Lola Young: The Perfectly Imperfect ‘Messy’ Star We Need NOW

Owning exactly who she is – and is not – British singer/songwriter Lola Young confesses in her hit single “Messy” that she smokes like a chimney, she’s not skinny “and I pull a Britney every other week. But cut me some slack, who do you want me to be?”

The indie-pop song, highlighted by Young’s husky, soulful vocals, continues with her contradictory and catchy chorus declaring: “’Cause I’m too messy and then I’m too fucking clean. You told me ‘Get a job,’ then you ask where the hell I’ve been. And I’m too perfect ’til I open my big mouth … A thousand people I could be for you and you hate the fucking lot.”

“‘Messy’ is in some ways hints at searching for self-acceptance,” the 24-year-old phenom tells Pollstar. “I’m quite unapologetic as a person yet at times I can be unaccepting of who I am, especially if someone close isn’t allowing me to be me. This song has made me realize a lot of other people feel the same way about themselves and therefore has helped me understand that I can also accept myself while being messy.”

Open up TikTok (where she has nearly 2 million followers) or Instagram (1.2M) and, depending upon your algorithm, there’s a high probability you’ll come across a post that’s enhanced by Young’s refreshingly raw tune, which she’s called an ADHD anthem. The single is self-empowering in its realness and a welcome contrast to the unattainable perfectionism of a cookie-cutter lifestyle that’s too often put on a social media pedestal.

“Messy,” which currently has 292 million spins on Spotify, is Young’s first No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and has spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 where it was No. 14 at press time. But this is far from Young’s first taste of the spotlight. Young – who was nominated for a Brit Award for Rising Star in 2022 – has been putting in the work honing her vocals and songwriting for years. She cites Talking Heads, Radiohead and Joni Mitchell when asked about her musical influences – and says she “could literally go on forever.”

She studied piano, guitar and singing from a young age and by 13 was playing open-mic nights at local pubs in London. At 15 she won Open Mic UK with her original song “Never Enough” and went on to enroll in the BRIT School, the performing and creative arts school in Selhurst, Croydon, England, whose powerhouse alumni include Adele, Amy Winehouse, FKA Twigs and RAYE.

Nick Shymansky, who previously managed Amy Winehouse, met Young at one of her gigs in South London in 2017, where, at just 17, she asked him to manage her. Shymansky, who told the Telegraph he’d promised himself he wouldn’t manage another artist after Winehouse, agreed to take on Young as a client, alongside Nick Huggett, who had signed Adele to XL Recordings.

A few years later, Young added WME to her team for representation in the Americas. The agency now handles bookings worldwide.

No less an uber agent than Kirk Sommer, Senior Partner and Global Co-Head of Contemporary Music & Touring at WME, explains he first heard about Young in the spring of 2019 after her managers sent over some demos. Sommer, who’s repped such mega-stars as Adele and Winehouse, had connections to both managers.

“Our plan was just to get her on the road for an introductory tour in major markets on a shoe-string budget,” Sommer says. “They were postage-stamp-sized rock clubs, all the promoters were itching to move the shows to larger rooms or upgrade. We said no. We then placed her in the appropriate situations at Lollapalooza Chicago and Osheaga (festival in Montreal).”

“We followed that visit up with our second tour in slightly larger rooms. Her Webster Hall show was, without a doubt, one of the absolute best shows I’ve ever seen in the room. It was raucous. All walks of life and age groups singing her songs long after she left the stage. We had a plan and passion and, as of last year, represent her for the world. It is much easier for proper planning globally.”

The sold-out Webster show moved 1,350 tickets and grossed $41,045, and while gradually moving her into increasingly larger venues to match her breakout year, the team and WME are clearly not skipping steps.

“Messy” is from Young’s second studio album This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway, which was released just last June via Island Records as the follow-up to her 2023 debut album, My Mind Wanders and Sometimes Leaves Completely.

“The more music I make, the easier I understand myself,” Young says. “When I first signed my deal I didn’t have all the answers. When you don’t have the answers it can create an opening for people to come in and try to answer questions that really only I could have ever answered. Creative control only comes with having a clear identity. Understanding yourself and ensuring you’re putting your own vision forward. This takes time and support.”

Being real is not only core to Young’s own songwriting, but at the heart of what makes collaborations work like her recent feature on Tyler, The Creator’s “Like Him.” She says, “It has to be real. I feel you can always tell when it’s come from one artist respecting another. It can’t be forced.”

And then there’s her authenticity when it comes to her mental health. In 2022 she opened up about how she had been diagnosed with a rare mental health disorder called schizoaffective disorder a few years earlier, explaining in a post on Instagram that while the condition doesn’t define her, she also views it as a superpower.

“I think the industry is getting better at accepting that with artists and creativity comes mental health issues,” Young tells Pollstar. “Don’t let anyone make you feel that mental health issues mean you can’t deliver. And don’t let anyone sideline you for it. I’m proof that you can suffer, write about it and still make it work out for you.”

Looking ahead, Young’s 2025 calendar includes appearances at Reading and Leeds, Lollapalooza Paris and Coachella, which she says “is going to be insane. I’m taking it with everything I’ve got.”

When asked about her stand-out shows, Young also references her September 2024 New York City show. “Webster Hall was special,” she says, “I felt like I’d arrived, baby.”