Sydney Mack never imagined how much the world would latch onto her new single, “Pretty Boy.” The singer-songwriter posted snippets of the song on TikTok, immediately receiving messages from across the globe about leaving unhealthy relationships after hearing the song’s powerful message.
“I saw a quote, ‘We get so worried about being pretty, let’s all be pretty smart, pretty kind, pretty funny and pretty strong’ that really resonated with me,” Mack tells Everything Nash. “It took me back to a relationship where the guy was really nice to look at, but that’s where it ended. He was a pretty boy — pretty disrespectful, pretty controlling and pretty narcissistic. He thought he could do no wrong and never believed that I would actually walk away. What’s worse, after I broke up with him, he thought he could sweet talk his way back.”
Mack knew she wasn’t alone in having that kind of experience, although she was fortunately strong enough to be able to ultimately walk away from the toxic relationship for good.
“I think most of us have been in a relationship like this at some point,” Mack shares. “I wanted to write something that was relatable to the female listener. My goal with this song wasn’t to bash the pretty boy’ necessarily, but to come from a point of strength for the girl who’s walking away. This girl is at her wit’s end with him, has finally found the courage to leave, and maybe even slam the door on her way out. I’ve been there. I know how hard it is to break-up with somebody you care about because deep down you know it’s what’s best for you, even if it hurts more than you want it to or think it should. My hope is that the person listening realizes they’re not alone and that self-love is more important than empty promises.
Mack had already been making her mark on TikTok, but was still stunned when she saw how quickly her song exploded.
“Typically, when I would post something to TikTok, it would get somewhere between 200-400 views,” Mack says. “I posted the clip of ‘Pretty Boy’ on a Wednesday night and didn’t think much of it until I woke up Thursday morning and it had around 450 views. I was SO excited to finally have passed 400 views! Then throughout the day, the view count would almost double every time I checked it. It went from 1200 to 2400 in about 30 minutes and that’s when I started thinking maybe there was something happening. Then around 5:00 PM on Thursday, it hit 12,000 views, and I hit 1,000 followers meaning that I could finally go ‘live’ on TikTok.
“I went live around 6:00 PM and it went from 12,000 views to 25,000 and then just kept ticking up at lightning speed from there,” she continues. “It felt like an out-of-body experience, honestly. I’ve seen this platform help other artists, but I never dreamed it would help me the way that it has. Just the thought of half a million people seeing my video, and more importantly hearing my song, was incredibly overwhelming. I’m still not sure the magnitude of what’s happened has hit me yet.”
Based on fan response, Mack officially released “Pretty Boy” as a single, but there is plenty more music coming from her in the future.
“I’ve been playing some other songs I’ve written during my TikTok lives to get a feel for what people are gravitating to, so that’s been pretty eye-opening for me,” Mack says. “I plan to release at least a few more singles in the near future, hopefully every six to eight weeks or so.”
Keep track of all of Mack’s music by visiting her website.