Mallrat

Mallrat’s hip-hop-infused electro-pop is the creation of Australian singer/songwriter Grace Shaw. She became a viral sensation with a series of teen-themed laptop tracks just before releasing her first EP, Uninvited, in 2016. She hit the Top Ten of Australia’s album chart with her third EP, 2019′s Driving Music, and in 2022 she issued her first full-length effort, Butterfly Blue.
Born and raised in Brisbane, Shaw took her performance pseudonym from the 2013 Orwells song “Mallrats (La La La).” She began uploading home-recorded tunes with her take on topics like school, clothes, and social exclusion to music-sharing sites as a 16-year-old in 2015. Quickly becoming a regular at the top of the Hype Machine charts, Mallrat released her debut EP, Uninvited, in mid-2016. Calling her “the Hannah Montana of the rap game,” Nettwerk gave it a label release in early 2017. Musicians like indie rock band Baby Spiders and EDM’s Oh Boy and Donatachi took note and featured her on their own tracks, and her song “For Real” was licensed for a smartphone commercial. In early 2018, Mallrat issued the EP In the Sky and made her U.S. debut at South by Southwest. The stand-alone single “Nobody’s Home,” a duet with Basenji, followed in early 2019.
With her teen years behind her, Mallrat continued to set everyday life against sticky rhythmic and melodic hooks on the Driving Music EP in September 2019. It debuted at number ten on the ARIA album chart as she embarked on a North American tour with Australian rapper Allday. A month later, Mallrat made her U.S. late-night TV debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden. 2020 saw Mallrat issue the ARIA-charting single “Rockstar,” and in 2022 she unveiled “Your Love,” “Teeth,” and the Azealia Banks-assisted “Surprise Me” ahead of the arrival of her debut long-player, Butterfly Blue. ~ Marcy Donelson