The Slowburn Of Sabrina Carpenter

By Kayla Harper

She’s not an overnight success; or an industry plant, Sabrina Carpenter has been working towards a successful music career since she was under 10 years old.  The feats she has accomplished this year are the result of nearly two decades of hard work finally paying off; a dream that has been many years in the making, finally coming to fruition.  So how did this come to be?  Most people know her now by the 2024 song of the summer, “Espresso”, her dry humour, big blonde hair, and petite figure, but who is Sabrina Carpenter and how did she become the successful pop star we know today?

From a young age, Carpenter knew she wanted to be a singer and so did her family, claiming she had been obsessed with singing since she could talk.  In a video from when she was only about 10 years old, she discloses, “my plans for later in life…[are to] sing for people. Make them happy, make them, like, entertained by my music.” Along with this goal included being on Disney Channel and having her own show, both of which she has since achieved.

In 2009, when she was only 10 years old, Carpenter competed in and placed third on The Next Miley Project–a singing competition hosted by Miley Cyrus.  Prior to this, she had been singing at school events and covering her favourite songs on Youtube–including her idol, now close friend, Taylor Swift’s “White Horse” and “Picture To Burn”.  By the time she was 12 years old, Carpenter had signed a deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records and was pursuing an acting career.  In 2014, she started gaining popularity when she starred as Maya Hart in the Disney spin-off, Girl Meets World.  The same year, she released her debut single, “Can’t Blame A Girl For Trying”.

Carpenter would go on to release her debut album, Eyes Wide Open, in 2015 when she was around 16 years old.  Although it would still be many more years before she would be selling out shows, Eyes Wide Open contained many songs which defined this era for many young teenage girls at the time, including “The Middle Of Starting Over” and “We’ll Be Stars”.  Carpenter continued to release various singles and albums under Hollywood Records, including EVOLution which contains her hit, “Thumbs”, (an upbeat, dance-pop piece, criticizing the corporate world), and would be her first headlining tour in 2016.  However, one of the biggest accomplishments in her musical career at this point, was most likely opening for Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman Tour in 2017.

Her final musical endeavor under Hollywood Records would be the two-part albums, Singular Act I (2018) and Singular Act II (2019).  Unfortunately at this point, Carpenter was not much more successful than any other Disney pop star under Hollywood Records trying to make it in the music industry, while her music was reaching people, it wasn’t what she was known for.  A big part of this is most likely due to the stricter regulations Hollywood Records artists are under–most of them are young Disney stars expected to maintain a certain image and reputation.  Therefore, a lot of their songs are co-written and they don’t have as much control over the art they create. It wasn’t until Carpenter signed to Island Records in 2021 that we saw a shift in her artistic approach and a true insight into her musical potential.

The Internet drama following the fellow Disney star Olivia Rodrigo’s hit song, “Drivers Licence”, may have been Carpenter’s worst case scenario at the time. She received death threats from hundreds of people online after being accused, “the blond girl” sung about in Rodrigo’s song (whom, by the way, did nothing wrong, she just happened to be the girl who dated Rodrigo’s ex, Joshua Bassett after their breakup…of course by the time “Drivers Licence” came out and all this drama went down, Carpenter and Bassett had broken up).

Carpenter received tons of backlash and was basically “cancelled” on the internet.  As a response, she released the single “Skin” in 2021.  Initially, “Skin” received backlash from many as well.  However, all the drama did turn people’s attention towards her music.

Carpenter took advantage of all the attention, good or bad, and started rolling out the promotional singles for her fifth album and first with Island Records, emails i can’t send.  It wasn’t until July 15, 2022 that emails i can’t send would be released alongside it’s (at the time) latest single, “because I liked a boy” which discloses the emotional turmoil Carpenter endured at the hands of the internet and “cancel culture”, for what was all innocent and harmless events in actuality.  On to of all of this, Carpenter was also dealing with the emotional trauma left behind from her fathers infidelity, revealed in the song’s 1:44 opening track, “emails i can’t send”. Despite the initial backlash towards some of its singles, emails i can’t send revealed a mature and vulnerable side the world had yet to see from Carpenter and her music started to gain real traction when people finally got to hear her side of the story and realized she was never the villain they painted her out to be.

Carpenter embarked on what would be the last small-scale tour she would ever play, the emails i can’t send tour, which I was lucky enough to attend the second leg of in 2023.  It is partly the album, but mostly the tour which catapulted Carpenter from a small artist to a successful pop star, so that by 2024 she would dominate the world with the release of her sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet. 

Videos of the singer’s humorous “Nonsense” outros, personalized to each city she played and filled with innuendos, become viral on Tik Tok, alongside videos of the game “unSabscribe”  which Carpenter would play at each show—this would involve her choosing someone in the crowd and having a one-on-one conversation with them about heartache they were experiencing and proceeding to dedicate a cover song to them.  The emails i can’t send album and tour revealed Carpenter’s true talents and potential when it came to writing music, singing and performing, as well as her contagiously charming and funny personality.

Two singles from emails i can’t send, “Nonsense” and “Feather” became Carpenter’s biggest tracks and first real hit songs, earning her top 40 on Billboard for the first time and soon became certified-platinum.  Carpenter worked hard to continue promoting these songs and their success, playing many festivals, award shows, other music events and even opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which is now the biggest tour in history.

Just as the hype was dying down, she released the lead single from her next album, “Espresso”, before playing Coachella. “Espresso” makes “Feather” and “Nonsense” seem like underground gems.  It came out at the perfect time, when people were finally realizing Carpenter’s talent and couldn’t get enough of her.  It became her first number-one single, defining the summer of 2024 as it broke various records and remained at the top of the charts nearly every week.  Carpenter won various awards for it, but most recently won her first Grammy award when “Espresso” was named the Best Pop Solo Performance at the 67th annual Grammy awards.  Later on in the ceremony, she won her second Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album with Short n’ Sweet. 

By the time Short n’ Sweet came out in August of 2024, its singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” were so huge, the whole world was practically waiting to hit play on the singer’s latest album.  Short n’ Sweet is Carpenter’s most successful album to date, topping charts and winning Carpenter multiple awards (including a Grammy which was previously mentioned).  In the fall, Carpenter embarked on the first leg of her first arena tour in support of her latest album, which sold out in minutes! (I was also very grateful to attend this one).

Carpenter has worked long and hard for the success she has gained.  Love her or hate her, there is no denying that she deserves the recognition she is getting for her music.  A large part of it can definitely be credited to her switching labels. Carpenter now has more control in her creative process.  She is the main writer of her tracks and works with the artists she chooses. This has made her music more authentic and likewise, more successful.  Additionally, the timing of the internet drama in 2021 and the release of emails i can’t send had all the attention on her, all she had to do was prove herself, and she did.

So no, despite what many say, Carpenter is not an overnight success; she is not an industry plant.  She is a hard working, successful woman, whose current achievements have been over a decade in the making.  Her dedication to improving her craft, devotion to performing and music, in part with her authentic, charming and funny personality will only help her to maintain and build upon her current success and do amazing things in the future.