Known for their comical, yet poignant narratives, New York artist, Boy Jr. (they/them), has just released the second track off their upcoming debut album, “Bullying Myself”. A single all about the negative things we tell ourselves, “Bullying Myself” brings out the charming and energetic indie pop-rock that flourishes from Boy Jr.’s musical background, experimental and expansive genre versatility, while continuing to be catchy and creative. 

On the track, Boy Jr. shares, “This is a song to listen to when you are fed up with how mean you've been treating yourself. I find myself repeating a lot of the same unkind thoughts when I'm going through something, but if anyone ever said these things to me or a friend, I'd be pissed! So instead of letting it rot on the inside, I'm airing it out and releasing it outside."

Boy Jr. has been praised for being a wildly creative LGBTQ+ artist and influencer all in one. The internet presence they’ve grown through sharing original music has brought out a dedicated fanbase that enjoys the high energy and oddball personality that Ariel Allen-Lubman has created for Boy Jr. With their upcoming DIY album, I Love Getting Dumped, on the horizon, we wanted to continue to explore Boy Jr.'s platform that is based in artistry, gender, and influencership. We sat down with the New York artist to learn more about “Bullying Myself”, their DIY process, and what’s in store for the future. Read all about it below!

THIRTEEN: Hi Boy Jr.! Thank you for taking the time to chat with us and answer a few questions. For those who aren’t familiar, what is Boy Jr. all about?

BOY JR.: Thanks for chatting! Boy Jr. is my somewhat eclectic alternative electro pop rock music project. I write and produce everything and I guess at this point it’s my content creation project as well.

THIRTEEN: Your discography thus far comes across as a comical, yet impactful way of music. What pushed you into this genre and sound?

BOY JR.: It’s interesting because I never intended to take a humorous route. I’ve been making music since I was kid and prior to getting more involved on TikTok and Instagram etc. all my music was more “serious” indie pop rock stuff. Still fun and silly and high energy and stuff. But the witty humorous stuff has helped me connect more directly with people in a time where our feeds are over-saturated with a lot of everything. It’s certainly not how I’d define my sound or what I want to do forever but I’m glad it’s helped provide some light to peoples’ internet experiences.

THIRTEEN: You just released your latest single, “Bullying Myself”, which has a strong message behind it. Do you mind sharing a little bit more about the track and why you felt it was important to put out a song like this?

BOY JR.: I’ve struggled with kinda battling my own inner voice for a long time, especially around the subject of other peoples’ perception of me or my certainty around being successful. I felt fed up with my own feelings and wanted to address the tangle of emotions head on and kinda spell it out really directly. And honestly it’s helped me identify what I’m feeling and how to navigate away from feeling it all the time.

THIRTEEN: Was “Bullying Myself” a song you felt you needed to hear or did you write it as if you were speaking to someone else?

BOY JR.: It’s definitely written about me. Like the chorus is supposed to be THE thoughts I find myself repeating in this self bullying way. I have a ton of layered vocals in there to hopefully give the effect of a crowd of me’s telling me all this stuff I don’t want to be true but torture myself with anyway.

THIRTEEN: This single is coming from your upcoming, full-length album, I Love Getting Dumped. What else can we expect to hear once the album is released?

BOY JR.: A lot of weird variety haha. All the songs were written at different points in the last 4ish years about several different relationships. So it spans a number of different messages and musical influences but all tied together with the thread of the songs being about breakups and generally being these higher energy experimental pop rock songs.

THIRTEEN: The single, the album, and a big part of your career has been impacted by the DIY music scene. Why do you feel it is important to not only market yourself as a DIY artist but really lean into that role as your career progresses?

BOY JR.: That’s an interesting question because I’ve honestly never given it that kind of thought. It’s more a matter of necessity, I just am a DIY artist and that’s how I’ve been doing it for years. I do think it’s important to me to share a realistic perspective of what this work is like. Both because I put my heart and soul into everything I share and also because we’re so engulfed in an online culture that celebrates looking as put together and desirable as possible. I’m perfectly fine with people knowing the reality of this work and inviting people into that experience instead of maintaining the illusion that having some videos go viral means that the artist is launched into instant stability and success.

THIRTEEN: You’ve amassed over 120k followers on Instagram and over 12M likes on TikTok, how does it feel to have such a stable fanbase even before your debut album is released?

BOY JR.: God I wish I felt like I had a stable fanbase hahaha! The amount of times people tell me they used to love seeing my stuff come up on their feeds and suddenly stopped seeing me and thought I just stopped posting is such a bummer. Pretty much every artist I know no matter what stage of their career they are in has some level of anxiety about being able to maintain stability when we can’t directly reach our fans anymore. Every post has to perform well algorithmically to even reach people who have been following for years. I am incredibly excited to get to keep sharing work with people who have been listening since the early days and people who are just finding this music though. And excited to share some more vulnerable and complex sides to myself/ my work with folks who mostly know the lighter side to me.

THIRTEEN: At a first glance, Boy Jr. comes across as an individual that is loud, proud, and full of life and color. What was the process like in creating the Boy Jr. persona as we know it today?

BOY JR.: Honestly this is just how I am hahaha

THIRTEEN: What do you hope the future looks like for Boy Jr.?

BOY JR.: Stable. Collaborative. With a lot more real world experience mixed in there with the online life. I have sooooooo much unreleased music to put out too!