Mckenna Grace On “Ugly And Rotten,” Metal Music, & Olivia Rodrigo

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In most areas of her life and career, Mckenna Grace has to play nice. But not in the studio. On her ferocious new single “Ugly and Rotten,” the 19-year-old actor/singer unleashes her unbridled fury on a misbehaving ex. Grace has always been a metalhead, and it’s never been more apparent than in this screaming, unrestrained release. “I’m so strict with myself to be positive and uplifting in my life, but as soon as I start writing music, I get mean,” Grace tells Elite Daily. “My music tends to be a lot angrier than I truly am. It’s my therapy to get out all of my bitter emotions.”

“Ugly and Rotten” was born from an unexpected late-night studio session, where Grace was trying to work on a different song, but around midnight, a rogue Notes app line inspired her to lean into her anger and record something totally new. “It was a complete throwaway at first,” Grace says. “I just saw this random lyric I jotted down a long time ago: ‘You said that we'd figure it out. I guess you were busy figuring her out.’ I just sang that verbatim,...