Rising Pop Star Eva Marie Grateful for Growth and Her Growing Community of Followers
Bubbling under for about half a year since proclaiming her presence in the pop space with her debut single “Hate You”, emerging teenage songstress Eva Marie has already started her musical expedition, and the journey so far has been pleasant.
Marie launched her quest in music with her debut single, “Hate You”, which was released on the 4th of December 2024 on all major digital streaming platforms. By the following month, the song had garnered over 10 000 streams on Spotify, confirming the path she’d taken. With the follow-up single, “Adrenaline”, already dropped, Eva touched on the success of the single, as well as the comical creativity which helped boost the song’s visibility, particularly her grabbing the funny of bone of nosy South Africans (omamgobhozi of note) with a sneaky QR Code trick to get people to check out her first-ever song in the professional circuit. By the time they caught on to the joke, it was too late.
“Honestly, I did expect things to go well with the song because I put in so much work before the release to make sure that everything runs smoothly. I had such a great team of people behind me, and the ideas I had to market the song were exciting to explore. I went out and posted QR codes all over town for people to scan, but I quickly realised that nobody just scans QR codes for nothing. So, I decided to write something shocking next to the codes, something that would get people, and so I started writing: ‘Tom, I know you cheated, and here’s proof,’ onto each poster. When I started doing that, a lot of people started scanning, but when they realised that it led them to my song, they would come back to me, and it was such a fun thing. Just hearing how excited people were and how much people also loved the idea made me realise that everybody was here to have a good time and that’s what I wrote the song for: to have a good time,” she said.
Eva Marie | SUPPLIED
Building from the impetus of her maiden single, Eva released “Adrenaline” on the 25th of April. Her sophomore pop offering, interpolated with the seven stages of grief and its points, explores the complexity of toxic love and the parties involved being addicted to the multi-layered yet detrimental ecstasy of passionate love and unhealthy connection. Teaming up with her previous collaborators Aidin Nortje and Devon Murray, she recounted how much the song evolved over the year, undergoing changes and developing at a slower rate than “Hate You” despite germinating at around the same time period.
“The process behind “Adrenaline” was very unusual and abnormal. I came up with the concept for the song as well as its chorus over a year ago, and this was also during the time when we were working on “Hate You”. The chorus, at the time, was always upbeat and full of energy, and just because of that I felt like there was this pressure to make the verses of the song match that energy. And so, I couldn’t exactly see the full idea of the song and what it should be about – the only thing I had was ‘adrenaline’, and going off on the bad boy stereotype and rebellion. I remember the earlier version of the song being about stealing and breaking cars and running away – that type of direction. But no matter how much we did, something just didn’t feel right to me. I felt like the song had more potential than that.
“After taking a step back and some months off the song, I realised how much more “Adrenaline” could be. I started thinking about how adrenaline is something so many people are drawn to, and I can see that in how many toxic relationships exist all around us and in people staying in relationships they know aren’t meant to be. When I sat down with those thoughts to work on the song, it dawned on me that this – adrenaline – was something we all longed for, and that when a person finds this in another person, they’ll normally do whatever it takes to keep that person for the feeling, regardless of whether or not the person is toxic or the right one,” she said.
Listen to “Adrenaline”:
With the ball already rolling and her name catching fire, Eva spoke about strengthening her foothold in the game by releasing more music and sharpening her musicianship and also looking forward to doing live shows.
“I’ve had in mind to make a lot of music videos, but for now I’d like to make more music and that’s what I’m working on right now. It’s only been six months since “Hate You”. I’m also honing my craft and reflecting on my reasons for making music. Because when I make music, I want someone to feel less alone, and it’s about creating a safe space with it. And all that comes with learning. So I’m working and learning all at the same time. Another thing that’s been in my heart is to start touring and performing live and getting to know everybody,” she said.
Vision boards are goal compasses that govern if not map out the trajectory of one’s year. With her sights set on greatness and building a community with her music, Marie’s vision board, shared via Instagram, was a collage of portals that started into multiverses of potential futures which saw her grace Billboard charts and spotlight-brightened stages. A life she is adamant is meant for her, along with all its perks. She reflected on the importance of recording the little yet significant steps of her journey, such as documenting the behind-the-scenes moments more.
Watch Eva Marie talking about her 2025 Vision Board below:
The 19-year-old revisited her old love for dancing, admitting that she would someday love to blend the worlds of music-making and choreography to move her brand forward.
“I danced ten years as a child – nothing professional but as something I loved doing. But I ended up stopping in high school because I didn’t have the time. But now, I’ve been taking class lessons and getting back into it. I’d love to combine my music and my dancing because I’m a performer at heart. I mean, when I’m alone, I dance, sing, and put on a show in the living room because that’s something I’d like to do on a bigger scale,” she said.
Eva spoke about the challenge of striking a balance between hours devoted to work versus how much she socializes since releasing her first single and taking on music seriously. Despite the balancing act and the trial and error of getting it right, she maintained that nothing about her has changed and that the person she was before has never left.
“I haven’t changed a lot since the release of my first single, to be honest. But one thing I’ll say though is that I’ve become so focused on work that I haven’t been pouring into my social life as much as I used to. I’m not sure if it’s a positive thing or a negative thing. But I always connect my music to me – I don’t go into the studio and put on a persona and then come back home and be a different person. I’ve always been this high-energy person driven by music, always singing and humming,” she said.
Eva Marie | SUPPLIED
The last time Eva graced the Front Page platform, she revealed that what she desired most with her music was to create art that would help those who heard it feel less alone and comforted. As a light attracts moth, her music has drawn people to her, and she expressed gratitude to those who entrusted her with the treasures and secrets of their lives in exchange for ease and peace of mind.
“I’ve had people reach out to me via DMs, and have taken time to write paragraphs just to tell me what kind of situations they were in, what’s bothering them, and what’s going on in their lives. For example, for “Hate You”, someone came to me while they were in a relationship where they felt they were giving more than they were receiving. And this person had idolised this other one so much that they didn’t care about how much they were getting in return – to them it was about giving their everything to this person. As time went on, this person realised that they wanted more. I am grateful to such people for opening up to me, reflecting on the situation, and then having them follow-up a few months later to let me know that they have moved on from the relationship, that everything was good, and that they’ve learnt more about themselves and have grown more confident since the end of the relationship. This one is example though.
“Some people have reached out to me to let me know that they were shy but have been inspired and have gained more confidence by watching me. Sometimes when people see me in public – if I’m singing one of my songs or shooting a video or doing promo – they come up to me and tell me that they respect what I’m doing. Those things mean so much to me, knowing that my work has meaning. It gives me butterflies just thinking about it. I’m so appreciative of everyone who reaches out to me because it feels like we are building a family and a community of like-minded people that feels safe,” she said.