YouTube singer Rebecca Black gives interview about new music

Friday singer Rebecca Black recently opened up about the vicious online bullying and real-life ostracism she faced after her first music video went viral at just 13.

After reflecting on feeling ‘terribly ashamed of herself’ as a teen on the ninth anniversary of her widely criticized song, the 23-year-old Los Angeles-native is continuing to make music and find herself. 

The songbird explained her road to success ‘hasn’t been so straightforward’ in a new interview with Teen Vogue. 

‘It’s been a very convoluted journey to feel like I am able to be who I am,’ she admitted.  

This month, the YouTuber celebrated her first Pride month as an openly queer person and candidly noted that she hasn’t ‘always been’ herself. 

‘I lost touch with that for a while and I’ve gotten back in touch with it over time—that sureness. I’ve really spent the last five years trying to get that sense of self back,’ she told the magazine.  

Happy: After reflecting on feeling ‘terribly ashamed of herself’ as a teen on the ninth anniversary of the widely criticized song, the 23-year-old Los Angeles-native is continuing to make music

Moving on: She explained her road to success ‘hasn’t been so straightforward’ to Teen Vogue , in a new interview, released on Monday

In addition, she felt pressured to ‘label her sexuality a certain way,’ according to the outlet. 

‘I’ve had a lot of people in my life tell me, “that doesn’t sound like a real thing,” and it is. For me, in my own conversation with myself, it wasn’t that hard to accept that I could love a man just as much as a woman or any person, regardless of their gender,’ the singer said. 

She added: ‘I can look at my life and have experience of both. I don’t question my own [feelings], but it is a difficult conversation at times.’ 

‘It’s been a very convoluted journey to feel like I am able to be who I am,’ she explained

Navigating her sexuality: She felt pressured by her record label to ‘label her sexuality a certain way,’ according to the outlet

Black also pointed out many people struggle with her being ‘fluid’ and not necessarily having a ‘preference’ of gender. 

‘I’m not trying to say I do or don’t have a preference. I do think there is this pressure; it’s something I felt for a long time,’ she said. 

She concluded the interview by saying, ‘Just because I do one thing one day doesn’t mean I’m going to be that for the rest of my life.’  

‘I can look at my life and have experience of both. I don’t question my own [feelings], but it is a difficult conversation at times,’ Black told Teen Vogue

In February, she penned a message to her younger self, which she shared on Instagram about feeling ‘terribly ashamed, depressed, and tormented at school.’

‘Nine years ago today, a music video for a song called “Friday” was uploaded to the internet,’ she wrote on Instagram on February 10.

‘Above all things, I just wish I could go back and talk to my 13-year-old self, who was terribly ashamed of herself and afraid of the world,’ she went on.

‘Just because I do one thing one day doesn’t mean I’m going to be that for the rest of my life,’ she concluded

‘I’m trying to remind myself more and more that every day is a new opportunity to shift your reality and lift your spirit. You are not defined by any one choice or thing.

‘Time heals and nothing is finite. It’s a process that’s never too late to begin. And so, here we go! This might be a weird thing to post but the honesty feels good if nothing else.’

She was in middle school when she learned about ARK Music Factory, a music label that customers could pay to write them a song, record it, and put together a corresponding music video.   

Rough: Even at 17, she ‘would get to school only to get food thrown at her and her friends’ (in the 2011 Friday music video)