Reneé Rapp believes her mother deserves credit for her thriving music career.On the podcast Good Hang with Amy Poehler,Rapp revealed that her mother,Denise Rapp,intentionally chose her name to set her up for success in the entertainment industry.

“my mom chose my frist and last name to be-well,okay,arguably chose my first and last name to both have R’s,” Rapp told Poehler. “She was like, ‘Alliteration, just in case she wants to be a pop star.’ Like before I was born.” Rapp acknowledged the decision might seem “conceited” but expressed gratitude, saying, “I’m obsessed with the way she did it. I’m like, ‘thank you, God.'”

Poehler responded, “She gave you a pop star name just in case, because Reneé Rapp is a huge pop star name.” Rapp concurred, “It’s a really good one!” Poehler affirmed, “And Reneé Rapp is a huge pop star.”

In the same interview, Rapp discussed her growth as a singer, meeting Beyoncé, and her experience coming out on Saturday Night Live. She recalled being on SNL and how the show’s writers initially planned a sketch where she was referred to as a “little bisexual intern.”

“At that time I was very publicly bisexual,” Rapp said. “I had been for a very long time. In private I was talking with my girlfriend and a lot of my friends for the last maybe eight months before that of being like, ‘I actually don’t really feel very bi at the moment. I feel very much like a lesbian and it feels so nice and that word feels amazing.'” She requested the writers change the sketch to identify her as a lesbian.

“Labeling yourself publicly is really, really, really empowering,” Rapp added. “And also, I think, can be kind of intimidating.” She described coming out as a lesbian on SNL as “pretty cunty” but said it felt “so fucking good” and that she “didn’t even look online” at the reaction afterward.

New Single “Leave Me alone”

“Labeling yourself publicly is really, really, really empowering,”

Earlier this week, Rapp live debuted her new single, “Leave Me Alone,” at the American Music Awards. The track is her first release as a lead artist since the deluxe edition of her debut album Snow Angel in 2023 and offers a preview of her upcoming second LP, Bite Me, due out Aug. 1.

In “Leave Me Alone,” Rapp addresses her departure from the recently-cancelled HBO Max series Sex Lives of College Girls and feeling pressured by her label for new material. “Signed a hundred NDAs but I still say something/Leave me alone, bitch, I wanna have fun/Took my sex life with me, now the show ain’t fuckin’,” she sings. “Can I tell you a secret/I’m so sick of it all.”

Rapp exited Sex Lives after two seasons to concentrate on her music career. The show was cancelled after its third season. Since then, she has headlined tours promoting Snow Angel, performed at numerous festivals, and taken on a lead role in the film adaptation of Mean Girls: the Musical.