Mø doesn’t care if you mispronounce her stage name. “I’m really open-minded,” says the Odense, Denmark, native (real moniker: Karen Marie Ørsted), who answers to “Mo,” “Moo,” and “Moy.” (For the record, it’s “Mer.”) The 26-year-old cowriter of Major Lazer and DJ Snake’s electro-pop jam, “Lean On” — which boasts more than 280 million Spotify streams — is just happy to be noticed. “When I was really small, like 7, I got obsessed with being a pop star because of the Spice Girls,” she tells Us Weekly. “So I started writing songs.”
Fangirl
Now, she’s recording her debut album while playing music festivals. “I saw Beyoncé backstage at Coachella,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘No f—king way! I did not just stand next to Beyoncé!’” But, she’ll never forget her roots: Psychologist dad Frans and teacher mom Mette “are so excited, they’re making me a scrapbook!”
Start From Scratch
Despite her massive success so far, Mø explains that she didn’t have a lot of help getting started. “None of my parents are musicians or anything, so I didn’t really know where to start,” she says. “I wrote a lot of songs and discovered that it was actually really nice to express yourself and it became my way of letting out feelings. That’s so important, to have some kind of platform for that so you can get it out.”
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On to the Next
“I’m working on so many songs right now, but none of them are totally done,” the singer confesses. “It’s always in the finishing process.” Expect some special guests on the new album, too. “I really want to get some features on it and I do have some in mind, but I guess it’s dangerous to spoil anything before I know for sure.”
Music With a Message
Mø’s songs may be packed with bigger-than-life instrumentals, but the musician pays just as much attention to the lyrics. “It’s all about communicating. You want people to get you, right?” she explains. “Music is a way of connecting people and feeling connected to the world. If you’re getting my vibe, that’s what I wanted. It’s all about getting your thoughts out there.”
