How Kylie Cantrall Turned the Valley Girl Stereotype Into a Superpower

As a certified Valley Girl™, I consider it my civic duty to tell you about pop’s rising Valley Girl queen, Kylie Cantrall.

With confidence, talent, and enough Y2K star-power to make denim on denim cool again, Cantrall’s newest EP, Valley Girl Problems, blends dance-pop and ‘90s/2000s R&B into a project that feels simultaneously nostalgic and undeniably current.

While some may know her from her role as Red in Descendants: The Rise of Red, (and more recently Descendants: Wicked Wonderland), Valley Girl Problems shows that under the iconic red wig is a twenty-one year-old songwriter navigating betrayal, heartbreak, and the wonderfully chaotic reality of young adulthood.

From the opening track “Grwm,” the EP fully embraces the “Valley Girl” aesthetic—lip gloss, shopping sprees, and the hot Californian sun. But much like a film noir, the glamorous illusion slowly begins to give way to something deeper. Under the glitter are real “Valley Girl Problems,” like coping with betrayal from someone she trusted, learning to let go of heartbreak, and doing it all while trying to survive 100-degree Valley heat.

Cantrall says it best when she sings, “I’m overstimulated, sweaty and sticky / Been a real dry spell since I last got kissed” (have truer words ever been spoken?).

At a time when Y2K nostalgia has become “mainstream,” Cantrall distinguishes herself by treating it as more than just a surface-level aesthetic. The references are present–hoop earrings, Carrie Bradshaw, and Louboutins–but they help tell stories that feel much more contemporary. Friendship breakups can hurt more than romantic ones. Situationships are draining as hell. And the pressure to look effortlessly perfect while your life is quietly unraveling can be overwhelming!

If you’re chronically online like me, you’ve probably seen the internet’s running joke that Cantrall’s “Disney contract is hanging by a thread.” Of course, it doesn’t have anything to do with her relationship with the studio; it’s fans reacting to her brave artistry. Rather than boxing herself into a polished Hollywood image, Cantrall embraces personal songwriting, bolder production and wardrobe choices, and the occasional lyric that tiptoes into TV-14 territory.

Nowhere is that more evident than on the EP’s final track, “Space Between.” Sharing its title with the Descendants 2 duet about an everlasting friendship, the song flips the sentiment on its head, instead exploring the aftermath of a messy friendship breakup and delivering one of the EP’s most piercing lyrics: “You did the worst thing you could do to me / And I don’t think you really еven care that much / Now therе’s always gonna be a boy-sized space between us.” (“Space Between” mentioned…but at what cost?). It’s clever and a little cheeky, a wink to the fans that have followed her journey.

On Valley Girl Problems, Cantrall establishes herself as an artist with a sharp point of view. She understands the Valley Girl archetype well enough to joke about it, embrace it, and ultimately dismantle it to reveal something far more reflective and vulnerable underneath—even the most put-together Valley girls are usually carrying a little bit more than what’s in their purses.

Industry Takes:

• Valley Girl Problems was produced by Tricky Stewart—known for working with artists such as Rihanna and Tyla.

• The EP debuted at #7 on Spotify’s Weekly Top Albums Debut USA chart.

• Kylie Cantrall sold out her first headline show celebrating the release of her EP at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles.

• Earlier this year, she signed to Republic Records, in partnership with APG and Heroine Music.