Phone a Friend: Advice from Baby Queen.

"You are what you eat, so I'll become nothing, I alter my face and they call me stunning," Baby Queen (real name: Bella Latham) sings on her latest release, 'Pretty Girl Lie', a cut-throat take on the relationship between body dysmorphia and online personas.

Using her music as a means to critique society, Baby Queen's number one rule is: "At all times, remain fiercely sincere to who you are."

She shares about the falseness of social media the following: "I think it’s really dangerous that kids are downloading Instagram for the first time and comparing airbrushed and edited images of other people to their own appearances without knowing that what they are looking at is an unattainable farce. It’s so important to know that people only post the greatest 1% of their lives on social media and can pick and choose what they want to be seen as a representation of who they are. This means they can create their identity, and viewing their Instagram page can be as fictional as watching a fantasy film. Kids all over the world as suffering from anxiety, depression and anorexia and still nobody is talking about it. It’s really messed up."

And in discussion of the addiction for attention, Latham says: "I think attention has become an addiction. It has become a means of validating a person’s entire worth as an organism. In actual fact, I think attention online (follows, likes, comments) is now a currency in the real world; like a new kind of class system. People are treated differently depending on how important they are deemed to be online and I can’t stand it. Most of these people that are super trendy online are boring as actual f**k."

In her song 'Medicine', Baby Queen refreshingly sings about antidepressants, honestly acknowledging side-effects of altering your emotions, apathy, and libido. Talking about exploring her mental health in music, she says, "I know that when I was growing up, there weren’t any artists (and certainly not in pop) that were saying the things I was thinking inside my brain. That was super alienating for me, because like most kids, I really found comfort in the musicians I followed and listened to. I think pop-culture should have a home for honesty and deep reflection. It means that kids who are feeling real human feelings can know there is a safe place for those feelings to exist and they are completely normal for feeling them."

Baby Queen also has a relatable love for Taylor Swift, listing her favourite facts about Miss Swift as follows: "She always used to write '13' on her hand before every live show because it's her lucky number. She raps. This is not a lie. Search 'Taylor Swift Thug Story' on YouTube - it’s lit. And she named her cats after television characters which is a very me thing to do."

With her debut EP 'Medicine' set for release on November 6th, Baby Queen shows no signs of slowing down, telling us that she's "then rolling straight into preparations for next year which is going to be HUGE," but is also equally excited about having "a week’s holiday in October."

Below is some advice that Baby Queen has put together for you...

ADVICE FROM A PERSON YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN’T BE TAKING ADVICE FROM:

1. Have a routine.
I still haven’t completely mastered this one, but I do know how much better I feel when I have structure in my life. As somebody who has suffered from depression for years, I’ve found that life is easier when I trick my brain into believing I have control over my reality, if that makes sense. It’s really important for a person to feel fulfilled and significant, and those feelings can come from something as simple as making your bed in the morning.

2. Don’t smoke the first cigarette.
Don’t be like me. Social smoking ALWAYS turns into smoking-smoking and now I can’t stop and it’s not as cool as it looks. My voice box low-key hates me.

3. Be kind.
I’m a super nihilist, so I don’t believe in many things, but I do believe that if there’s anything that gives life meaning, it’s our relationships with other people and how we affect and change each other. If a cyclist yells at me in the morning or somebody says something unkind online, it can alter the course of my day. It’s the butterfly effect, and I don’t think people realise the impact they can have on other people in every small thing they do. Kindness is the most important thing in the whole world.

4. Listen to Taylor Swift.
I genuinely think life is just better when T Swizzle is playing. Neglect the opinions of your snobby indie friends and blast 'Cruel Summer'. You will feel immediately better and all your problems will be solved and you will win one million dollars, I promise.

5. Be yourself.
This is literally the most important thing I ever learnt and it took a long time to really sink in. As a musician my greatest success has come as a result of being unapologetically who I am. I always say that everybody can write a melody and anybody can play a chord, but the only thing the artist brings to the table that is unique is their perspective and the way they think. The same goes for life. The moment you commit to everything that is quintessentially ‘you’, you begin to move towards a future that will allow you to thrive and not just survive.

6. You CAN say no.
Don’t do what other people want you to do at the expense of your own mental health. It’s okay to be selfish, and sometimes you have to, which is really difficult for me to accept. Everybody else is going to do exactly what suits them in the end, so why shouldn’t you?

7. Don’t talk about your crush on Jodie Comer in interviews.
I know it’s hard to resist, but don’t do it. It will blow up on the internet and ruin any chance you ever had at wooing her. People on Twitter will call you weird. You will drown your sorrows in margaritas on a Tuesday night. These things will happen to you.

8. Family is everything.
Always remember that when all is said and done, your family will always be there for you. You can never really trust anybody else to stick by you like your family will.

9. Follow your wildest dreams.
I believe in manifestation, but not in the spiritual voodoo kind of way, just in a practical sense. If you think about something all the time, you will talk about it all the time which means you will meet people with similar interests that will lead you to new opportunities. If you focus on something intently enough, you will automatically travel towards it. Absolutely anything is possible.

10. Get out of bed.
Don’t let your bed be your sanctuary and your safe place. I learnt this when I was fighting through the worst of my depression. Even if you’re not leaving the house, just get out of bed. It’s a psychological thing and it ensnares you into a detrimental cycle. Get up and go outside. Just do it.

Baby Queen's new song 'Pretty Girl Lie' is out now - watch the music video below: