Slayyyter
Catherine Grace Garner (born September 17, 1996), known professionally as Slayyyter, is an American singer and songwriter. She started her career independently releasing songs through SoundCloud.[2] Her single "Mine" reached number 38 on the iTunes pop chart.[3] The song was included on her self-titled debut mixtape which was independently released in 2019. Her debut studio album, Troubled Paradise, was released in June 2021 under Fader.[4] Her second album, Starfucker, was released on September 22, 2023.[5]
Not to be confused with Slayer.
Slayyyter
Early life and career[edit]
Early life[edit]
Slayyyter is from Kirkwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, where she has "kind of lived [her] whole life". She went to private grade schools, and later continued her education in public school, where she was "offered great music classes for the first time."[6]
2017–2018: Early approaches to music and first single releases[edit]
Slayyyter spent a year in college, studying at the University of Missouri. This time was an "expensive experiment" in which she started her career as a musician, writing "'80s lo-fi pop" that she herself produced and edited, but never published. She later dropped out and committed fully to her music career. Her most frequent collaborator, Ayesha Erotica, is from Southern California. The artists met through Twitter, which is where Slayyyter first developed a following. The artist credits Stan Twitter for introducing her to Ayesha.[7][8]
2019–2020: Singles, The Mini Tour, and Slayyyter[edit]
After a 14-second snippet of the song gathered attention on Twitter with over 200,000 views,[9] "Mine" was released on Valentine's Day[10] and in less than 24 hours reached number 38 on the iTunes pop chart in the United States.[3]
In June 2019, Slayyyter embarked on her sold-out debut tour, entitled "The Mini Tour". The tour began on June 24 in New York City, and concluded on July 27 in her hometown of St. Louis.[11]
On September 17, 2019, Slayyyter released her self-titled mixtape, Slayyyter, on iTunes. The mixtape was met with positive reviews and peaked at No. 4 on the US iTunes Pop Chart, and #14 on the US iTunes Albums Chart.[3]
She released a remix of Britney Spears' "Gimme More" to her SoundCloud in April 2020.[12] In October and November, she released the songs "Self Destruct" and "Throatzillaaa", respectively.[13][14]
"Daddy AF", from her self-titled mixtape, appeared as the opening track in 2022's black comedy horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies.[15]
2021: Troubled Paradise[edit]
On January 21, 2021, Slayyyter announced her debut studio album, Troubled Paradise, set to be released on June 11.[16] The second single from the album[a] and title track, "Troubled Paradise", and its music video were released the following day.[17]
On January 26, Heidi Montag confirmed via Twitter that she would be collaborating with Slayyyter.[18] However, in a 2023 interview with VICE, Slayyyter confirmed the collaboration would not be released due to a "sample clearance issue", revealing that the two remixed Britney Spears' "Gimme More" but the sample was "crazy expensive to clear".[19]
From February to May 2021, she released the singles "Clouds",[20] "Cowboys",[21] and "Over This!"[22] ahead of the album.
Troubled Paradise was released on June 11, 2021, through Fader Label.[23] Pitchfork's Ashley Bardhan called the project "vibrant and ridiculous".[24] Slayyyter promoted the album by releasing VEVO Live performances for the tracks 'Letters' and 'Troubled Paradise'.[25][26]
On November 5, 2021, she released the standalone single “Stupid Boy”, a pop-dance song featuring Big Freedia.[27] Later that year, she released Inferno Euphoria, an EP of remixes from Troubled Paradise.[28]
2022–present: Starfucker and tour[edit]
In early June 2022, Slayyyter played a song on tour titled “Hollywood” (later revealed to be "I Love Hollywood!" from her second studio album). She played 2+1⁄2 minutes of the song.[29]
On July 24, 2022, Slayyyter tweeted, “album almost done" with a lipstick emoji.[30] On July 29, 2022, she tweeted “one sec im finishing it all!!" with a clock and hand hearts emoji after replying to a fan asking for a status on the new music.[31]
On October 3, 2022, Swedish singer Tove Lo confirmed via Instagram that Slayyyter will be the opening act on the North American leg of her Dirt Femme Tour.[32]
On June 9, 2023, Slayyyter released the synth-pop single "Out Of Time",[33] which Nylon described as a "sleek" return.[34]
On July 20, she announced her second studio album, Starfucker, with "Out of Time" serving as its lead single. The following day, she released the album's second single "Miss Belladonna".[5]
On August 14, Slayyyter announced the third single from Starfucker, "Erotic Electronic".[35] The music video for the single was released on August 17,[36] with the single released the following day.[35]
Starfucker was released on September 22, 2023, with a deluxe edition following on December 1st of that year. The more conventional electropop[37] and dance-pop[38] style of the album deviated from the hyperpop sound of her previous releases. It is Slayyyter's first charting album, debuting at number 17 on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and peaking at number 10.[39] The album received positive reviews from critics, with several considering it one of 2023's best.[40][41][42]
In order to promote the album, Slayyyter embarked on the Club Valentine Tour, which consists of 17 shows across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It commenced on October 25, 2023, in Boston, and concluded on February 17, 2024, in London.[43] As part of Spotify's "Spotify Singles" series, Slayyyter released a cover of Lady Gaga's song "Monster" on October 17, 2023.[44]