Exclusive: Rebecca Black Tells Us She's Donating "Friday" Proceeds to Japan

Whether you love it or you loathe it, you undoubtedly have a strong opinion about Rebecca Black and her smashing success single, "Friday," by now.

The Youtube video, first posted on February 10 (see it here), has already amassed close to 40 million hits -- meaning, like it or not, Black isn’t going anywhere.

As my erudite buddy Rob Sheffield at Rolling Stone says, "As far as I'm concerned, Rebecca Black is 13-years-old and has already made a great pop song. That's more than most musicians achieve in an entire career. I think she should be proud of what she's achieved."

Well said! But what does the Anaheim, California Tween sensation have to say about it all? Us' Ali Puliti caught up with her for the latest issue, but if you want the full 411, we have it for you here.

UsMagazine.com: How did this all start?
 
Rebecca Black: One of my friends had done something like this, so I researched it, and I found Ark. We pretty much found them. The next thing I knew I was in the recording studio.

Us: Your success seemed to come overnight. How does it feel?

RB: It's indescribable. I’m so overwhelmed right now with all this. Yeah, there are people that love it, but there are people that hate it. I feel so blessed, but overwhelmed.

Us: How does it make you feel when people come out and say such negative things about it?
 
RB: I don’t even look at in anymore, and if I do see it, it doesn’t bother me. I have been through so much hate in my life. It doesn’t bother me anymore.

Us: People have been mean outside of this?
 
RB: Yeah, before it started, there were a lot of people who just didn’t like me. They were pretty open and expressive about it. I’m just used to the hatred.

Us: How did you get over that, or are you still kind of dealing with it?

RB: Now I have realized, that that's their opinion. I have my own. They can think what they want and so can I. That just helps me with it. My mom is my biggest fan. She is so supportive, and she would always say that everything happens for a good, positive reason. Those people are the people that have no lives sitting on a computer all day thinking about what to say.

Us: What does your dad think about all this?

RB: My dad is my bodyguard. He is always so protective, and has always been supportive as well. He's just telling me to do what I love to do. There are going to be haters, but don’t let them bring you down.

Us: Have you been noticing when you go out that people recognize you?

RB: Yeah. I have noticed that sometimes people give me weird looks. They recognize me or ask for a picture or autograph. I think it’s adorable.

Us: I hear that Simon Cowell reached out to you!

RB: Yeah. We were sitting somewhere yesterday, and apparently Simon Cowell said that anyone who can create that much controversy in a week is someone he wants to meet.

Us: Have you set that up yet?

RB: I think we are in the process.

Us: Who are some of you idols?

RB: Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez. Those are my biggest musical influences, and I love what they have done with their careers.

Us: Are you ready to sell out Madison Square Garden like Justin Bieber?
 
RB: Yeah. You never know. I’m ready. I’ve got the strength. I’ve got the drive. I’m ready for it all.

Us: So, who are the people in the video? Are they your friends?

RB: Yep, they are all my really good friends. We all go to the same school.

Us: What does your school think? Are you going to perform it?

RB: My school is so supportive of the whole thing. I’m not performing it at school, but they play my song during lunch.

Us: Any boyfriend or are you too young?

RB: I’ve had boyfriends, but I don’t have one at the moment.

Us: Has anything really shocked you with this, this week? Maybe one of your idols reaching out or tweeting about it?

RB: Seeing Nick Jonas and Joe Jonas tweeting about it, Justin Bieber tweeted about it today. That's crazy!

Us: Wow, so are you going to tweet them back?

RB: I haven't really gotten the chance to tweet people back. I tweeted Ryan Seacrest, because he helped me set it up.
 
Us: The song is on iTunes now, so you must be making a lot of money!

RB: I think that I get 60% and Ark gets 40%. I am donating money to my school and Japan. My school, El Rancho Charter is really where I started focusing on singing. I feel bad. Japan happened so close to mine, and I feel like I’m taking away attention from it. I really just want to give back.

Us: Are you still able to be a normal 13-year-old?

RB: I’ve definitely got some time, barely any though. I’m still just a 13-year-old that has best friends, and I still get to hang out with them and be who I was before this all happened.

Us: Can you go back to school? Go back to some normalcy?

RB: I wouldn't say I can be normal at school anymore. People recognize me so much more. People who I've never met before are saying hi to me in the halls. I’ve definitely gotten a lot more well known around my school.

By Ian Drew for UsMagazine.com. To read more of Ian's blog, click here, and don't forget to follow him on Twitter.