Not since Future Teens sold hats declaring “Boston sucks” has a musician riled up the city with some good-natured ribbing. That musician in question is Renée Rapp, the actor, singer, and North Carolina native who was behind the “I HATE BOSTON” billboard that sprung up in the North End this week, sparking humorous social media discussion and breathless headlines across the city.
But it turns out Rapp doesn’t really hate Boston at all. The Los Angeles resident just hates an ex who lives here — who can’t relate to that? — and it all comes into view on her new song, “I Hate Boston,” which is the second track to her new album, today’s Snow Angel. Score one for music marketing.
“It’s more fun when people don’t know, and are very curious as to why I would do such a thing, and it is to incite fights and arguments,” a wonderfully sarcastic Rapp tells WBZ-TV. “Cause you guys are very good at that, and you love that.”
Though she’s now gained notoriety in our fair and level-headed city for her pop piano ballad, Rapp is also known in some circles as playing Regina George in the Broadway production of Mean Girls, and has appeared on HBO’s Sex Lives of College Girls.
She also gives a hell of an interview, as evidenced by her chat with WBZ-TV, where she continued: “Dear Boston, your accents, though harsh, are always memorable – unlike any performance from your beloved Celtics, and don’t get me started on your Red Sox. Why are all of you Irish and angry? Perhaps it’s the diet of Dunkin and Wahlburgers that incites so much passion. Yes, I had my heart broken by one of your own. But I know I cannot place that blame on you, dear Boston. I’m sorry for the slander. I love you forever. But I do hate that man.”
What a queen.
It’s important to note that Rapp plays Roadrunner in Brighton on October 28, part of her North American tour supporting Snow Angel. Suddenly, that’s a gig circled on many a calendar, and we can imagine one big fucking sing-along going down in the Bowery room when Rapp busts it out. We’ll probably get one fiery introduction before she plays it, too.
Check out the billboard below, and hear the track and watch the video after the jump.
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