Fresh off of last week’s release of “The World Keeps Spinning,” her collaboration with Fousheé, tonight alt-pop/alt-rock artist Alemeda kicks off her biggest tour ever, which has her supporting her Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate Isaiah Rashad on his Lil Sunny’s Awful Road Trip, which will be stopping at The Fillmore Philadelphia next Thursday, August 20th. Amidst last-minute prep before tour, I recently got a chance to chat with Alemeda via Zoom, who tells me about her family at Top Dawg Entertainment, the things that inspired her growing up, and accomplishing some pretty monumental goals by her mid-twenties.
*Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Izzy Cihak: Last month you played the Long Beach edition of Warped Tour, so I’m really curious to hear how that all went?
Alemeda: It was so hot! But it was an amazing crowd. I didn’t know what to expect, because I feel like that audience could have been 50/50. I was just like, “What’s gonna happen? Who’s pullin’ up?” And then it was fire! I’d always heard of Warped Tour as a kid and I was never able to go because my mom is like super religious and wasn’t into going to shows. It was fun, just so hot!
Izzy: And you just dropped “The World Keeps Spinning,” a track that features Fousheé, who’s also so cool. How did that track and collaboration come about?
Alemeda: I made that song a little over a year ago, and I’ve been wanting to get a collab on it. I wasn’t sure who, and then I recently met Fousheé. We both performed at Camp Flog Gnaw on the same stage, like two hours apart. I’ve been a fan of her and she’s also a fire alternative Black artist. I straight up just DMed her. I was like, “Hey! I have this song, if you would be down to hop on it,” and she was like, “Yeah!” And within a couple of weeks [she] sent over her verse.
Izzy: You’re gearing up to hit the road for a pretty massive month-and-a-half-long tour with Isaiah Rashad later this week, which I think may technically be your biggest tour yet… How excited are you for that, to be on the road for a month-and-a-half, playing these pretty massive rooms?
Alemeda: I’m super excited! It’s kind of crazy! It is my biggest tour. It’s one of those things where it’s your first time doing something, so you don’t know what to expect, and it’s like excitement mixed with nervousness. But I feel like it’s gonna go fire, especially him being my label brother. It’s not like a random person I’m hopping on tour with, it’s basically just like family, so it’s gonna be really fun.
Izzy: Are there any shows you’re especially excited about?
Alemeda: I’ve always wanted to go to Florida and see the vibe there. I’ve performed in most of these cities, but I’ve never performed in the South, so I think it’s gonna be a very different audience, and I’m looking forward to that.
Izzy: What can be expected of the live show when you’re here at The Fillmore Philadelphia? This will be my first time seeing you, so I’m super excited for it.
Alemeda: It’s gonna be the most produced show I’ve ever done. I have the visuals; I have the lyrics on screen. I’ve never had a big enough budget to do all of that, so this is gonna be the first show where I get to really go all out, and it’s a little more of what I actually want. Band is fire, everyone’s very cohesive and very put together.
Izzy: This is a big question, but I just realized that your earliest singles – “Wish You The Worst,” “Gonna Bleach My Eyebrows,” and “Summer Break” – dropped five years ago now, so I’m curious what have been some of the highlights of this first half-decade of your musical career?
Alemeda: I would say getting to play Camp Flog Gnaw. That was one of my dream festivals. I’ve gone to that festival so many times. I didn’t think I was gonna be performing it last year, and I did. Finally doing my first tour in February, my first-ever real tour with multiple dates. But I’ve really appreciated the slow growth. I’ve really got time to get my shit together, focus on my vocals, focus on the songwriting, focus on just becoming better. I’ve really just fucked with my journey in general.
Izzy: On a related note, what do you consider some of the most meaningful things that you’ve learned about being a professional musician in those first five years?
Alemeda: I guess just the art of really practicing. I’ve never been somebody who liked to practice things. If I’m good at it, I’m good at it, if I’m not, I’m outta there. So, to really work on multiple different things and have that sense of accomplishment after, that’s been the most meaningful thing for me, because I genuinely have not been able to do that in any other aspect of my life.
Izzy: You’ve been with Top Dawg Entertainment for a few years now. How has it been working with them and being a part of that whole label roster and family?
Alemeda: I think I got really lucky! I’ve been with them under management since I was 19, and I’m 26 now. I’m probably never gonna leave. I love them. It’s just so different from the rest of the industry. It’s very family, it’s very tight-knit, small… which I think accommodates me as a person. I feel like I fit the vibe in terms of how family-oriented it is. It’s just special to be a part of a label that only has maybe 12 artists that are all just super talented, kind of dominating the genres they’re in.
Izzy: I’m curious if you’ve noticed patterns amongst the people who seem to most connect with what you’re doing?
Alemeda: It’s really just the kids that grew up listening to and loving indie and alt music. I think I make the music that I grew up listening to; that’s kind of how I found my sound. The pattern I’ve noticed is kids who also grew up in the early 2000s; mostly rock, mostly indie-pop, whatever. But I think the special part of it is when we were growing up, we didn’t have any Black people. We had a few, but not enough in the mainstream space that were known well enough. We had like Fefe Dobson and a couple other people, but I think now it’s really cool that there’s so many, and I think that’s also why I resonate with fans a lot. Every time I’ve done meet and greets, they’ll come up to me and be like, “Dude, you’re what I wish I saw in my childhood!” And I’m like, “I’m what I wish I saw in my childhood.” So, that makes me happy! It’s amazing!
Izzy: You’ve collaborated with and played with a ton of really cool artists. Are there any artists that you would absolutely love to collaborate with or tour with that you haven’t gotten a chance to yet?
Alemeda: My dream collab and dream tour would be Hayley Williams or Paramore. I don’t know if they’re doing any tours, but that was very much, when I was a kid, my favorite band.
Izzy: Finally, what’s next for you after these currently announced dates wrap? What are you hoping and planning for the last quarter of 2026 and maybe even the first part of 2027?
Alemeda: I’m working on my first album right now. So, the rest of the year, maybe even a little bit of the first quarter of next year, I’m just completely locking in in the studio!
Izzy: Anything you can maybe say about what fans can expect of the first full-length, if you’ve even reached that point yet?
Alemeda: I haven’t [laughs]. I’m still at the very beginning of putting songs together, but I think it’s gonna be the full spectrum of my favorite type of rock music; that’s been my direction. I’ve been taking a lot of inspiration from Alabama Shakes, Lenny Kravitz, early Strokes. That’s all the intel I have myself [laughs].
*Get your tickets here.
