TRENDING

We need to talk about a painting of Khloe Rose feeding a horse. The artwork in question is hanging in Khloe's bedroom, which is basically a life-size collage of everything that has shaped her over the years. But nothing—not the glossy Taylor Swift posters or even the ginormous elephant Squishmallow—stands out more than the horse painting. Except maybe the story behind it.

"It's a portrait that was painted by my great-grandmother, and it used to be a portrait of my grandmother. And then she re-painted it to be a portrait of me feeding a horse," Khloe, 19, explains with a mix of pride and nostalgia.

Following the August release of her debut EP The In Between, Khloe's whole life is having a horse painting kind of moment as she navigates adding a new layer to her own portrait.

The Best of Boba Worlds

Leading a double life as a musician and also working a low-key job behind the counter at a small boba shop may sound like a Hannah Montana reboot, but it's Khloe's everyday. "It's definitely becoming a little overwhelming," she says. We can believe it: The demanding schedule of a music career plus another job seems like a feat you'd literally need a Time Turner to pull off. And Khloe's journey from "normal girl" to "TikTok famous" to "full-fledged popstar" has happened at lightning speed.

The In Between, which wasn't even supposed to exist this summer, came together quickly (and kind of chaotically). "The plan was just to record two songs. Then after 'Fictional' came out, everything changed," Khloe says.

She switched directions to write and record an EP in nine days. Sick and stressing about her vocals, the experience brought Khloe plenty of anxiety and self-doubt, which she eventually learned to overcome.

"I was scared people would think I wasn't cut out for it. But I realized that being stressed and crying in frustration over [making music] doesn't mean I love it any less," she says. "That's just part of existing. You can be overwhelmed about something that you're excited for and that you love."

Starting Over

Khloe's brought that wisdom about confronting tough feelings to her music. For this EP, she pushed herself to write songs about things that made her feel embarrassed or ashamed—especially in "Starting Over," her favorite song on The In Between, inspired by the insecurity she felt when her friends moved away for college.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Khloe Rose (@khloerrose)

"I felt ashamed for not being excited all the time about what they were doing, because sometimes I just wanted them to be home," she admits.

Khloe lobbied hard to add the track at the last minute because she wanted an "acoustic, autobiographical, lyrically charged moment" to bridge the gap between her current music and what's coming next.

As for exactly what that future entails, Khloe hopes to go on tour but insists there are no solid plans yet. But much like that horse painting, she knows one thing is here to stay: "The only thing I can definitively say, because I know literally nothing else, is that there will be more music."

Hey, girl! Just wanted to let you know that this story originally ran in our October/November 2023 issue. Want more? Read the print mag for free *today* when you click HERE.

Top image and slider image: Acacia Evans.

by Kayleigh Roberts | 9/19/2023