Olivia Rodrigo was working on the second verse of “expectations” with Chappell Roan when their studio conversation turned to her experiences with boys. Roan’s advice, as Rodrigo recalled it: “Oh my God, you need to start dating girls. This is crazy.”
The 23-year-old shared the exchange during an October 15 conversation with Zane Lowe. “I have a vivid memory of being in the studio with you, Chappell, and we were trying to write the second verse and I was telling you all of the crazy stuff that boys have done to me,” Rodrigo said.
Their “expectations” remix and its music video arrived October 15, giving Roan her first-ever feature. The original song appears on Rodrigo’s June album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Rodrigo said Roan’s confidence helped inspire the song before they collaborated. She’d wanted a mantra she could sing every night, pointing to the repeated command in Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” as an inspiration. Having Roan join her was a “dream come true,” she said.
Roan also spoke about what it meant to bring a queer perspective to the remix. “I don’t know if everyone would be down to have a fully queer verse on their song,” she said. “I think that that says a lot about your support for queerness, but also girl pop star vibes. It feels very feminist to me, but that is so you.”