Nessa Barrett Wants Her New Songs To Make You Feel Hot

Nessa Barrett knew her “Passenger Princess” music video was going to ruffle some feathers. When the pop star recruited Love Island USA’s snake-wrangling heartthrob Rob Rausch to be her co-star, it set the Internet on fire before the video even came out. “I knew a lot of ladies out there were going to be very mad at me,” she says, laughing. Sure enough, the video became a sensation when it premiered on Aug. 1, garnering 3.5 million views and multiple viral TikTok edits about their chemistry — but what most fans don’t know is that Barrett and Rausch have some history.

The 22-year-old musician from New Jersey is a Love Island fan, and she found out about Rausch in the summer of 2023, when he was a Casa Amor boy on Season 5. “There was this really weird guy who was obsessed with frogs, and I was so intrigued,” she says. “And then no one kept him.” Barrett sent him a DM once he got home from Fiji. “We talked a little bit,” she says, but then life got busy. “I would consider us online friends.”

I kind of said it as a joke: ‘Wait, should I ask Rob?’ ... We thought it would be a crazy PR move.

Rausch reappeared the next summer as a main islander on Season 6, when Barrett was working with her team to plan the promo for “Passenger Princess.” “I kind of said it as a joke: ‘Wait, should I ask Rob?’ And everyone [on my team] was like, ‘Yeah.’ We thought it would be a crazy PR move.”

So Barrett sent Rausch a DM, and the next day, he left the villa and got his phone back. “It was a fast turnaround, probably four days,” she says, adding that Rausch was jet-lagged from Fiji when they did their overnight shoot. “The very first few hours of shooting, we were doing the scenes of us giving each other the eyes, and me walking up to him, and him grabbing my *ss,” Barrett says. “That’s almost more awkward than putting us in a car and having us make out. … We were trying so hard not to laugh in those takes.”

But she was happy to be shooting the video — which involved some “crazy intimate stuff” she’d never done on camera, like the car make-out — with someone she knew. “He was very kind to everyone on the crew and had really good energy the whole time,” she says. “It wasn’t weird.”

Barrett and Rausch still talk on occasion, but these days, she’s focused on promoting her sophomore album, Aftercare, out Nov. 15. The record is “creatively very different” than her past work, which includes her debut album, Young Forever, and two EPs, Hell Is a Teenage Girl and Pretty Poison. Barrett has been releasing music since signing with Warner Records in 2020 — a record deal she secured after posting a few viral singing videos on TikTok. She now has almost 20 million followers on the platform and a Spotify audience of 5.7 million monthly listeners.

The album is about exploring sexuality and finding comfort and confidence.

“I’ve always talked about trauma, and all my music has been so sad and depressing,” she says. “If people are going to a Nessa Barrett concert, they’re going there to cry.” But for this album, she wanted the vibes of a dance party. “It was about time for me to make something fun that makes you feel confident.”

The name Aftercare has a double meaning, Barrett says. “The beauty behind the word is that it has the sex appeal and sensual side, as well as the vulnerable and emotional side.” The lyrics reflect that same duality. “The album is about exploring sexuality and finding comfort and confidence. The topic of sex has always been such a negative thing for me, and I’ve never been comfortable when it comes to intimacy. I’ve struggled with it quite a lot.”

Aftercare is for anyone who wants to take their power back. “No one’s worth your tears, and no one’s worth giving your whole heart to if they’re not going to give you aftercare.”

Below, Barrett talks about her TikTok obsessions and current going-out vibe.

Elite Daily: What songs are on your getting-ready playlist?

Nessa Barrett: Ooh, “Ultraviolence” by Lana Del Rey. I’ve been obsessed with “Girl, I’m Gonna Miss You” by Milli Vanilli. “Retrograde,” James Blake. “Darling Nikki,” Prince.

ED: Any guesses for who’s going to be your top artist on Spotify this year?

NB: Definitely Lana.

ED: What’s your favorite corner of TikTok?

NB: I really love astrology TikTok and anything that has to do with spirituality.

ED: What are you currently manifesting?

NB: I’m always manifesting peace and pure joy in my life, and I’m currently manifesting my album to do well.

ED: What’s your favorite reality show?

NB: Probably Love Island UK.

ED: Do you have a favorite reality TV star?

NB: Snooki.

ED: What’s your go-to going-out outfit?

NB: I’ve recently been really into heels, baggy jeans, a belt, and a long-sleeve black shirt.

ED: Best trick for feeling more confident?

NB: Listen to the music that makes you feel hot. Music does so much.

ED: You posted on Instagram in August “This is my annual scare all men post.” What’s your favorite way to scare men?

NB: I’m very sure of myself right now, and a lot of things I choose to do are not particularly for the male gaze. As soon as a man talks to me, I have this bitter face of “I don’t even care,” and I feel like a lot of people can read that.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.