“It’s really important to be excited for the future,” says rising pop star Hayley Kiyoko. “What I hope to inspire is for people to feel validated and to find their voice within themselves…I think that’s sometimes difficult because life is hard. Everyone’s going through their own struggle.”
For Hayley, that struggle has been finding her place in a not-so-accepting industry. “I’ve just always wanted to be myself and introduce that to the mainstream pop world. And unfortunately, myself being half-Japanese and loving girls is kind of a new discussion. And so I’m hoping that little kids around the world are able to see me and be like, ‘Oh, I wanna do that. She can do it, I can do it.’”
And Hayley’s proving she can do it. Her 2015 single, “Girls Like Girls,” became a breakout hit, one that suddenly brought her, and her sexual identity, into the spotlight. “People call me Lesbian Jesus,” she says of her dedicated following. “I don’t know why. I don’t know who started it, but you know, it’s the highest honor.”
While she’s become an inspiration to her fans, it was difficult for Hayley to reach that place of self-acceptance. “I spent a lot of time growing up comparing myself to other people, and I had a struggle with femininity and where I was on that spectrum. I realized that confidence is the most attractive thing, and if you have confidence, you could be wearing a paper bag and look sexy.”
Hayley recognizes this sort of confidence comes from within, especially when feeling the pressure to come out. “You’re really focused on, well, how am I gonna come out to other people, and who cares about other people? If you love yourself and you’ve built this foundation within yourself, no one’s words or feelings can affect or hurt you.” As for her advice to her younger self? “To go ask that girl out that I always wanted to. You know, I was a little timid, a little shy, missed some opportunities in life. So I would have told her to ‘Go get ’em, tiger.’”
With her new album, “Expectations,” Hayley continues to grow her voice and her audience. “What’s so wonderful about this journey is that I grew up without a community, not knowing people like me, and through my music, I’ve found thousands of people that connect and relate to my feelings and my experiences…it’s a really beautiful thing.”