"The GRAMMY Museum welcomed kenzie to the Museum’s intimate 200-seat Clive Davis Theater for an evening including a conversation moderated by Billboard’s Lyndsey Havens discussing her recent release, ""close to you,"" her debut album, biting my tongue, her creative process, rising career, and more, with a performance that followed.

Confessional and captivating, kenzie’s left-of-center pop contains the kind of lived-in detail that immediately stirs up massive emotion. Whether she’s reflecting on a recent heartache or opening up about common struggles like anxiety, the 19-year-old singer/songwriter infuses every song with immense sensitivity, along with the same disarmingly genuine presence that’s earned her a major social media following. But as the Los Angeles-based artist reveals, gaining the courage to speak her truth took years of self-discovery and quietly building up confidence.

“When I was younger I’d go into songwriting sessions and feel like my opinions didn’t matter, even though I was the artist,” says kenzie, “but at the same time I was also writing songs alone in my bedroom, and it felt so therapeutic to get my feelings out. Finally I decided I wanted to start putting out music I’d written myself—I had a feeling that people could relate to what I was talking about in my songs, and maybe it would help them in some way.”

As she continues to piece together her next body of work, kenzie has begun broadening her musicality by teaching herself to play ukulele and taking up both piano and guitar, in addition to sharpening her craft as a songwriter. “One of my friends got me a little journal and now I take it everywhere,” she notes. “I’m always writing down lyrics and song ideas, especially when I’m traveling—I love just putting on my headphones and going into my own little world; it makes me feel so at peace.” And as she delivers her most vulnerable output to date, kenzie looks forward to revealing even more of her vast inner world. “I’ve been on social media for so long and I still feel like there’s so much people don’t know about me,” she says. “I hope that by sharing my story, I’m able to show everyone that I’m a regular teenager who’s going through all the same things they’re going through—and I hope it makes them feel like they’re not alone.”"