Remi Lewis Does It All

What makes Remi’s sound so individualistic is her ultramodern blending of pop, trap, and R&B, while she also pays homage to the celebrated pop stars of her generation. Although Barbie is conflated with an artificial exterior, Remi conveys through her bubbly personality that all of her music is grounded in her genuine roots.

office sat down with Remi below to discuss emblematic 2000s-era fashion, film, her new music video, and more.

So, you started modeling for Fenty and Jeffrey Campbell, and I wanted to know what the shift was, where you decided to venture into music? 

I’ve made music ever since I was little. I taught myself piano. I would write songs, but only for myself. I couldn't quite get the confidence to put my work out there. But when I started modeling, it started giving me more confidence to have my face in the camera, so that kind of tied in with the music. I was like, 'Oh, you know, why not? Why don't I just try and put out my art.'

I also wanted to talk about your style — we'll get into your new music video too — but I know the whole vibe of the video is Y2K-inspired and I kind of get that through your style too. We're around the same age. You're 21 right? 

Yes.

So we're pretty much the same — 90s-ish kids. But I wanted to talk about that because we kind of grew up with that style and now it's all coming back. Do you think that that's where it comes from, for you, or is that just what you naturally gravitate towards in your personal style? 

I think, and I think you can agree, we kind of grew up seeing these iconic looks like JLo, Gwen, all of that. So I was super influenced by that. I also love thrifting.

Me too.

I curate for the store I work in, which is LAAMS. I run the vintage rack, so I'm always looking for the Y2K looks. Even like Devin Aoki in Fast and Furious — I was just inspired a lot by pop culture. So that's where that came from.

So if you had to pick one movie that is big fashion inspo for you, what would you say? 

That's a good question. Let me have a think. I mean, Clueless. But then I love — I don't know if you've seen the movie with Aaliyah where she's a vampire. "Queen of the Dams." The fashion in that was cool too. Because I like to do the pop, eccentric, colorful Y2K, but then I also like to do more 70s, retro kind of looks. That's where my two styles tend to meet.

I feel like those were just such powerful eras in fashion, but it does definitely tie into stuff we liked growing up. Something else I grew up with was a lot of R&B and that early 2000s type of sound. I hear a lot of that in your music, but you also have that modern pop fusion. So who are your musical inspirations or people that you grew up listening to? 

Well, I love Gwen, Aaliyah — she's one of my favorites; she's an R&B queen. Nelly Furtado — all of those early 2000s females that just had the hits. Gwen's old videos, like "What You Waiting For," where she's Alice in Wonderland; all of that was so inspiring to me. But I also love Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, SZA, Kali Uchis — all of those powerful females. That's where the more modern-day pop comes in. I try to make it like a fusion of both.

You definitely get that through your music. Also — love that you mentioned Ariana Grande. Cause she's an icon. 

Yes! She's so influential too.

So I want to get into the music video for your new single, “No Escape,” because it looked so chic. What was the creative vision behind it?

I worked with this amazing director, Agusta. She's super talented. I had the idea of it being Barbie-themed, but also having a retro feel to it because I love that. Like, you know, old Jane Fonda workout videos. I don't know if you ever saw the American Horror Story season set in the 1980s?

I loved that one!

I loved that too. So I came to Agusta with that idea and then we brainstormed a lot together. I had that idea of being Barbie because the song starts off with "picture perfect." So to me, I thought of, you know, a retro housewife; almost too perfect. The stylist I worked with just got the vision and it all came together.

Why did you decide to work with Agusta for the video; did you guys already have a relationship?

Well, I've always followed her. I've been a huge fan of hers, always. Every time she posted I was like, 'Wow.' But I didn't actually realize she was a director. I saw it in her bio and I thought, 'Oh my God, maybe it's far-fetched if I hit her up — it probably won't happen.' And then I did and it was pretty much the next day we were planning — it actually happened within two weeks. So, yeah, I was so happy. I just love her. She has the eye that I want. I don't see that much CGI work in the way she does it, you know? It feels like she can just put you into a whole other world.

Exactly. You both created a whole universe with Uzumaki's art. Were you two friends as well before you worked on this together?

Yes, we were. I actually met Uzumaki through LAAMS; it's an art compound in the Lower East Side. She was doing an installation there, so she would be there all the time. When I first met her, I kind of fangirled and I was like, 'Can I take a picture of you?' Because I take film photos. We just hit it off and became instantly close. Then Agusta and I were working, and I thought, 'You know, it could be so cool to incorporate her.' Because having multiple female artists work on one project is so fulfilling to me. I'm all about it. She was down and it worked out super well. We took pictures from Uzumaki's past installations, and then Agusta CGI'd me into them and made them come to life.

The fits from the video were so iconic. Can you tell me a little more about them and which was your favorite?

So, the first scene we shot was the workout scene. There was the Barbie me, who was the instructor, and then there were two 'regular' mes with my regular red hair, on the side as my workout buddies. So for each look I put together, I worked with Adam Selman. He does a lot of workout gear and he let me pull some stuff from him. I put together retro workout-type outfits, and then Mateo, who is the stylist, made my vision reality. It's funny because I kept telling him what I wanted, and on the day, he came with so much stuff; it was almost overwhelming. But it worked out so well because initially we were only supposed to have one look for the whole 'dollhouse.' We ended up having a look for each room in the dollhouse. So yeah, thinking about my favorite look, it was either the blue fur hat and bra set, which is really cute. And then there was a pantsuit set, which, I was channeling the Barbie that works, you know? She's not a stay-at-home Barbie.

She's the Boss Barbie.

Yes. So I love that look too. And there were these underwire glasses that were diamante with nothing else. Just the underwire. It was so fire.

You talked about different rooms in the video, so was each one a whole different vibe?

Yeah, there was even a bathroom. Agusta and I had worked with a set designer named Jimmy. So they bought a dollhouse, like a Barbie dollhouse off of a children's website, and then Jimmy spruced it up. He added little Chanel bottles, he spray-painted the walls — they completely revamped it. So yeah, there's a bathtub scene, there's a bed scene. The bed scene's very retro, like in a robe, you know? Each one just happened to come together perfectly. There was a look for every room. It's also really fun for me to channel a character. So I was just trying to really get into that mood. Like, I'm not Remi, I'm Barbie Remi.

I saw on Instagram that you're not always behind the camera, but you also spend time taking the photos. Is that something that you're super passionate about on the side?

Well, I only really started in 2020, so it's been about a year of taking photos, but it immediately became something I love to do because I felt like I had so much experience on the other side. And then I started shooting my girlfriends because I'm constantly around such beautiful, inspiring people. Jeffrey Campbell actually said to me, 'Hey, if we send you five pairs of shoes, can you shoot them?' So I put together — in the matter of like a week and a half — I got five different models, five different spots, and shot some stuff for them. It was so much fun. It kind of helps, having that vision, to create my music videos and to decide how I want my shoots to come out [too]. So yeah, I really like taking photos; it's a hobby, but it's also very much so a passion. Even for my last single, we had an installation at LAAMS, so I set up a photo booth. I like to do that — where I set a backdrop and I take people's portraits.

Now that “Spacey” and “No Escape” are here, are there any future plans for an EP?

There definitely are. I have maybe one or two singles lined up after this and then my plan is definitely to have the EP, hopefully, by the beginning of next year.

Remi's new music video, "No Escape" can be viewed below.