Meghan Trainor Opens Up About 'Bass' Backlash With Notion Magazine

Meghan Trainor makes answering a phone call super sexy on the newest cover of Notion Magazine.

Here’s what the 22-year-old singer had to share:

On “All About That Bass”: “That first thing I ever did was the music video for ['All About That] Bass’ and I had no management, I had no glam team, I was terrified – I just remember eight hands were all over me shoving me into these outfits and they were like ‘GO!’ And I was just faking it! A lot of my first year was fake it till you make it. I had no idea what was doing.”

On her breakthrough album and changing direction on “Thank You”: “I kept writing doo-wop thinking that was right and the label turned around and said, ‘You’re doing what everyone expects you to do. Why don’t you be the songwriter you say you are and shake it up?’ So I said ‘Make me a beat that Meghan Trainor wouldn’t do’, and we wrote ‘No’ in a couple of hours. Once they heard it, the label freaked out; everyone freaked out. It was like ‘THAT’S what we’re talking about!’ They wanted the song that every other artist wished they had and I was like… ‘Got it!’”

On experimenting with rap on tracks such as ‘No’: “We tried to put more urban into it – and I tried to rap more. I mean I did NOT expect to rap! I was writing songs and one day I thought ‘You know what? I’m just gonna rap on this one’ as a joke, so I tried it and was like, ‘hang on… I can rap! I’m good at this! I have rhythm!’”

On the backlash she faced for the use of “skinny bitch” in her song “All About That Bass” and criticism to conforming to gender stereotypes: “I wanted to make something fun and upbeat that would maybe really help people. I still get asked ‘Was it your intention to bash skinny people?’ NO! Absolutely not. I just wrote a fun song to help ME out with my insecurities – and the world loved it – that’s all I have.”

Notion Magazine Issue 73 is available to order now!