be vulnerable. I think women and men and dogs and cats and ants and aliens can all express themselves and be vulnerable.
My two favorite parts of what I do are definitely writing the music and then writing and directing the videos to support each song. As well as doing my own makeup and styling for the videos.
I got a lot of very bad hate on social media from some people from my school. I think people thought I changed because they saw me on TV. They weren't close enough to know that I was still the same human being... When I walked at graduation, I got booed. It was kind of stupid.
There's a heavy hip-hop influence in my music, some trap influence, but it's always lyrical.
Working on this album has been very emotional and super personal, and creating this character 'Cry Baby' helped me deal with my own insecurities.
Once I was done making my album 'Cry Baby,' I knew I wanted to make a vintage-inspired baby bottle perfume.
Part of the problem with America is that letting go of emotions is viewed as a weakness, but it's my strength. That enabled me to write my songs.
I'll always cling to these little girl dresses at vintage shops, and I can never wear them because they're so tiny!
'Cry Baby' is like this fairytale version of me. A lot of it is based on real events, and some of it is made up to make it more whimsical.
I believe everyone should be equal, and we should all love and support each other and express ourselves the way we want to express ourselves and be whoever we want. That's my motto.
I had a lot of Barbies growing up, and a lot of porcelain dolls, but I was scared of them. I was so scared of them, I would try to turn their head away and would make my mom take them out of my room.
With 'Pity Party,' it's the first time seeing my vision come to life in front of my face. I'm super happy about it.
I like scaring myself.
Eventually, I started writing down a bunch of titles that related to childhood themes and would pair it with an adult situation that either I was going through or someone else in my life was going through.
My parents were super strict, so I didn't have a lot of freedom to hang out at parties or anything like that. I didn't get invited, and I didn't have many friends.
I'm really stubborn, and I'm okay with that.
I want my music to be treated as a book or a movie. It's not about the one single: it's about the bigger picture.
I feel it's my job as the artist who is making the music to pair it with visuals that I see in my head while writing the music in the first place.
I really loved taking photos when I was younger. I think my love for photography sparked my love for creating the visuals to support my music.
I've always been a fan of telling honest stories.
I wrote about scenarios that I was going through and then disguised them.
When I started, I was very unsure of who I was. There were a lot of things in the songs that I didn't realize I was saying. But more and more, it fell into place... I got more comfortable in my skin.
I've always written the storyboards for the music videos, and it's been hard working with directors trying to get them to understand what I'm thinking.
I was always called a cry baby, and I was one. I cried a lot as a child. In fact, I still cry a few times a day. I'm still a cry baby.
I think if you're going to cover a song, you should definitely take it apart and put it back together as if you wrote it. I don't think you should sing it the same way that the artist sang it - that's kind of pointless.
I want to encourage people to be themselves and express themselves however they want.
I think that any female who gets asked if she's a feminist... it's silly... it's so interesting when people ask females if they're a feminist. Of course every female wants to be equal!
I love Sia and how she hides her face. If I could pull off doing that, I totally would.
I look at music like an art form, so it's almost like painting for me, you know?
I don't like a lot of pop music. But I like the idea of pop music.
The behind-the-scenes kind of process at TV, especially live television - that was super scary, but I think it's made me more comfortable now. If I ever have to go on live TV, I at least remember what it was like when I was 16.
When I was 16, I was watching '101 Dalmatians,' and my mom never let me bleach my hair, so I told her I was going to dye my hair like Cruella De Vil; she didn't believe me. I came home with my hair like this, and she didn't talk to me for, like, a week. It was really hilarious.
I think that 'Cry Baby' came from a nickname I was called as a kid.
I want to put out as many albums as I can before I die.
