Salem Ilese Davern (born August 19, 1999) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her viral singles "

Mad at Disney "Mad at Disney" is a song by American singer Salem Ilese from her second extended play ''Unsponsored Content'' (2022). It was released on July 24, 2020, for digital download and streaming by HomeMade and TenThousand Projects. The pop song was i ...

" and "PS5". She has also co-written songs for artists such as

Bella Poarch Denarie Taylor (born February 9, 1997), known professionally as Bella Poarch ( ), is a Filipino-born American singer and social media personality. On August 17, 2020, she created the most liked video on TikTok, in which she lip syncs to the so ...

and

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

. Originally from

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census. Mill Valley is located on the western and ...

, Ilese started taking songwriting classes with

Bonnie Hayes Bonnie Hayes is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer, born in San Francisco, California, United States, and currently lives between Los Angeles and New York City. Her songs have been recorded by Cher, Bette Midler, Bonnie ...

when she was ten years old and spent two years

majoring An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conc ...

in Hayes' songwriting program at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...

. Ilese moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, where she signed to Homemade Projects and released her debut EP, ''757'', in 2019. In 2020, Ilese released the song "Mad at Disney" after a series of Disney live-action remakes which drew the ire of fans. It became her breakout hit because of its popularity on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

platforms such as

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

and was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. In 2021, Ilese released her second EP ''(L)only Child'' and collaborated with

Alan Walker Alan Olav Walker (born 24 August 1997) is a British-born Norwegian music producer and DJ primarily known for the critically acclaimed single "Faded (Alan Walker song), Faded" (2015), which was certified platinum in 14 countries. He has also mad ...

on " Fake a Smile". She found her next online hit with 2022's "PS5", a collaboration with

Tomorrow X Together Tomorrow X Together (, ; Tomorrow by Together, stylized TOMORROW X TOGETHER), commonly known as TXT ( ), is a South Korean boy band formed by Big Hit Entertainment, now known as Big Hit Music. The group consists of five members: Yeonjun, Soobin ...

which featured Walker. In 2023, she released her debut album ''high concept''. Ilese's

pop songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

are usually about dissatisfied relationships and written around a single hook, particularly brand names. This style of songwritingsometimes dubbed the "mad at disney genre"has been criticized as inauthentic, overused and purposefully written to attract attention on social media.

Early life

Born on August 19, 1999, Salem Ilese Davern was originally from

. Her songwriting career started at the age of 10 when she began classes with

(songwriter for

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporate ...

and

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...

) in San Francisco. She also attended

Career

Her single, "

", was awarded gold by the

. The song peaked at number 67 on the

Billboard Global 200 The ''Billboard'' Global 200 is a weekly record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart ranks the top songs globally and is based on digital sales and online streaming from over 200 territories worldwide. First announced in mid-2 ...

in 2020, and appeared on the Rolling Stone Top 100 Popular Songs in 2020. Additionally, Ilese co-wrote Jamie Miller's "Here's Your Perfect",

's " Build a Bitch,"

's "Anti-Romantic". Her EP "(L)only Child" was released with a food truck in May 2021. Her other song, "Crypto Boy", rose in popularity in social media including

YouTube Shorts YouTube Shorts is the short-form section of the video-sharing website YouTube, hosting content much like YouTube's primary service but in a vertical format with a maximum length of 60 seconds. Shorts have collectively earned over 5 trillion vie ...

and

. Also, she wrote and sung with Tomorrow X Together, produced by Alan Walker, the song PS5 in 2022 which was a big success on social media. In July 2023, She then announced that she would release her debut album, "high concept", on September 15, 2023. The album was promoted with the release of several singles including "Strongly Worded Letter" and "PainHub".

Artistry

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

's Marcy Donelson described Ilese's style as "dissatisfied, relationship-themed

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

". Ilese often writes songs around a single concept. She considers brand and product names help songs gain traction. Writing for ''

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's ...

'', Morgan Sung noted that some social media users complained about a particular style of music which new artists use to try to break out on TikTok. Marked by a nostalgic melody and simple lyrics attempting to be relatable, the "mad at disney genre" has been criticized as unoriginal and inauthentic. Sung cited examples such as Ilese's "Mad at Disney" and Gayle's " ABCDEFU".

Songwriting credits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilese, Salem American women singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American songwriters Living people People from Mill Valley, California Berklee College of Music alumni 1999 births