Back to Songs

Notes

Teen Vogue called the song "Pure, playful, unabashed pop girl form". PAPER Magazine wrote "VanderWaal has grown into a fearless, self-assured artist, shedding the wide-eyed innocence of her early music and stepping into a sound that feels entirely her own."

Babydoll was the first time Grace featured another artist. "So we are writing, writing, writing. The second verse kind of sucks, but sometimes it’s good to keep it moving. And then I re-visited the song because – it can’t be released with this second verse. I write it again, and honestly, this one might be worse. I have never done a feature before – and then I was like – holy shit, it’s a feature! Aliyah’s Interlude was the first person that popped into my mind. I have been a fan of hers for a while, and I just felt the song was so her." (Interview with Zach Sang April 2025) "I reached out and played 'Babydoll,' and the rest is history." (Interview with The Fader Feb 28th, 2025).

In an interview with Nylon Magazine in March 2025, Grace explained that “Babydoll” was one of the last songs we wrote for the album, and we were just having fun at that point. I wrote it with Tiffany Stringer, who is a friend of mine. We couldn't get the second verse, and I knew it had to be a feature. Aliyah was my first choice because I've been a fan of hers forever, and I felt like the song was so her. We reached out, she said she was interested, and she sent back the verse. I was like, "This is amazing. Please, please, please."

In an interview with Chris Cantada, AKA Cantadaforce, on his "Once and Always a Fanboy" podcast, Grace explained: "... we liked the name “Baby Doll”, so we worked backwards from there. And I had this idea: we should write about the girl you turn into when you've had a few too many drinks. So it turned out as this theme song for this alter-ego who doesn't like “no” and gets what she wants and thinks she is the queen of the world."

The song "is all about being in your diva era, and for me, it’s my new pop anthem!" (interview with Papermag Feb 28th, 2025). It is about "acting bratty, going out, wanting everything, and being a diva. … Tiffany Stringer and I had the idea to write a song from our alter ego's perspective. We named mine Baby Doll: who doesn’t like to be told no." (Interview with The Fader Feb 28th, 2025)
"Effectively, this personality comes out when I’m drunk, and her name is 'Babydoll'" (Grace quoted in a profile on one of the venues on her Childstar Tour>

It was not originally the plan to shoot the music video in New York. "We were supposed to shoot this in LA with a completely different treatment.After some development, it made sense to just get together with Aliyah in New York and shoot this with the intention of feeling a little bit more carefree." (Interview with Papermag)

When Grace promoted the song on her Facebook page, she wrote "...this song was so much fun to write and create and film. Everyone has always been like you only sing sad songs. WELL, HI, I MADE MY FIRST HAPPY FUN SONG!!" . Grace had previously (in 2019) written a song about people (presumably her then label) wanting her to write ("Happy Songs")

In an IG live in March 2025, Grace said that she “wasn’t sure how people were going to take it [the song], to say the least. But I’m happy with it.”



Performances

2025.02.28 Not performed
2025.05.18 The Roxy Childstar Tour

Reviews, Reactions etc.

Type Comment Link

Releases

Release Date Record Type Track
2025-02-28BabydollSingle1
2025-04-04Child StarLP6
Mid May 2025Tiny Vinyl Vinyl Single1

Lyrics


Covers and Remixes

Type Comment Link