By photojournalist Georgia Lingerfelt
Lyn Lapid knows how to engage an audience. Before her sold-out headline show on February 6th at The Crowbar, her young fans sang and danced to the music of her label-mate, none other than Taylor Swift. Throughout the evening, these mesmerized fans clutched their smartphones, eager to capture Lapid’s energetic set.
Lapid first gained notoriety in 2020 by uploading a cover of Randy Newman’s “When She Loved Me” to TikTok. Since then, Lapid has amassed nearly five million followers on TikTok alone and signed a record deal with Republic Records. Her viral success didn’t stop with covers. At just 17 years old, a rudimentary version of her first original single, “Producer Man,” accumulated 50 million views. Her most popular song to date, “In My Mind,” became the theme song to a popular trend and now has over 142 million streams on Spotify.
Lyn Lapid’s “to love in the 21st century, the epilogue” tour is in support of her latest release, an EP by the same name. Lapid’s music is quintessential bedroom pop. Her voice is reminiscent of a jazz singer, many of her songs feature a ukulele and synthetic drums. The 21-year-old singer takes a conversational approach to her shows, with storytelling and ad-libs between songs. She shares moments of her personal life that many Gen-Z can understand and relate to such as being ghosted by a boy she met on Hinge. Only, she wrote a song about it that she now sings on her nationwide tour. Midway through her set, the singer proclaimed that the East Coast was superior, a big hit with her Floridian audience, before playing her song “east side.”
Clearly humble in her success, Lapid took a moment to highlight her guitarist, Jacqueline Kim, a Tampa native as well as her tour manager, Hunter Cohen. Fans took it upon themselves to chant Hunter’s name each time he appeared on stage to bring the headliner her ukulele or mic stand. Lapid joked that during each show she evaluates whether or not she wants to return to the city to perform again. She confidently confirmed she would be coming back to Tampa in the future. Lyn Lapid closed out her set with an encore sure to satisfy with her biggest hits “In My Mind” and “poster boy.”
In closing, Lyn Lapid’s performance in Ybor on Tuesday night was nothing short of a triumph. With her infectious energy and relatable storytelling, she solidified her place as a rising star in the world of bedroom pop. From her beginnings on social media to her sold-out headline show, Lapid’s journey is a testament to the power of raw talent and genuine connection.
