walking upstream…
Tate McRae
photo: piotr kuczynski · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Tate McRae
Tate McRae grew up in Calgary, Alberta as a competition-trained ballet and contemporary dancer, reaching a wide audience as a young teenager when she finished third on the 2016 season of So You Think You Can Dance — the highest placement by a Canadian to that point. She began posting original songs to YouTube from her bedroom around 2017, signed with RCA Records, and broke through in 2020 with the confessional bedroom-pop single 'you broke me first' before pivoting to a sleek, choreography-forward dance-pop with the global chart-topper 'greedy' in 2023. Her rise reframed her dance background as the centerpiece of a 2020s pop stardom built on tight, rhythm-first production, breathy R&B-tinged vocals, and full-scale live choreography.
the sound in question
2023
greedyTate McRae
walk the tributaries ↓
Britney Spears2000s · Teen pop / Dance-pop / Pop
McRae, a competition-trained dancer, has repeatedly named Britney Spears among the pop stars who inspired her to bring dance to the center of her performances, and she told People that the choreography in the 'exes' video was inspired by her 'queen' Spears (alongside Christina Aguilera). Critics have compared her to a young Spears, a comparison McRae has called 'flattering and scary.'
listen: upstream & heresource: Billboard ↗
2003
ToxicBritney Spears
2023
exesTate McRae
listen forPut on Spears's sleek, whispered 'Toxic' before 'exes' — both ride a taut, staccato dance-pop groove while the vocal stays cool and close-miked, letting the choreography and the beat carry the swagger rather than a big belted chorus.
Justin Timberlake2000s · Pop / R&B / Dance-pop
McRae has cited Justin Timberlake among the artists — with Bruno Mars, Jennifer Lopez and Ciara — who inspired her to fold dance into her pop performances, and her uptempo singles lean on the kind of rhythm-first, groove-driven production Timberlake helped popularize.
listen: upstream & here
2006
SexyBackJustin Timberlake
2023
greedyTate McRae
listen forCue Timberlake's spare, Timbaland-built 'SexyBack' right before 'greedy' — both hang the whole song on a springy, percussive bassline and clipped, rhythmic phrasing, treating the vocal as another syncopated instrument locked into the groove.
Ariana Grande2010s · Pop / R&B / Dance-pop
McRae has named Ariana Grande among her biggest musical inspirations, and you can hear it in her R&B-inflected pop balladry, where a soft, breathy, heavily layered vocal carries raw emotional confession.
listen: upstream & here
2019
needyAriana Grande
2020
you broke me firstTate McRae
listen forPlay Grande's hushed, multi-tracked 'needy' next to 'you broke me first' — both build from an intimate, breathy near-whisper into stacked harmony, turning private hurt and neediness into a delicate, R&B-tinged pop confessional.