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Gabriella Valdes is the singing TikTok star you *need* to get to know, so we broke it down with her on all the exclusive deets of stardom and style. 

On finding the courage to start TikTok:
"When quarantine started, I was really bored and cramped up in my house. So I started thinking, what if I did some singing videos? TikTok is the perfect platform for that. I absolutely love interacting with people on TikTok and making new friends so it was a great decision." 

On her first viral vid:
"It was this Alicia Keys song, it got like 300K likes. The one that got, like, a milliion was What's Up by 4 Non Blondes. I was in shock at the time, I never knew it could reach that far." 

On industry role models:
"I have so many. Meghan Trainor is on TikTok and Scotty from Pentatonix is hilarious. He recently did a TikTok of the new Ratatouille musical that was so funny." 

On her fashion sense:
"In one word, it's hippie. Then I get that rock style from Janis Joplin or Stevie Nicks." 

On advice for teens everywhere:
"Never change yourself, no matter what. Always be humble and be true to yourself, especially on social media." 

On what's next:
"A lot of new music. I'm really excited!" 

Images provided by Gabriella Valdes. Parts of this interview were edited and condensed for clarity.

by Katherine Hammer | 1/11/2021