The 17-year-old Disney star is, as some may say, ‘breaking free’ and expanding her career. Rodrigo released “drivers license” on Jan. 10, and within a few days, the music video received millions of views. Her song became number one on the charts globally and was trending all over social media. Chaos ensued because of the lyrics, causing many fans to make assumptions about who the song was written about.
Most rumors seem to swirl around the idea that Rodrigo wrote the song about her supposedly former partner and co-star, Joshua Bassett. The popular social media app, TikTok, has created theories about a love triangle between Rodrigo, Bassett and Basset’s speculated lover, Sabrina Carpenter, according to The Cut.
None of the rumors have been confirmed nor denied by any of them, but ideas formed with one simple change of a lyric. Rodrigo originally wrote: “And you’re probably with that brunette girl”, but changed “brunette” to “blonde”, which caused fans to bring Carpenter into the picture.
“A rumor I’ve heard about the song was that since Olivia was underage, Joshua went for Sabrina instead,” freshman Jasmine Fisher said.
Just last year, fans of Rodrigo were going through secondhand heartache from her other popular song “All I Want.” The only difference between then and now is her new song is breaking records for the number of streams on Spotify.
American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, Rodrigo’s main influence, has personally commented on her Instagram post saying that she is proud of “her baby.”
Swift is not the only one who is proud of Rodrigo; many fans have also expressed their love for her song and hope to see more in the future.
“I would like to see Olivia write more songs with strong emotions like she did in this one so the listener can feel a greater connection with the song,” sophomore Amya Appelt said.
This is only the beginning for what is yet to come in Rodrigo’s career. She posts many snippets on Instagram of songs she has written, keeping fans on their toes. An album could be in the near future, and listeners hope it will not disappoint.
